Amazon is buying robot vacuum company iRobot for $1.7 billion

Amazon is buying robot vacuum cleaner company iRobot in a deal valued at approximately $1.7 billion.  

iRobot is best known for the Roomba, the autonomous vacuum cleaner that finds its way around household obstacles to vacuum floors completely on its own. It also makes robot mop devices, too.

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Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot, says Amazon was the perfect fit for the company. “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,” he said. He will remain as CEO once the transaction is completed. 

Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices, said that Amazon recognizes how much iRobot has done to make people’s lives easier.

“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,” said Limp in the release. “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.”

iRobot far from the first company Amazon has acquired to expand its smart home portfolio. In the last five years, Amazon acquired Blink Home, the security camera company, for an undisclosed amount and Ring, the camera doorbell company, for approximately one billion dollars. These acquisitions allowed the company to add security devices to its smart home ecosystem. 

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Amazon has been a leader in the smart home space with their Alexa Smart home technology, which allows you to control everything from lighting to security to televisions and thermostats with the sound of your voice.  

iRobot and Amazon already had established a relationship when they partnered to make the Roomba and Braava jet robots compatible with Alexa in 2021. This partnership allowed customers to use voice commands to tell the robots to start or stop cleaning and to go back to its home base. 

Meanwhile iRobot reported revenues of  $455.4 million and a net loss of $31.5 million due to supply chain constraints in the fourth quarter of FY 2021. The company also said that it sold its 40 millionth robot during the final quarter of 2021.