Endeavor Robotics is changing hands, again.
The Chelmsford-based maker of military ground robots, which was once iRobot's Defense & Security Business Unit, is getting acquired by Portland, Oregon-based FLIR Systems for $385 million in cash.
FLIR, a maker of sensor systems with nearly 3,700 employees, is buying Endeavor from private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners (based in Bethesda, Maryland), which acquired the defense robot-maker from iRobot for $45 million in 2016.
After the acquisition, Endeavor will become part of a FLIR (pronounced ‘Fleer’) System’s division called Unmanned Systems and Integrated Solutions. The company will stay in Chelmsford, where it added 10,000 square feet of space for its 150 employees. The leadership team, including CEO Sean Bielat, will continue to be part of Endeavor.
FLIR Systems and Endeavor worked together for a number of years, said Tom Frost, president of Endeavor Robotics. Many Endeavor's robots carry FLIR's sensors.
"We integrate their thermal camera systems, some of their explosion detection systems," Frost said. "FLIR is very interested in growing their role in the unmanned space; it's an opportunity to take what we're doing at Endeavor to the next level."
Endeavor spun out of iRobot in April 2016 following iRobot's decision to focus exclusively on consumer robots (such as its Roomba vacuum cleaners).
Currently, Endeavor bills itself as one of the largest suppliers of unmanned ground vehicles to the U.S. Department of Defense; its robots - named, among others, Centaur, Kobra and Scorpion - can take the place of soldiers when it comes to vehicle and room inspection, bomb disposal, hazardous materials detection, radiation monitoring and route clearance.
In January this year, Endeavor Robotics filed a complaint against QinetiQ North America and Foster-Miller Inc., claiming that QinetiQ infringed on two of Endeavor’s patents for stair-climbing mobile robots. The two patents that are at the center of the lawsuit are for a ‘robotic platform’ and for a ‘mobile robotic vehicle.’ Frost declined to share any updates.
FLIR Systems recently acquired another developer of robots that serves the Department of Defense. Two weeks before announcing the Endeavor's acquisition, it brought home Canada-based Aeryon Labs for $200 million. The company makes flying robots, unlike Endeavor's ground robots — and this is not a coincidence.
"[The acquisition] is an opportunity to integrate with the unmanned aerial systems, and do cross-domain operations... integration across air and ground," Frost said.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019. Endeavor Robotics is one of BostInno's Startups to Watch in 2019.
