Roomba is dying and your dusty old broom might be making a comeback

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Remember when your Roomba was the futuristic pet that slurped up crumbs without you lifting a finger?

Yeah, those glory days for iRobot —the brainchild of MIT whiz kids Rodney Brooks, Helen Greiner, and Colin Angle — back in 2001 feel like ancient history now.

Fast-forward 23 years, and the company that birthed the $199 wonder-vacuum in 2002—outpricing snooty rivals like Electrolux’s $1,500 Trilobite—is staring down the barrel of shutdown.

How iRobot Got Its Start

It all started with engineer Joseph L. Jones hacking together an “intelligent sweeper” in the lab, dodging sensor fails with wheel backups and cheap motors to keep costs low. CEO Angle even slapped on a basic vacuum for that extra oomph.

iRobot didn’t just clean floors; they cleaned up in military gigs with PackBots and toy flops like the $98 My Real Baby doll. Tens of millions of Roombas later, priced north of $500, they ruled the roost—until they didn’t.

Enter the robot vacuum wars

iRobot scooped up rivals like Evolution Robotics but couldn’t keep pace with innovators like Roborock, who are now dropping self-emptying bins and AI smarts that make Roomba look dusty.

The Genius platform? Meh. The outdoor Terra bot? Canceled.

Angle bailed as CEO amid the chaos, leaving a company that’s “continuing to decline” financially, The Verge reports.

Now, iRobot’s begging for a loan waiver extension, warning operations could halt without it.

No funding, no future

In summary, iRobot is facing imminent bankruptcy unless it finds emergency funding or a buyer within weeks. Its options at this stage are minimal:

• Find a new buyer (unlikely, given that most of the buyers interested in taking over the company straight up bailed on negotiations).
• Secure a last-minute loan or investment (none available now)
• Sell off assets or restructure through bankruptcy protection.

If none of those happen, the company will likely cease operations, and the future for Roomba owners becomes highly uncertain.

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com.