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Dropcam, Inc.
IndustryConsumer electronics
FoundedJanuary 2009(2009-01)
FoundersGreg Duffy
Aamir Virani
FateAcquired by Google / Nest, rebranded as Nest Cameras
SuccessorNest Cam
Headquarters
San Francisco,California
,
United States
Area served
United States
Canada
ProductsDropcam Pro
Cloud Recording
Dropcam App
OwnerGoogleInc (2014–2015)
Alphabet Inc.(2015–2024)
ParentNest Labs(2014–2024)
Websitedropcam

Dropcam, Inc.was an American technology company headquartered inSan Francisco,California.The company is known for itsWi-Fivideo streaming cameras, Dropcam and Dropcam Pro, that allow people to view live feeds through Dropcam's cloud-based service. On June 20, 2014, it was announced thatGoogle'sNest Labsbought Dropcam for $555 million,[1][2]a decision Dropcam co-founder Greg Duffy later described as a "mistake".[3]In June 2015,Nestintroduced the Nest Cam,[4]a successor to the Dropcam Pro.[5]Support for Dropcam services ended on April 8, 2024.[6]

History

[edit]

Software engineers Greg Duffy and Aamir Virani founded Dropcam in 2009.[7]Duffy served as Dropcam's CEO and Virani served as COO.[8]They originally developed software for cameras made by Swedish companyAXIS.Wanting to develop a less expensive camera, the two companies parted ways and Dropcam started producing its own cameras that primarily providedvideo monitoringfor homes and small businesses.[9]Duffy and Virani credit Duffy's dad with at least part of the inspiration for Dropcam.[10]He wanted to identify the neighbor who was letting their dog poop on his lawn but they were having trouble finding a security camera that made it easy to record, stream and monitor large amounts of data.[11][12]

Dropcam received early funding from technology investorMitch Kapor,[13]and in June 2012, Dropcam secured $12 million inventure capitalfunding led byMenlo Venturesand previous investors,Accel Partnersand Bay Partners.[14]Dropcam has also received funding from Felicis Ventures andKleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.[15][16]The following year, it received $30 million more in funding led byInstitutional Venture Partners,bringing the total raised to $47.8 million.[17][18]Duffy said Dropcam's revenue grew 500 percent year over year.[17]

Dropcam hosts cloud data throughAmazon Web Services[19]and Duffy said in 2014 that Dropcam presently records more video thanYouTube.[9][20]

Dropcam has become popular in families watching their children,[21]through monitoring pets at home, at pet stores[22]and in adoption centers. Users have also reportedly caught home-burglaries in progress.[23]Duffy has said, “Moms are using it to catch their babies' first steps when they're not around, checking that older kids have arrived home safely; contacting children who are ignoring their cell phones; and sharing footage from birthday parties.”[24]

Due to the success of Dropcam, several companies launched similar products and services in 2014 and 2015, such as SpotCam and simplicam.[25]

In June 2015, the parent company Nest has introduced Nest Cam as a successor to Dropcam Pro.[26]

On April 7, 2023, Google announced that it would end support for both Dropcam andNest Secureon April 8, 2024.[6]

Cloud Recording

[edit]

Dropcam provides optional encrypted digital video recording through the cloud. The Cloud Recording service automatically saves video on a rolling basis, so users can review the past week or month of footage, depending on their plan. All users, with or without the service, can still view the live feed.[27]Dropcam allows users to download the video and create video clips while also allowing for the creation of a public stream. About 40% of Dropcam users sign up for the cloud service.[23]

As part of Dropcam's Cloud Recording service, markers are placed on a user's video timeline when motion or audio is detected, so a user may go back and view those specific events rather than watch the whole feed to search for notable activities.[27]Dropcam introduced a beta version of its Activity Recognition feature for Cloud Recording, which learns typical motion patterns in a user's video stream, allowing for customized motion alerts.[28]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Gannes, Liz."Google's Nest Buys Dropcam for $555 Million".Re/code.Retrieved21 June2014.
  2. ^Lowensohn, Josh (21 June 2014)."Nest buying video monitoring startup Dropcam for $555 million".The Verge.Vox Media.Retrieved21 June2014.
  3. ^Bergen, Mark (22 March 2016)."Dropcam Founder: Selling to Nest and Google Was a 'Mistake'. A bitter feud brews at Alphabet".Vox.Vox Media.Retrieved8 April2023.
  4. ^Linda, Reyes."Nest made hq pet camera for outdoor using".Archived fromthe originalon 10 April 2019.Retrieved14 November2019.
  5. ^"Nest Cam".Nest.
  6. ^ab"Google will drop Dropcam and Nest Secure in 2024".7 April 2023.
  7. ^Shontell, Alyson."Red-Hot Startup Dropcam Will Kill The Old Fashioned Surveillance Camera".Business Insider.Retrieved26 May2014.
  8. ^"About".Dropcam.Retrieved25 May2014.
  9. ^abHernandez, Daniela."Software Is Still King. Hardware Is Just Along for the Ride".Wired.Retrieved30 May2014.
  10. ^Gannes, Liz."The Story of Dropcam, a Little Hardware Start-Up With Its Head in the Cloud".AllThingsD.Retrieved2 June2014.
  11. ^Martin, Scott."Dropcam captures $30 million in funding".USAToday.Retrieved29 May2014.
  12. ^Popper, Ben (31 July 2013)."This company just raised $30m to put cameras all over your house".The Verge.Retrieved1 June2014.
  13. ^Sloan, Paul."How the cloud is revolutionizing gadgets".CNET.Retrieved2 June2014.
  14. ^Tam, Donna."Dropcam sees $12 million in new funding, better software".CNET.Retrieved25 May2014.
  15. ^Deamicis, Carmel."Despite Segway and Fisker, Kleiner Perkins keeps making hardware bets".
  16. ^Cutler, Kim-Mai (7 June 2012)."Another Super Angel Levels Up: Aydin Senkut's Felicis Ventures Closes $70M".Tech Crunch.Retrieved2 June2014.
  17. ^abLara-Cinisomo, Vincent."Silicon Valley VCs pump $30 million into WiFi video-camera firm Dropcam".Retrieved21 May2014.
  18. ^Martin, Scott."Dropcam captures $30 million in funding".USA Today.Retrieved2 June2014.
  19. ^"AWS Case Study: Dropcam".Amazon Web Services.Retrieved21 May2014.
  20. ^"Dropcam Records More Video Than Youtube: CEO".Bloomberg.Retrieved21 May2014.
  21. ^Eaton, Kit (11 December 2013)."Keep an Eye on Children, or Other Valuables".The New York Times.Retrieved27 May2014.
  22. ^Hardy, Quentin (8 January 2014)."Webcams See All (Tortoise, Watch Your Back)".The New York Times.Retrieved27 May2014.
  23. ^abKelly, Heather (10 October 2013)."DIY home (and pet) surveillance from an app".CNN.Retrieved30 May2014.
  24. ^Wang, Jennifer (21 March 2012)."How Three Business Broke Into the Mommy Market".Entrepreneur.Retrieved28 May2014.
  25. ^Newman, Jared."This Dropcam alternative promises not to eat your bandwidth".TechHive. Archived fromthe originalon 13 April 2016.Retrieved3 Apr2016.
  26. ^"Nest Cam: Does It Replace Its Brother, DropCam Pro?".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-09-29.Retrieved2016-12-25.
  27. ^abGriffith, Eric."Dropcam Pro".PC Mag.Retrieved30 May2014.
  28. ^Truong, Alice."Dropcam Eyes The Connected Home With The Launch Of A Bluetooth-Enabled Camera".Fast Company.Retrieved2 June2014.
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