Credit: Neato Robotics

German appliance maker Vorwerk Group this week acquired Neato Robotics, a California company developing smart home-based robots.

“Today marks a significant milestone for Neato, and I am honored to be leading this team,” Neato Robotics chairman and CEO Giacomo Marini said in a press release. “We are bringing together a powerful combination of technology and talent uniquely positioned to further drive the expansion of the home robot market. Our partnership with Vorwerk has proved increasingly successful over the past few years. As a separate subsidiary of the Vorwerk Group, and coming off the heels of a successful launch of the award-winning Neato Botvac D7 Connected at IFA 2017 in Berlin, Neato’s growth prospects in the category are now even brighter.”

Vorwerk first invested in Neato back in 2010, but now completely owns the company and its business and technology. Neato is known for its line of autonomous vacuums, like its Botvac D series. The deal should help Vorwerk, a holding company focused on the production and sale of household products and cosmetics, expand into the growing robotics vacuum industry.

“Vorwerk and Neato Robotics ideally complement one another, both culturally and through our dedication to innovation. Neato has outstanding expertise in the fields of navigation and intuitive software – a perfect match for Vorwerk’s core competencies in the home robot vacuum segment,” Vorwerk’s managing partners said in the statement. “At the same time, we envision considerable synergies between the two companies, especially in research and development and production.”

The parties did not disclose the financial terms of the purchase.