Amazon earlier today declared plans to get iRobot for an all-cash bargain esteemed at $1.7 billion. The home mechanical technology firm, most popular for spearheading the automated vacuum, was established in 1990 by MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab individuals Colin Angle, Rodney Brooks, and Helen Greiner.
Twelve years after its establishment, the organization presented the Roomba, a brand that has since become inseparable from the class, selling in excess of 30 million units starting around 2020.
Streams and Greiner have happened to establish and lead a few different organizations, while Angle has stayed on board as CEO — a position he will keep up with post-obtaining.
“Since we started iRobot, our team has been on a mission to create innovative, practical products that make customers’ lives easier, leading to inventions like the Roomba and iRobot OS,” CEO Colin Angle said in a release.
“Amazon shares our passion for building thoughtful innovations that empower people to do more at home, and I cannot think of a better place for our team to continue our mission. I’m hugely excited to be a part of Amazon and to see what we can build together for customers in the years ahead.”
Amazon, as well, has been forcefully handling the advanced mechanics’ space in the 10 years since it gained Kiva Systems; however, the Amazon Robotics division is centered exclusively around its stockroom/satisfaction play.
All the more as of late, the organization has made little strides into the home with the send-off of Astro, a merry ‘bot that misses the mark on Roomba’s single concentration.
The organization has, in any case, found trouble recovering the Roomba’s prosperity — however not really for the absence of endeavoring. It has explored different avenues regarding a few different home robot administrations, from cleaning drains and pools to wiping floors and trimming the grass.
The last option showed up as Terra, which has been placed on endless hold during the pandemic. That news came in April 2020, close by word the organization had laid off 70 representatives, containing around 5% of its worldwide labor force.
The organization veered off its tactical agreement wing in 2016 as Endeavor, which proceeded to be procured by FLIR frameworks in mid-2019. A year earlier, iRobot turned out the telepresence mechanical technology startup, Ava.
Furthermore, iRobot has made its own acquisitions too, buying associated air purging organization Aeris before the end of last year, in a bid to broaden its in-home existence.
