Beijing Company Ninebot Buys Segway, Lines Up USD 80 Million in Funding

Steven Schwankert | Apr 15, 2015 5:10 pm | Add a comment | 4177 reads

Wow. Favored vehicle maker among airport personnel and the Chinese security forces, Segway, is in the process of being acquired by Beijing-based Ninebot, which produces, well, other personal transport devices that look just like Segways. Doesn't matter, they've just been sold and lined up an additional USD 80 million in funding, according to TechCrunch.

Ninebot is receiving financing from venture capital firm Sequoia Partners and USD 45 billion copycat company Xiaomi. Clearly we weren't the only people who thought Ninebot's Personal Transportation Robot looked a lot like Segway's x2 SE: Segway filed a complaint against Ninebot in 2014 alleging patent infringement.

Ninebot also makes those cool one-wheel things that people ride from place to place, which are not technically street legal. Shockingly, they're branded the Ninebot One.

This is the third time that the company, started by inventor Dean Kamen, who said that the Segway "will be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy," will have been sold. That "Segway" is not as synonymous with failure as "Edsel" and "Google Glass" is as astounding as the company's success has been underwhelming.

Photo: Wired