Blink is an emerging company that offers Smart Home Automation cameras and doorbells. They are stylish and come with valuable features such as motion detection, two-way audio, and cloud storage which has seen Blink devices rise in popularity among homeowners.

Nevertheless, the increasing trend of the Blink brand raises several concerns amongst the consumers – who owns Blink? Read further to find out more about the history of Blink and its present-day company affiliation.

Blink's Early Beginnings

Blink began in 2014 when Imogen Heap created the company. Heap is a British musician and songwriter, famous for her technological experiments and such songs as “Hide and Seek.” The idea of Blink creation was born when Heap needed an efficient, easy-to-use, and not very pricey means of tracking deliveries and guests at her home studio.

Heap invested the initial capital for developing Blink and self-funded its research process. She then hired Harvard Business School graduates Peter Besen and Michael Harris to officially start the company in 2014. Heap was the first CEO of the company. The early Blink team also consisted of engineers and designers who were to help Heap turn Blink into a line of simple, battery-powered security cameras.

Blink first camera system was created and introduced to the market through the crowdfunding source of the Kickstarter platform in 2016. It secured more than $1 million from backers who were captivated by Blink’s concept of wireless and enduring security cameras. The positive reaction from consumers on Kickstarter made Blink gain popularity and access the retail market.

Blink finally gets acquired by Amazon.

The company was acquired by the world’s largest online retailer Amazon in 2017 for more than $90 million. This decision meant significant shifts for the young company which had been relatively small up until that point. The acquisition also led to the departure of the founder Imogen Heap from the company. Other early team members also included CEO Peter Besen.

However, Amazon has also provided Blink with resources that assisted the company in many ways as well. Thanks to Amazon, the Blink team managed to expand the offering of Blink products, reduce prices, and incorporate Blink into other Amazon services such as Alexa voice control.

Blink Today

Today, Blink operates under the management of the executive and engineering leadership team and resides in Amazon’s Boston Tech Hub. Specific numbers of employees at Amazon are not released, however, Blink has approximately 100 people on its team and is expanding. They continue Heap’s founding vision – to make smart home security technology more accessible to the general public.

So in summary - musician Imogen Heap is the one who came up with the concept of Blink and she funded its initial development. However, Blink rose quickly and had a successful Kickstarter campaign only to be bought by Amazon in 2017. Amazon bought the company and is now the sole owner and operator of the company, although the founder of the company has left. While Blink has remained a separate brand, it has gained significantly from using Amazon’s facilities and channels of distribution.

Blink Product Line

Currently, the Blink product line consists of security cameras and doorbells for home security and other smart gadgets. Some of their major offerings include: 

  • Blink Mini: The most selling indoor plug-in camera type costs only $35.
  • Blink Outdoor: A wireless camera that can be installed outside and has a battery life of two years.
  • Blink Video Doorbell: A compact wired doorbell that offers high-definition video and audio.
  • Blink Sync Modules: Connect Blink devices to the cloud and allow functions such as motion detection.

Blink has expanded from the single Indiegogo camera model to the whole home protection with Blink doorbells, indoor and outdoor cameras, floodlight cameras, Blink’s solar panel chargers, and much more. Products are introduced periodically according to market trends and consumers’ expectations.

Merged with Amazon Influence

Some Blink products such as the ability of Blink cameras to link with Alexa-enabled devices for voice control have been affected by Amazon’s support. There are also mixed packages for Amazon homes such as Blink Video Doorbell and an Echo Show 5.

And some services owned by Amazon are the main components of Blink’s functionality. For instance, Blink subscriptions for viewing cloud storage for videos are $3 monthly, a relatively cheap price that could be influenced by Amazon cash inflows. A scalable server capacity of AWS allows for the storage of as many recordings as possible for millions of Blink customers from across the globe.

The Future of Blink

Although Blink started as a startup company, the brand has grown to be a leading company in home security after being acquired by Amazon in 2017. The company appears to be in an even better position to achieve higher growth rates in the future. Since the latest updates on Blink’s hardware and software, the company has received rattling reviews and recommendations from tech media such as CNET, Wirecutter, and Tom’s Guide.

Thanks to Amazon’s support and investment, customers should be able to see more advancements and insurance solutions from Blink. And the prices should still be affordable given the access to a large market from Amazon scale and special offers available to Prime members. Blink, owned by Amazon, seems to be the future of smart security cameras for homeowners seeking the best and most affordable cameras that are easy to use.

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