Iván Hernández Dalas: This time, iRobot needs help cleaning up a mess

First generation of the iRobot Roomba robot vacuum.

iRobot developers signed this first-generation Roomba Intelligent Floorvac. | Credit: Joe Jones

Few companies have done more for robotics than iRobot since its founding in 1990. iRobot has been the household name in consumer robotics, putting more than 50 million Roomba robot vacuums into homes around the world. The Roomba brought robots out of the lab and into millions of homes, sparking curiosity, comfort, and even affection for machines.

iRobot’s PackBots have been used to keep U.S. military personnel safe by identifying and disposing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), exploring caves and bunkers in Afghanistan and Iraq, and assisting in urban combat scenarios. PackBots were also used to explore the World Trade Center collapse after 9/11 and the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

iRobot also made a lasting impact on STEM education with its Create platform and Root educational robot. I have great memories of my 11-year-old daughter coding with the Root robot when she was younger. These products helped inspire the next generation of roboticists and engineers.

Beyond its robots, iRobot alumni have gone on to do great things across the robotics industry and others.

Now, iRobot is in major financial trouble. The company that once defined consumer robotics is drowning in debt, battered by cheap competitors, geopolitical issues, and a failed acquisition by Amazon that regulators killed. The company said last week that it “may be forced to significantly curtail or cease operations and would likely seek bankruptcy protection” if it can’t find additional sources of capital.

Saving iRobot might not make financial sense. But given how much money is being poured into humanoids for the home, cleaning up this iRobot mess is hardly the worst bet.

I’m reading Joe Jones’ book Dancing with Roomba. Jones and others at iRobot pushed incredibly hard to create the original Roomba, succeeding where many others had failed. Even today, modern roboticists can learn many lessons from the early days of the Roomba and iRobot. The company was relentless at the start, doing anything necessary to ship robots. It pivoted its business many times. It faced repeated skepticism, funding challenges and technical hurdles. It withstood long development cycles and invented new technologies to solve a real customer pain point.

After going public on the back of the Roomba’s huge success, iRobot traded in its earlier relentlessness for caution and never found the next Roomba. It shelved a robot lawnmower after 15-plus years of R&D, undersold its military robotics division, and had other failed products.

Did you know: Quiet Logistics was a 3PL that used the Kiva Systems mobile robots. Quiet reached out to iRobot after Amazon pulled the Kiva robots off the market after acquiring the brand in 2012. Quiet Logistics had an idea for a robot it wanted iRobot to build. Bruce Welty, co-founder of Quiet Logistics, told us iRobot never responded to his outreach. The robot he wanted iRobot to build turned into Locus Robotics’ LocusBot, which recently surpassed 6 billion customer picks. 

Nonetheless, iRobot’s decline these last couple of years has been tough to watch. Sure, buying iRobot right now might not look attractive on a spreadsheet. The balance sheet is ugly. The margins are thin. Revenue is declining (it made $681.85 million in 2024, a 23.44% decrease from 2023).  But some companies are too foundational to let fail. Saving iRobot isn’t about saving a product line. It’s about saving a legacy.

The robotics industry needs more iconic companies. And many iconic companies weren’t always financially stable. Apple nearly went bankrupt in 1997; Tesla faced financial trouble before its government loan; auto and airline companies have been bailed out multiple times; Marvel filed for bankruptcy in 1996; and Nintendo was near ruin before pivoting to video games in the ‘70s. There are countless examples of companies in situations like iRobot’s being saved.

iRobot has also become a pop culture staple, appearing on shows like The Office, Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, The Simpsons, and Saturday Night Live. It’s featured in countless memes and viral videos, and people have even named their Roombas.

iRobot isn’t just another struggling company. It’s a pillar of the robotics industry. Letting it disappear would be a loss far bigger than its current financial situation. Will anyone step up and save iRobot? Let’s give it a second chance to return to its relentless roots and once again pave the way for robotics.

The post This time, iRobot needs help cleaning up a mess appeared first on The Robot Report.



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