Vivint

Vivint Smart Home, Inc. is a United States-based smart home company. A subsidiary of NRG Energy, it was founded by Keith Nellesen and Todd Pedersen in 1999. Its products provide a unified access point to manage all smart home features, with 2 million customers as of 2023.

History
In 1999, Keith Nellesen and Todd Pedersen co-founded APX Alarm Security Solutions in Provo, Utah. At the time, the company sold and installed security systems. APX Alarm Security Solutions rebranded as Vivint in February 2011. Vivint was acquired by The Blackstone Group in November 2012.

The company launched Vivint Solar, a solar energy company, in 2011. Vivint Solar went public in October 2014 and was later purchased by Sunrun.

In February 2014, the company donated $1 million to the Utah Valley University, along with a $1 million investment from Vivint's CEO, to establish a professional sales program and a SMART Lab for marketing research.

Vivint's former CEO Todd Pedersen appeared on the CBS television show Undercover Boss in February 2015.

In 2015, Vivint became the official safety sponsor for Autism Speaks.

The 2017 J.D. Power 2017 Home Security Satisfaction Study ranked Vivint as the "Highest in Home Security Customer Satisfaction" among home security brands. The 2020 Home Security Satisfaction Study ranked Vivint second, behind AT&T Digital Life.

In January 2020, Vivint completed a merger with Mosaic Acquisition Corp. and became a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.

In December 2022, NRG announced the acquisition of Vivint Smart Home for $2.8 billion in cash, adding home security and automation to its offerings, expected to close on the first quarter of 2023.

In 2023, under the Vivint Gives Back program the company's employees packed and delivered 40,000 meal kits in cooperation with the Granite Education Foundation for children.

Vivint Arena
On October 26, 2015, Vivint acquired the naming rights to the Utah Jazz's home arena, renaming the building as Vivint Arena. The contract lasts for 10 years. In April 2018 Vivint and the Utah Jazz added a new sensory room at the arena for children with autism spectrum disorder. On July 1, 2023, the arena was renamed back to the Delta Center.

Products and services
Vivint offers home security products, including doorbell cameras, smart thermostats, indoor cameras, and integrations with lighting. In 2019, Vivint launched products for car security, and outdoor home security cameras.

In 2017, Vivint announced a partnership with Airbnb to allow hosts to integrate Airbnb accounts with Vivint products. In 2018, Vivint collaborated with Google to include two Google Home Mini devices in starter kits.

Legal issues
Prior to its acquisition, Vivint settled lawsuits with Arkansas, Oregon, Ohio, and Nebraska   along with two class-action lawsuits for alleged violations of the TCPA. Vivint has also alleged patent infringement against former competitor, ADT Inc. when it was a security company. In 2018, ADT agreed to a $10 million settlement with Vivint after ADT claimed agents misled nearly 1,000 customers to sign up.

In May 2021, Vivint was fined $20 million for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act under Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 when sales representatives used the names and identities of people without their consent in the place of customers who failed credit checks. Vivint then sold the debt to collectors in violation of the FTC's Red Flags Rule.

In December 2021, CPI Security alleged that Vivint sales representatives used deceptive tactics to acquire CPI's customers, including claiming that Vivint acquired CPI. In March 2022, Vivint paid $400,000 in penalties and restitution after the Arizona Attorney General alleged Vivint's sales representatives used deceptive marketing practices, including false representations of Vivint services, false claims that the customer's security company was being bought by Vivint, and non-consensual extensions of contracts.