Toronto-based ecobee is quietly becoming a major player in the connect home space. After launching its ecobee3 smart thermostat in September, the company set about collaborating with air conditioning giant Carrier to develop the Wi-Fi enabled Carrier Cor thermostat.
That collaboration has led to a more involved partnership, as Carrier announced today that it has made a minority equity investment in ecobee. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the expansion of both companies’ “strategic relationship” should mean more deeply integrated products and possibly whole new product lines.
“Being selected as the thermostat technology to power the Carrier Côr thermostat is significant validation and testament to the pioneering technology ecobee has been developing since 2007,” said Stuart Lombard, CEO of ecobee. “This strategic relationship with Carrier will help put ecobee’s energy-saving technology into more homes across America.”
In the short term, the partnership is a major distribution win for ecobee, possibly more so than the company’s recent expansion into Apple and Best Buy’s online stores in the U.S.
