iRobot is bankrupt - and is being taken over

Lorenz Keller

15-12-2025

Translation: machine translated

Pictures: Lorenz Keller

Robot vacuum cleaner manufacturer iRobot has filed for bankruptcy in the USA. It will be taken over by the Chinese company Picea Robotics so that business operations and the devices can continue.

iRobot has been experiencing financial difficulties for some time. In November, for example, iRobot had to announce that revenues were far below expectations and reserves were dwindling. Gary Cohen, CEO of iRobot, announced in a press release: «<aref="»">This deficit increased cash burn and impacted profitability as we were unable to fully cover our fixed cost base. </aref="»">

Now, final talks with investors have failed. iRobot filed for «pre-packaged chapter 11 process» on Sunday evening, 14 December. This is an accelerated bankruptcy and reorganisation procedure in the USA.

The robot hoover manufacturer is now being taken over by Picea Robotics. This company from China has already built the current Roomba models. iRobot is therefore being acquired by its supplier.

The Roomba robots will continue to run for the time being

This is good news for customers, as operations will continue seamlessly. This is particularly important because the newer models are dependent on the iRobot app. If the manufacturer switches off the servers, the devices can only be used to a limited extent. This is exactly what happened to the manufacturer Neato who stopped production completely in 2023. In October 2025, the rescue company has now ended all support and switched off the servers.

iRobot says that operations will continue without any restrictions on app functionality, customer service, spare parts availability and product support.

In addition to manufacturing devices for other manufacturers such as Shark and Anker, the new owner Picea also has its own brand of robotic vacuum cleaners, which is active in the USA and elsewhere. It is called 3i. It is still unclear whether both brands will continue to operate in parallel.

If you want to know why iRobot got into these difficulties and how the company actually wanted to save itself in 2025, you can read about it in these two articles. Unfortunately, as we now know, these plans didn't work out.

Lorenz Keller

Senior Editor

Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.ch

Gadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.

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