is a senior reviewer with over twenty years of experience. She covers smart home, IoT, and connected tech, and has written previously for Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, BBC, and US News.
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The news that the maker of the Roomba robot vacuum, iRobot, filed for bankruptcy this week came as no surprise. Its CEO, Gary Cohen, had been warning investors all year that the company could run out of cash unless a buyer was found. When its last potential deal fell through, bankruptcy became inevitable. But Cohen says this is not the end for iRobot; instead, he sees it as the beginning of a new chapter for the company, one he hopes will turn it back into a competitive market leader and potentially take it into new, greener territory.
Cohen was brought on in early 2024 to turn the company around when cofounder and CEO Colin Angle stepped down following a failed Amazon acquisition. In an interview with The Verge this week, Cohen insisted that bankruptcy is actually good for iRobot and for its customers. “This is good news for us. It keeps us alive for the long term,” he says. “It keeps 500 employees employed, and it keeps a global brand, based in Boston, viable,” he says. “We just signed a long-term lease on our headquarters as a result of this and are keeping all of the engineers, R&D, and software development in this building.”
“iRobot is here to stay. We don’t expect any disruptions.”
While it’s not good news for shareholders of the public company that will now go private, or for the many iRobot employees laid off over the last three years, it does give the millions of people who own a Roomba some hope. “It’s business as usual,” says Cohen. “iRobot is here to stay. We don’t expect any disruptions.”
As part of the pre packaged bankruptcy, which may be completed as soon as next month, according to Cohen, iRobot will be purchased by its contract manufacturer, China-based Picea Robotics, which also recently became its main creditor. The move means that while iRobot will continue to operate as before, it will be wholly owned by Picea.
As its primary contract manufacturer since just before the collapse of the Amazon sale, Cohen credits Picea with helping the company pivot from its prior path into a more consumer-focused brand.
Thanks to Picea, iRobot was able to launch eight new robots, its largest line up ever, in March of this year. “We finally gave people what they wanted, including lidar navigation and the combo mopping products,” Cohen says. “Working with Picea, we closed the four-year tech gap we had in one year. We haven’t surpassed the competition, but we have closed the gap, and we are on the way to launching our next-gen products in 2026.”
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