AirTag Competitor Tile Getting Acquired by Location Sharing App Life360

Tile, known for its range of Bluetooth-based tracking accessories that compete with the AirTag, is being acquired by location tracking service Life360, Tile announced today.

Tile will continue to be operated as a standalone brand under Tile CEO CJ Prober, but Tile says that when the acquisition is completed, it will be able to leverage Life360's 33 million smartphone users to grow Tile's Finding network by 10x. Tile's network is the equivalent of Apple's Find My network, leveraging nearby devices to locate lost items.

Life360 has what it calls a "family safety platform" that allows family members to keep tabs on one another with tracking software on smartphones. It's primarily used by parents to track their children and teenagers, and it has raised privacy concerns.

With the Tile acquisition, Life360 founder Chris Hulls says that Life360 will be able to provide an "all-encompassing solution" for locating people, pets, and things with cross-platform tracking and combined service for tracking items and people.

Individuals and families will be able to tap into Life360's flagship mobile app, a market leading app for families with features that range from communications to driving safety and location sharing. Additionally, people will be able to seamlessly leverage Tile's bluetooth-enabled finding devices trackers, which can equip nearly any item -- such as wallets, keys or remotes -- with location-based finding technology. Tile's technology is also embedded in over 50 different third-party devices, ranging from wireless earbuds and headphones to laptops to retainer cases to dog collars.

Life360's Tile acquisition deal is valued at $205 million and it is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.