Cisco Systems Inc. has made an undisclosed investment in New Jersey’s Zensys Inc. with an eye toward working the company’s home automation offerings into products from Irvine-based Linksys.
Zensys is the developer of Z-Wave, a wireless networking technology that lets users remotely control lights, security systems and other household electronics.
“We expect the digital home control market will be our next big chance,” Malachy Moynihan, Linksys vice president of engineering and marketing, told tech trade publication Computer Reseller News.
Linksys makes home networking products, some of which already include chips for Z-Wave. Cisco acquired Linksys or $500 million in 2003.
Zensys said plans to use the money from Cisco to work its technology into other Linksys products.
The deal marks a big win for Zensys, which is battling to be the standard for wireless home automation versus a rival technology called ZigBee.
Linksys has benefited from other Cisco spending.
Last year, Cisco paid $61 million for Denmark’s Kiss Technology AS, which was folded into Linksys. Before that, two other Cisco buys made their way to Linksys: Sipura Technology Inc. and Airespace Inc.
