iRobot Acquires Air Purification Company, Aeris Cleantec AG

BEDFORD, Mass., Nov. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in consumer robots, today announced that it has acquired privately-held Aeris Cleantec AG, a fast-growing provider of premium air purifiers headquartered in Cham, Zug Switzerland. The acquisition supports iRobot's vision of building the world's most thoughtful robotics and developing intelligent home innovations that make life better.

The global residential air purifier market is expected to enjoy solid growth, expanding from $3.4 billion in 2020 to over $6.7 billion in 2027, according to Grand View Research.¹ iRobot sees exciting opportunities to accelerate consumer adoption of the Aeris aair brand of premium air purifiers by leveraging its extensive marketing capabilities, global network of retail partners and distributors, and installed base of connected customers around the world. Once fully integrated into the company's go-to-market and innovation strategy, iRobot plans to add new features and functionality to Aeris product offerings, integrating them with its existing ecosystem of connected home robots. In the future, iRobot will leverage its Genius^™ Home Intelligence platform to offer consumers more personalized and intuitive ways to clean the air in their homes, maintain their floors and create a healthier environment.

Founded in 2015, Aeris Cleantec designs and sells a range of high-quality, high-performance air purifiers that consumers around the world rely upon to improve overall air quality in their homes. Using HEPA filtration,² state-of-the-art engineering, intelligence and sophisticated design, Aeris' aair air purifiers are designed to improve overall quality by quietly removing a wide range of pollutants, including allergens, smoke, odors and pet dander. With the Aeris mobile app, users can activate their air purifier, control the fan speed, compare indoor and outdoor air quality, and increasingly leverage other intelligent technologies to train the device to operate according to their individual needs.  

"Today's acquisition of Aeris is an important step in iRobot's strategy to expand our total addressable market and diversify our product portfolio in ways that will provide consumers with new ways to keep their homes cleaner and healthier," said Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot. "We are enthusiastic about the growth potential for Aeris' products, especially as the pandemic has raised greater consumer awareness of the value of maintaining a cleaner, healthier home. We are also excited about the potential to leverage our Genius Home Intelligence platform and existing ecosystem of home robots to bring the iRobot experience to air purification."

"With air quality negatively impacting people's lives worldwide, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic forcing them to pay more attention to the air they breathe at home, consumers are increasingly looking for new ways to stay healthier indoors," said Pierre Bi, CEO of Aeris. "Regardless of where you live, breathing air that is free from allergens, pollen, smoke, pet dander, and other pollutants is extremely important. We are excited to be joining with iRobot to offer smarter, more effective air purification products to consumers worldwide."

Aeris' founders Pierre Bi, CEO, and Constantin Overlack, COO, will join iRobot and lead air purification product operations, including engineering, product management and design. Aeris currently employs over 30 people, all of whom are expected to join iRobot. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Although iRobot anticipates that the Aeris business will be modestly dilutive to iRobot's full-year 2022 earnings, the company expects that accelerated revenue growth during the second half of 2022 will deliver improved operating profitability and that this transaction will be accretive to the company's full-year 2023 earnings. The company expects to provide additional information about the Aeris products and the anticipated financial impact from this product line over the coming years during the company's Investor Day on December 9, 2021.

Investor Conference Call
iRobot will host an investor conference call later this morning at 11:00 a.m. ET to review today's announcement. Pertinent conference call details include:

A live webcast of the conference call, along with the conference call prepared remarks, will be accessible on the event section of the company's website at https://investor.irobot.com/events/event-details/irobot-aeris-acquisition-call. An archived version of the broadcast will be available on the same website shortly after the conclusion of the live event. A replay of the telephone conference call will be available through November 25, and can be accessed by dialing 404-537-3406, passcode 8068500.

Aeris Products
Aeris' line of air purifiers feature customized HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters with H13/H14² ratings that remove a wide range of pollutants creating a better air quality inside the home. Selected models also offer activated carbon filters to remove odors and other gas pollutants. In addition to residential use, Aeris air purification products are used by schools, hospitals, and other businesses wanting the provide the highest quality of air for their customers. For more information about Aeris air purifiers, please visit www.Aerishealth.com/compare-purifiers.

About iRobot Corporation
iRobot, the leading global consumer robot company, designs and builds robots that empower people to do more both inside and outside of the home. iRobot created the home robot cleaning category with the introduction of its Roomba^® Robot Vacuum in 2002. Today, iRobot is a global enterprise that has sold more than 30 million robots worldwide. iRobot's product line, including the Roomba^® and the Braava^® family of vacuuming and mopping robots, feature proprietary technologies and advanced concepts in cleaning, mapping and navigation. iRobot engineers are building an ecosystem of robots and technologies to enable the smart home. For more information about iRobot, please visit www.irobot.com.

For iRobot Investors
Certain statements made in this press release that are not based on historical information are forward-looking statements which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to iRobot Corporation's vision, strategy and plans, including: integration of acquisitions into the sales and marketing activities; development of new features and functionality; integration of air products into iRobot's home intelligence system; the performance of new products; and the impact of the acquisition on 2022 and 2023 financial performance. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. iRobot undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other risks faced by iRobot, see the disclosure contained in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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SOURCE iRobot Corporation