Lifeshield is an America home alarm company based in Pennsylvania. Lifeshield provides a DIY (do-it-yourself) security solution and has customers throughout the United States. The company was founded in 2002 and has had an interesting history.
Lou Stilp founded Lifeshield under the name InGrid Home Security. The system he created was a wireless security solution, that had a base and a phone type control. The system and company had moderate success.
In 2009 an entrepreneur named Mike Hagan bought a stake in the company, which was now using the name Lifeshield. Mike had success in the past with Nutrisystem and understood the value of direct marketing. He believed the Lifeshield DIY alarm solution would work through a direct to consumer sales model. With Hagan now at the helm, Lifeshield began to market through various media. Exact subscriber numbers are unknown; however, it is believed that Lifeshield had some success, albeit not to the same extent as certain other better-known DIY alarm companies.
In 2013 Lifeshield was acquired by DIRECTV. The thought process was the market the new service to all new and existing DIRECTV customers in a bundle. It is believed that Lifeshield had approximately 18,000 customers at the time of the acquisition.
DIRECTV had moderate success with customers adding the Lifeshield alarm service. In 2018 DIRECTV decided to sell of Lifeshield to a group of investors. It is believed that Lifeshield had approximately 35,000 - 37,500 customers at the time of the sale. Mike Hagan was involved in the sale from DIRECTV.
ADT, the largest alarm company in the world, was feeling significant effects of the do-it-yourself alarm market on their customer base. ADT offers a traditional alarm system that requires an installer to come to the home to set it up. More and more new customers were choosing to go with do-it-yourself alarm companies. In addition, more and more ADT customers were cancelling and migrating to DIY companies like Simplisafe, Ring.com, Frontpoint and Think Protection. ADT had to do something to counter the customer attrition DIY companies were responsible for
In 2019, ADT purchased Lifeshield. The idea was to have Lifeshield operate as a separate brand in the DIY alarm space. If customers cancel ADT to go to a DIY company, ADT was hoping they’d go to Lifeshield – gain what’s lost through a secondary channel. It is unknown how success Lifeshield is under the ADT umbrella. And ADT however does not hide their ownership of Lifeshield, as on their website next to the Lifeshield logo it clearly states: “An ADT Company”. Plus, with the purchase of a new system, the package comes with ADT lawn signage.
The Lifeshield purchase was for $25 million dollars. It’s estimated that Lifeshield had approximate 40,000 accounts at the time of the purchase.
It will be interesting to see how Lifeshield works with ADT as their corporate parent. What will happen to Lifeshield’s products, services and pricing? Will ADT be able to fend off DIY competitors through Lifeshield? Only time will tell how ADT and Lifeshield will compete in the DIY marketplace.
