Life360, a smartphone app, has received support in form of investment from BMW iVentures, the venture capital arm of BMW Group, to integrate the start-up’s technology into the vehicles manufactured by BMW.
This seems a bit surprising as one might not have expected a smartphone app to get integrated into a vehicle and perform an entirely different function altogether. However, the association with the BMW Group is well within in line of the start-up’s goals.
Life360 is an app that allows family members to stay connected throughout their busy day. On a private map, a user can see where their family members are, group chat with them and get help in case of emergency. Explaining the app’s connection with the car manufacturer, Life360 co-founder and CEO Chris Hulls said, via BetaKit:
“A lot of people might scratch their head and ask why BMW is investing in an app that does family location sharing. But what’s happening with cars and connected devices in general is they’re really looking for ways to leverage the data you get for mobile. One thing car companies have found is that people don’t really care about checking Facebook from their cars…they’ve realized they really need killer apps that actually can leverage their car platform that really makes sense in an automotive setting.”
With Life360, drivers can get locations of their family members easily and get the GPS to track the location, making it a one-touch experience. This is not it; the authorities at Life360 plans on further expanding its horizon to other industries and use the app effectively there. They are also reportedly in talks with home security space. The app can be useful in this aspect as many people tend to forget to arm the systems when they leave their house. This app will enable them to automatically arm the system. Hulls said:
“People think of us as [only] a family tracking app and I think it’s an assumption that I think is completely wrong because there is so much you can do when you have family location data. It’s not about stalking people, not about keeping tabs on people, it’s really about using that data to make life more smoother and convenient. There are all these use cases that aren’t immediately obvious when people think well why I would have an app that shares my family location on my phone.”
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