Chinese start-ups take the plunge to clean up in America’s backyards

Manufacturers of robotic pool cleaners seek to emulate China’s electric vehicle success story while keeping an eye on tariff threats

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A robotic pool cleaner designed by Chinese manufacturer Sublue on display at the CES tech show in Las Vegas in January. Photo: AP

Published: 9:30pm, 14 Nov 2024Updated: 10:36pm, 14 Nov 2024

Chinese manufacturers of robotic pool vacuums are cleaning up overseas as they join a wave of smart-product tech start-ups attempting to replicate the success of the country’s electric vehicle industry while keeping one eye on the turning tariff tide.

There are an estimated 30 million private swimming pools around the world – 90 per cent of them in the United States and Europe – and the market is growing by about 5 per cent a year, according to the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance, a leading trade association in the US.

And SellerSprite, an online market research tool, said that more than half of the 100 bestselling robotic pool cleaners sold on Amazon in the US in recent years were made in China.

Several Chinese pool robot start-ups have raised several rounds of funding in the past couple years.

One of them, Beatbot Tech, which was founded two years ago and has raised close to 500 million yuan (US$69.14 million), has captured 85 per cent of the high-end market for pool robots priced over US$1,400, according to 36Kr, a Chinese news and data website that tracks start-ups.

That has encouraged other start-ups to dive into the market.