A tech company best known for making robot vacuum cleaners is on the brink of collapse. The US-based firm has made major cuts in recent years, including axing 105 roles in late 2024, but its remaining workforce of an estimated 500 now faces uncertainty. iRobot, which was founded in 1990 and rose to fame for its popular Roomba vacuum cleaner, has been in talks with potential buyers but said negotiations for prospective take-overs have ground to a halt.

The company was rumoured to be set for a $1.4 billion (£1 billion) takeover from Amazon last year, but the deal never came to fruition, reportedly due to doubts as to whether it would be approved by EU regulators. iRobot, which has its headquarters in Massachusetts, expressed “substantial doubt” about whether it could continue to operate without a buyer in documents filed in the spring. In a recent update, the firm shared that the most recent round of negotiations had fallen through because of a bidder offering a “significantly lower” sum than its stock price.

“Although this review process remains active and ongoing, last week the last remaining counterparty to a potential sale transaction withdrew from the process following a lengthy period of exclusive negotiations, and we currently are not in advanced negotiations with any alternative counterparties to a potential sale or strategic transaction,” a representative said.

“As such, there remains no assurance that our review of strategic alternatives will result in any transaction or outcome.”

The filing also disclosed that the company’s financial position “continues to decline” and reiterated that it may be “unable to secure the additional funding needed to continue our operations”.

Shares of iRobot fell by 30% after it admitted to encountering roadblocks in its search to find a buyer this week.

Before becoming a household name with the Roomba, which was released in 2002 and has sold over 40 million units, iRobot was established as a developer of military robots.

The machines were used for bomb disposal operations and, notably, searching for survivors in the wreckage of the World Trade Centre after 9/11.

Things started to go downhill back in 2023, however, as the company struggled to compete with cheaper Chinese models and make money from a relatively uniform product line, forcing it to take out a $200 million (£150 million) loan from a private equity firm.