Home Wi-Fi That May Actually Be Worth a Damn

It was a big week for eero. Last week, the company announced it secured $50 million in growth funding for its product, a sleek white unit that functions as a router, range extender and wireless access point, and promises to increase WiFi speeds comparable to corporate Ethernet environments by creating a mesh network of connectivity when placed around the home — in contrast to the typical “hub-and-spoke model of a single router and range extender.

The funding round was led by Menlo Ventures, with Index Ventures also playing a major role. Menlo’s previous investments have included Dropcam, Roku and Siri. Mark Siegel, managing director of Menlo, told reporters, “eero’s explosive growth makes it a perfect fit as the first investment in the Menlo Opportunity Fund, which invests in companies at a key inflection points.”

Combined with previous funding efforts, whose participants have included First Round Capital, Shasta Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Playground Ventures, funding for eero now stands at a cool $90 million. The new round will be used to expand distribution, improve customer service and increase the visibility of eero’s brand. Nick Weaver, eero’s founder and CEO, commented that, “With this round of funding from leading investors, eero is well-positioned to provide a strong foundation for the connected home on an even larger scale.”

Best Buy will be the first to offer eero at brick-and-mortar locations. The product will be launching on Bestbuy.com next week, and will be available in 500 of the mega-retailers’s brick-and-mortar stores when it is released this summer.

Eero retails for $199 for one unit or $499 for three, and it can be purchased within the U.S. at eero.com and Amazon.com, as well as on Bestbuy.com starting next week. The eero app is available as a free download from the Apple IOS Store or the Google Play store.