Life360 Doubles Down on Growth Efforts
Names Virendra Vase as CTO, Launches on Windows Phone, and Expands Offering to Eight Languages
San Francisco, Calif. – June 12, 2014 – Life360, the leading Family Network, announced today a series of moves designed to position the company for long-term growth. First, the company named Virendra Vase as CTO. In addition, the company announced that the app is now available on Windows Phone and expanded its international offering by launching in eight languages. These steps are central to the company’s growth strategy as it builds on momentum from its recent $50M Series C financing.
Mr. Vase, who most recently served as CTO of Klout, and prior to that held top engineering positions at Salesforce and Yahoo!, will be responsible for Life360’s technology and engineering strategy. He brings over 20 years of experience helping a number of successful startups scale their technology platforms. Co-founder Alex Haro will take on the role of President.
“This is an exciting time to be part of the Internet of Things space, and Life360, with its location and communication technology, is uniquely positioned to create considerable value for the 33 million and growing families who rely on the app to stay connected and for the increasing number of partners who are collaborating with us,” said Virendra Vase, CTO of Life360. “I’m excited about the opportunity to lead this team of talented engineers and technologists and help scale the platform to meet our growth targets globally.”
In addition to scaling the company’s technology platform, Life360 is focused on growing its international presence. Until now, the Life360 app has only been available in English, and on iOS and Android. Despite this, the company experienced 260% growth internationally in the past year, with limited functionality outside of the US. In an effort to improve its international offering, Life360 is now available on Windows Phone, a strategic growth move for the company given the popularity of Windows Phone in Europe. Life360 has also expanded its language support to include Spanish, German, Korean, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and Indonesian.
“Growing our user base globally is a top priority and the addition of Virendra provides us with the technological leadership and experience needed to scale quickly and effectively. In addition, launching on the Windows Phone provides us with a powerful channel to connect with a broader audience and is key to our international growth strategy,” said Chris Hulls, co-founder and CEO of Life360. “We are experiencing incredible demand from consumers around the globe with zero marketing and despite the fact that many of our features did not work outside of the U.S. This is why I am excited to bring the complete Life360 experience to more families around the globe, in their native language, and with support for all of our technical capabilities that keep families connected throughout the day.”
Today, more than 33 million families use Life360 to stay connected by allowing them to share their locations, communicate easily within the family with in-app messaging, and even send an alert if someone needs help. The app’s popular geo-fencing feature enables families to set up and receive automatic alerts when a family member arrives or departs from a designated location, such as school, work or home.
As life moves to the mobile phone, Life360 is increasingly offering ways for families to integrate family location awareness into their smart homes and cars. Currently, families can use Life360 Recipes through IFTTT (If This Then That) to trigger automated events at home, such as locking the doors and turning off the lights when the last member of the family has left the house. By the end of 2014, Life360 integrations with ADT Security Systems and BMW will be available to consumers.
About Life360
Life360 is the leading location and communication app for families available for Android and the iPhone. Using proprietary location-based technology, Life360 enables families to share their locations, know when someone needs help and communicate easily with in-app messaging. The app operates in a convenient and secure way that does not interfere with busy schedules or personal freedom. Founded in 2008, Life360 placed first in Google’s Android Developer Challenge in that same year and has received funding from several prominent investors. For more information, visit www.life360.com.
Media Contact:
Julie Mullins
Life360
650-387-0486
Audrey Shedivy
Henry Grey PR, for Life360
310-770-0610