Wink
Wink | A Simpler, Smarter Home.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor | €0.0 | round | |
$38.7m | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Wink, Labs Inc. provides a platform for smart home devices, enabling users to control various products through a single, consolidated mobile application. The company operates in the Internet of Things (IoT) market, serving consumers who use smart home products from various brands like Nest, GE, Philips, and Honeywell.
The business was established in 2014 as a spin-off from the invention incubator Quirky, which was founded by Ben Kaufman. Originally a collaboration with General Electric, Wink was created to control co-branded smart home products. Nathan Smith was a founder and the Chief Technology Officer. In June 2014, Wink was established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quirky. Following Quirky's bankruptcy, Wink was sold to its primary hardware supplier, Flex, for $15 million in November 2015. By July 2017, Flex sold Wink to i.am+, a tech company founded by musician will.i.am, for $59 million.
Wink's business model, which initially relied on a one-time hardware fee to cover ongoing cloud and development costs, proved unsustainable. This led to a pivotal shift in May 2020, when the company introduced a mandatory monthly subscription fee to maintain service, a move that caused considerable customer backlash due to the short notice. The company has experienced significant service outages, further straining its relationship with its user base.
The core of Wink's offering is its software and hardware products that connect with and control smart home devices. The Wink Hub and the newer Wink Hub 2 were designed to be protocol-agnostic, supporting a wide array of communication standards including Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy, Lutron Clear Connect, and Kidde. This allows users to manage a diverse ecosystem of smart devices—such as lights, door locks, thermostats, and sensors—from a unified interface on the Wink app. The app provides features like remote control and automation, allowing users to create "Shortcuts" to control multiple devices with a single tap.
Keywords: smart home, home automation, IoT platform, Wink Hub, connected devices, smart device integration, Z-Wave, Zigbee, remote control, home security, Internet of Things, smart lighting, smart thermostats, mobile app control, will.i.am, Quirky, Flex, Nathan Smith, subscription service, smart home hub