IoE Startup Nest Labs Lands $150 Million in Additional Funding

Nest Labs, a heavily venture-backed smart home startup whose wireless, sensor-equipped, Internet of Everything (IoE) thermostat has drawn widespread raves, has landed $150 million in additional funding, bringing the company’s valuation to a cool $2 billion, according to reports.

The company has declined to comment on the investment round, but a report in Re/code insisted the IoE smart home device maker is on the verge of securing the sizeable venture capital infusion led by DST Global Investments. Other venture backers also may be involved, driving the investment to upwards of $200 million and Nest’s valuation toward $3 billion, the report said.

"According to several people with knowledge of the situation, the transaction appears to have been clinched by Yuri Milner's DST Global investment firm," wrote Re/Code’s Kara Swisher. "DST has the bulk of the new investment, said sources, but current investors—including Google (GOOG) Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Generation Investment Management, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Venrock and others—will also participate."

Nest raised about $80 million in a round of funding a year ago.

The company is in the IoE forefront for now, following its smart thermostat with a smoke and carbon monoxide detector that also connects to the heating and cooling regulator, framing the beginnings of what is expected to grow into a multi-trillion dollar industry of sensor-equipped digital objects and devices spanning the globe. The gizmos, no matter what or where they are, all can be controlled by smartphones or tablets, of course.

"We're expanding both the product lines and the regions that we cover, and we are continually expanding our retailers," Tony Fadell, Nest co-founder and chief executive, told the San Jose Mercury News in an interview last October. "There's massive growth. We're breathless."

Nest has grown to nearly 300 people, some 50 percent of whom are former Apple (AAPL) employees, including Fadell and co-founder Matt Rogers. The company’s board includes Fadell, Rogers and venture capital directors Randy Komisar of Kleiner Perkins and Bill Maris of Google Ventures.