Alert Me

The start-up behind the Hive smart thermostat has just been bought for £65 million by British Gas. We find out why its CEO is convinced this is the start of the journey, not the end

BARRY COLLINS

KEYFACTS ALERTME IN A NUTSHELL Alert Me is the company behind the Hive smart thermostat system. It was recently acquired by British Gas in a deal worth around £65 million. LOCATION Cambridge, London and offices in the US FOUNDED 2006 EMPLOYEES 70 WEBSITE alertme.com It happens with dispiriting frequency: a start-up develops an original, much-loved piece of technology, only to be bought out by a giant corporation that wants to prevent rivals from getting their hands on it. The original design team is swiftly uprooted and moved into Global Corp Inc’s HQ, where they quickly tire of being the tiddlers in a massive pond, and all of the inspirational brilliance behind that original product dissipates. Global Corp Inc spits out a few more insipid versions of that once brilliant product, before abandoning the idea and moving onto…

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PC Pro (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2015

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