American self-balancing transport firm Segway has been bought by a Chinese robotics startup backed by Xiaomi.
Beijing-headquartered Ninebot, maker of similar personal transport devices, will maintain Segway as a subsidiary, but will integrate its technology into future products focused on internet-connected electric vehicles with advanced human-machine interfaces.
“The alliance of our well-known brands will provide more convenient and environmentally friendly travelling solutions for customers,” said Gao Lufeng, Ninebot founder and chief executive, in a statement.
The two-year-old robotics company started out as a crowdfunded project, but now ships products to 38 countries and has manufacturing facilities in China.
It sells a self-balancing single-wheel vehicle costing $850 (£577) in the US that can travel up to 35km at up to 22km per hour, and can be tracked and controlled via smartphone, as well as traditional Segway-like scooters.
Segway accused Ninebot of patent infringement six months ago, after a raft of Chinese competitors to the Segway scooters hit the market, and sought to block the import of rival products into the US.
The Segway acquisition follows an $80m funding round involving Xiaomi, Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Foundation and West Summit Capital.
Ninebot is one of 27 startups backed by Xiaomi, one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers, dubbed “China’s Apple”. The company recently expanded into the US and EU, selling smartphone accessories, headphones and fitness devices, but has yet to launch a range of smartphones outside of China and a few select developing nations.
Xiaomi’s chief executive and founder, Lei Jun, recently described the company as an internet of things firm, saying that his vision is to go beyond smartphones and into an internet-connected product ecosystem.
The company recently launched media streaming boxes and a series of smart home products for automating tasks. Jun’s plan is to complement Xiaomi’s own products with those from investments in startups, which have produced various home appliances such as air purifiers.
Jun said that Xiaomi, itself the world’s most valuable startup with a valuation of $46bn, would plough money into up to 100 new startups in the near future.
• Xiaomi: It’s China’s Apple, though you’ve probably never heard of it
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