Amazon – ecommerce giant, has announced that it is planning to acquire iRobot.
The acquisition is planned to be an all cash deal and will be valued at $1.7 billion. Founded in 1990 by three MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab members, iRobot is a leading robotics company that is famous for its robotic vacuum cleaners.
The company despite being famous for its robotic vacuum cleaners, launched after 12 years of its founding, named as ‘Roomba’, the company has been able to sell more than 30 million of these home cleaning robots. Two of its three founding members Rodney Brooks and Helen Greiner have gone on to lead other companies. However, Colin Angle is the CEO and will continue to be the CEO after Amazon’s acquisitions.
Colin Angle, while speaking about the acquisition said that; “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.”
He added: “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”.
This acquisition is not Amazon’s first jump into the robotics industry, the company for years has actively focused its effort on the robotics space soon after it acquired Kiva Systems. Just recently we saw Amazon entering into home robotics with ‘Astro’, a home robot that is similar to Roomba.
With Amazon trying to enter an industry that is massively ruled by iRobot, it only makes sense for the e-commerce giant to acquire competition and create even better products.
Amazon devices SVP Dave Limp in a press release said that:
“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love. Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive—from cleaning when and where customers want while avoiding common obstacles in the home, to automatically emptying the collection bin. Customers love iRobot products—and I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent in ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.”
