Regulators warned Amazon’s iRobot deal would hurt consumers. Instead, the Roomba maker collapsed and sold to China.

The Roomba maker is being sold to its Chinese contract manufacturer, a move CEO Gary Cohen says will keep the company alive and allow it to grow.

Colin Angle, one of the co-founders of Roomba maker iRobot, is raising cash for a home robotics venture. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that Angle’s new company, Familiar Machines & Magic, is trying to raise $30 million.

November 2025 started with the Robotics Startup Radar and continued with news from important players in the robotics industry.

iRobot, once the company synonymous with robot vacuums, might not make it another year. For many years, iRobot was the company you thought of, when you thought of robot vacuums. It wasn’t “I have a robot vacuum”, no, it was “I have a Roomba ...

Founded 35 years ago, the Massachusetts company pioneered the development of home vacuum robots and grew to become one of the most recognizable American consumer brands. Over the years, it lost ground to Chinese competitors with less-expensive products.