Amazon Alexa Fund invests in smart thermostat company Ecobee’s $35 million round

Ecobee announced today that it has received a $35 million round of funding for its smart Wi-Fi thermostat. This latest infusion of capital came from Amazon’s Alexa Fund, Thomvest, and Relay Ventures. This is the largest investment that the Alexa Fund has made thus far, Ecobee said in a statement.

Ecobee intends to use its new capital to further develop connected home technologies “that make people’s lives simpler and better.”

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Founded in 2007, Ecobee produces devices and solutions aimed at conserving energy. Its smart thermostat is digitally programmable to customize temperatures across rooms, putting it in competition with the likes of Google’s Nest and Honeywell. To its credit, Ecobee has made a point of integrating with platforms like HomeKit, and it enjoys the distinction of being the first such product associated with Apple’s service that can be controlled using Siri.

This is not the first time the company has had a relationship with Amazon. Earlier this year, Ecobee became the first thermostat maker to tie itself to the Amazon Echo, enabling Alexa’s control over the device. That pairing makes it possible to issue commands like “Alexa, turn the heat to 74 degrees.” After the success of this integration, Amazon decided to chip in money from its $100 million Alexa Fund to support Ecobee.

“This funding round marks our largest single Alexa Fund investment to date and builds on our existing relationship with Ecobee, who was instrumental in helping us build the Alexa Smart Home Skill API,” said Steve Rabuchin, Amazon’s vice president for its Alexa division. “We’ve been impressed with Ecobee’s innovative smart home technologies and their ability to improve the everyday lives of homeowners. We’re excited to see what the future holds for this growing company and the new voice experiences they’ll bring to Amazon Alexa customers.”

Ecobee was founded in 2007 and is based in Toronto. To date Ecobee has raised more than $51 million in venture capital.