smart homesGraveyard archive1990-2026

iRobot

iRobot invented the mass-market robot vacuum with the Roomba in 2002 and dominated the category for two decades. Amazon agreed to buy it for $1.7B in 2022, but the deal collapsed on January 29, 2024 after the European Commission signaled it would not clear it, forcing layoffs of about 31% of staff and the exit of co-founder Colin Angle. Battered by lower-priced Chinese rivals and falling revenue, iRobot filed for Chapter 11 in December 2025 and was taken private by Shenzhen PICEA Robotics in January 2026, ending its run as an independent public company.

Years active

1990-2026

Peak valuation

$3.6B

Peak headcount

201-500

From MIT robots to the Roomba

iRobot was founded in 1990 by MIT roboticists Colin Angle, Helen Greiner and Rodney Brooks, initially building defense and research robots before turning to the home. The Roomba launched in September 2002 at $199 and was an immediate hit, selling roughly 50,000 units in its first year and surpassing two million by 2005. The Braava robotic mop followed a decade later. iRobot effectively created the consumer robot-vacuum category and, at its pandemic-era peak in 2021, carried a market valuation around $3.5B with roughly 42% U.S. share and dominant positions in markets like Japan.

The Amazon lifeline that regulators killed

Amazon agreed to acquire iRobot for about $1.7B in August 2022, a deal iRobot was counting on as it took on debt to weather a slowing market. U.S. and EU scrutiny dragged on; the price was cut, and on January 29, 2024 the two companies terminated the deal after the European Commission signaled there was no path to approval over smart-home competition concerns. Amazon paid a $94M breakup fee. The same day iRobot announced it would lay off about 31% of its workforce — roughly 350 people — and co-founder and CEO Colin Angle stepped down, with chief legal officer Glen Weinstein appointed interim CEO.

Chinese fast-followers and a going-concern spiral

With the Amazon rescue gone, iRobot faced a market it was losing. Chinese rivals Roborock and Ecovacs offered comparable or better specs at lower prices; Roborock, which IPO'd on Shanghai's STAR Market in 2020, overtook iRobot to become the world's largest robot-vacuum vendor, while iRobot's global share fell to roughly 14% by late 2024. Revenue dropped to about $682M in 2024, and the company issued a going-concern warning amid mounting debt. Angle later called Chinese competition the single biggest reason for the failure, citing 'fast followers' with a protected home market iRobot could not access.

Bankruptcy and a private takeover

On December 14, 2025 iRobot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware under a Restructuring Support Agreement with Shenzhen PICEA Robotics. A prepackaged plan was confirmed in January 2026, and on January 23, 2026 PICEA completed its acquisition of 100% of iRobot's equity, taking the company private as a PICEA subsidiary; IRBT shares were delisted from Nasdaq. The Roomba brand and products survive under Chinese ownership, but iRobot ceased to exist as the independent American public company that built the category — a fate co-founders publicly called a tragedy and a blunder of antitrust enforcement.

What worked, what broke

What worked

Invented the mass-market robot vacuum with the 2002 Roomba, selling ~50,000 units in year one and over two million by 2005.
Defined and dominated a global category for two decades, peaking near a $3.5B valuation and ~42% U.S. market share in 2021.
Expanded the platform with the Braava mop line and Roomba Combo vacuum-mop hybrids, plus features like Imprint Smart Mapping.
Built durable brand recognition strong enough that 'Roomba' became a generic shorthand for robot vacuums.
Pioneered consumer-grade autonomous navigation and mapping, later adding lidar and AI obstacle avoidance to its 2025 lineup.

What broke

Lower-priced Chinese rivals like Roborock and Ecovacs out-shipped and out-featured iRobot, with Roborock taking the global lead by 2024.
Chinese competitors enjoyed a large protected home market to scale in, an advantage iRobot lacked entry to as a fast-follower target.
The $1.7B Amazon acquisition — its planned lifeline — was killed by EU antitrust opposition in January 2024, leaving no rescue.
iRobot had taken on debt expecting the Amazon deal to close, so the collapse left it overleveraged with a going-concern warning.
Revenue fell sharply to roughly $682M in 2024 as market share eroded, forcing ~31% layoffs and ultimately Chapter 11.

Sources

Obituary authored Jun 30, 2026 via Sonnet 4.5 + web_search.