Life360 (LIFX) CEO Chris Hulls joins Yahoo Finance to discuss how the app has transformed beyond basic location services.
One of the top location-sharing apps on the market, Hulls tells Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton that the app is “not just about safety, but also about a sense of connection.” In addition to location services, the company can also track driving behavior and help families deal with emergencies by providing in-app emergency assistance.
Life360 has also expanded to devices, offering location services for everything from keys to pets. “Our belief is that location will figure into everything and this is still in its early stages,” Hulls explains. As millennials become parents, mobile devices are increasingly playing a role in parenting, contributing to Life360’s growth.
Following the popularity of Apple’s (AAPL) Find My iPhone, Hulls explains that Life360 offers a “richer interface” with more detailed information. He adds that the app isn’t just for families with teenage children, as Life360 is ultimately about “staying in touch with the people closest to you.”
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This post was written by Melanie Riehl
Video transcription
Location sharing is more than just seeing what your kids do during the day and in life.
The 360 company operates a platform aimed at families, allowing users to not only keep track of their loved ones, but also track their assets and access a range of security services.
Come visit us now to discuss business opportunities and more.
6360 co-founder and CEO Chris Halls.
Chris.
Thank you for your presence.
Appreciate it.
So talk to me about how you guys are integrated into devices and, and what the demand looks like right now.
Certainly.
So we were the first location sharing app on the market and we have the insight that location can be the springboard for so many different family services.
It’s not just about safety, but about the feeling of connection.
Where is anyone?
How do they drive?
How do they feel?
And if there is an emergency, what if you need an ambulance?
What if you need help?
Because your kid drank the Tylenol.
We have a whole range of services that fit within our umbrella.
And recently we’ve moved to appliances.
So pets, cars, keys, things you really care about.
Our belief is that location will be in everything, and it’s just the early days of the millennial generation becoming parents, of course they’re turning to their devices and that’s the driving force behind this tremendous growth that we’ve had.
And Chris, I assume, you know, when I follow people, I assume that the other person has to sign up.
Yes, it’s 100% opt-in.
There is no parent and child version of the app.
It’s all the same, completely peer-to-peer.
And that was one of the most important elements of our platform in the early days: the trust that you signed up, that’s not stealth.
Um. And life 360 I imagine it competes on some levels, although you have a different package of services with things like find my iPhone.
So I’m curious to see how much of it is deployed on Android devices.
And do you also have any market share on IOS devices?
So, counterintuitively, we actually have a larger market share in the heavy Android sector and pardon me, I have heavy regions and a big part of it is because Apple helped popularize location sharing because hey, they its Apple, they’re normalizing something that felt a bit creepy prematurely.
But as we grew, people realized whether I really want that richer interface, whether I have a family, whether I have cross-platform customers, whether I want to know how someone drives.
If I want an interface, a little more lively and less utilitarian, then you get AI 360.
So we hear very regularly from people who started with find my and moved to I 360, but about half of our paying customers are on another platform.
And Chris, I’m curious if, you know, if you have kids of your own and if so, do you use the app to stay in touch with them?
I have two daughters, six and nine.
So I don’t use the app for them.
But I do use tilers with it.
And something that’s a little counterintuitive is that it’s not just about parents with children.
We have couples, we have people taking care of their elderly parents.
So if you really look at what we do, it’s about the family organizer.
It’s about staying in touch with the people closest to you, and it’s not just people with teenage children.
Um. And as you know, there’s a story in the Wall Street Journal about possibly more information about a new source of income for you.
You have, you know, people paying for some of the services that you’re talking about, but it sounds like you’re also going to have an ad-supported version and you’re going to provide some more information about the ad revenue.
What, what can you tell us about that piece?
Absolute.
So according to data point AI, we are currently the 15th largest app in the country on IOS.
So we have a huge wealth of real-time first-party data.
And I think sometimes you can look at data and it just seems like a way to harvest things from your customers.
But we actually think we can make offers that are very attractive.
Imagine you land at a new airport and we can get you an Uber immediately, or you go to a new country and we can offer you travel insurance.
Those are things that take advantage of your data in very useful ways, where we can match our customers with products and services that actually help them.
And that’s a very unique form of advertising, and we’re excited to lead that.
And Chris, you trade in Australia, you have an OTC listing here, but I understand you may be pursuing a dual listing in the US.
What is the possible timeline for that?
I can’t comment on that, but we have filed an S3 prospectus for everyone to look at.
OK. We will and hopefully other people will too, Chris.
Thank you so much.
Appreciate it.
Thanks for letting me be here.