Amazon Adds to Smart Home Appliances Collection

Amazon is continuing to add to its collection of smart home appliances. With voice assistant Alexa, the Astro Robot and Ring security cameras already in its collection, the tech giant announced it agreed to acquire iRobot for around $1.7 billion.

Why would Amazon acquire another household robot company if it already had the Astro Robot in its collection? After being unveiled for $1,000 last year, the Astro Robot can only be acquired by invitation. Amazon is likely wanting to reach out toward a bigger audience to connect more with consumer and homes, and iRobot products are more readily available in various retail stores.

iRobot, known for its innovative home robots, the Roomba robot vacuum and the Braava family of mopping robots, has 30 years of robotics expertise and innovation. The company has continued to innovate with every product generation, solving problems to help give customers valuable time back in their day.

“We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love,” said Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon Devices. Limp also praised the iRobot team for the ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are “incredibly practical and inventive.”

iRobot was already utilizing AWS the past few years to ensure its growth and address opportunities within its consumer business and the connected home. A new Roomba would connect to AWS IoT Core, a managed cloud service that enables billions of connected devices to interact easily and securely with cloud applications and other devices. iRobot’s backend IoT solution also uses AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway and Amazon DynamoDB.

“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,” said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot.

Amazon will acquire iRobot for $61 per share in an all-cash transaction. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by iRobot’s shareholders and regulatory approvals. On completion, Colin Angle will remain as CEO of iRobot.