Vacuums are supposed to suck up dust, not bite it. iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba, filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday night and announced that it will be acquired by its main manufacturer and lender, China-based Picea Robotics.
Don’t panic: iRobot said the restructuring won’t affect its existing products or customer service. Worst case, if Picea—which also sells robot vacuums and makes them for other companies—ultimately decides to strip iRobot for parts, your Roomba should still work, just without an app or cloud connectivity, the Verge reported last month when iRobot forewarned of bankruptcy.
iRobot couldn’t clean up its act
The company’s value crashed from $3.56 billion in 2021 to ~$140 million now, according to data compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group. In 2015, iRobot had so much money that it launched a VC arm. But in recent years, its business has resembled that museum exhibit of the industrial robot arm endlessly sweeping a pool of liquid:
iRobot still controls 42% of the US robo-vacuum market, but cheaper Chinese alternatives and post-pandemic supply chain issues have caused its earnings to decline since 2021.
