- How a Chinese pool robot company is using Fluidra to form an alliance to challenge the old order of Maytronics.
- The alliance between Aiper and Fluidra is not only an equity investment, but also the complementary capabilities of wireless swimming pool robots and professional swimming pool.
- In 2019, when Wang Yang put Aiper Intelligent’s resources into swimming pool robots, swimming pool cleaning in European and American backyards was still a slow business.
How a Chinese pool robot company is using Fluidra to form an alliance to challenge the old order of Maytronics.
*The alliance between Aiper and Fluidra is not only an equity investment, but also the complementary capabilities of wireless swimming pool robots and professional swimming pool channels. *
In 2019, when Wang Yang put Aiper Intelligent’s resources into swimming pool robots, swimming pool cleaning in European and American backyards was still a slow business. Cables drag in the water, machines move in random paths, and users rely on professional shops and manual maintenance. The market is huge, but it does not change as quickly as consumer electronics.
Aiper's choice is to make this professional equipment closer to consumer electronics: wireless, one-button start, online sales, retail channels and rapid iteration.
This is not a fill-in opportunity in a small category. The original robotic pool faucet was Maytronics. In 2025, Maytronics' revenue will be 1.406 billion Israeli New Shekels, which is approximately RMB 3.40 billion based on the exchange rate on May 29, 2026; revenue in 2024 will be approximately RMB 3.93 billion. For Aiper, the real goal is not to be a wireless swimming pool robot brand, but to compete for the first place in the next generation industry when wireless, online and China's supply chain are restructuring industry rules.
Six years later, it formed an alliance with global pool equipment group Fluidra. In December 2025, Fluidra completed the first phase of the transaction and invested approximately US$100 million to purchase 27% of Aiper's equity, which is approximately RMB 680 million based on the exchange rate on May 30, 2026. The deal also leaves room for a second phase: Fluidra plans to further increase its stake to a majority stake if Aiper achieves future revenue of more than $370 million and achieves an EBITDA margin of approximately 15%.
This is more of an industry alliance than just a minority investment. Aiper obtains funds, professional channels and a swimming pool service system; Fluidra obtains wireless swimming pool robots, consumer brands and rapid iteration capabilities.
Aiper needs this ally. In 2024, pool robots began to increase in volume, and Aiper's sales increased by 75%. But after the increase in volume, pressure also emerged: more brands are selling on Amazon, and online price competition intensifies; offline professional channels are not easy to enter; competitors such as Beatbot Innovation have begun to raise funds; cleaning robot giants such as Dreame, Ecovacs, and Roborock are also observing and even entering this category.
If Aiper wants to be No. 1 in the world, it needs more than sales. It needs more funds to support research and development, inventory, channel expenses and global after-sales; it also needs a stronger offline partner to enter professional swimming pool channels, instead of only competing in Amazon and large retail channels.
The Fluidra's chassis is something Aiper would have had a hard time building on its own. In 2025, Fluidra's sales will be 2.184 billion euros, approximately 17.21 billion yuan; Adjusted EBITDA will be 501 million euros, approximately 3.95 billion yuan. Its products span pumps, filters, heaters, disinfection equipment, pool covers, IoT, cleaning accessories, robots and commercial pool solutions. The Pool & Wellness business accounts for 98% of total revenue.
What's more important is the channel. Fluidra's annual report breaks down pool demand into three segments: residential new pools about 30%, residential maintenance, repairs and renovations about 60%, and commercial pools about 10%. In other words, its core business is not to sell equipment once, but to be embedded in the swimming pool maintenance network for a long time.
Fluidra also needs Aiper. Wireless swimming pool robots are closer to consumer electronics. Users compare prices online, watch videos, read reviews, and purchase directly from large retail channels. This market requires lighter products, faster iterations and stronger online presence.
Judging from the interview transcript, Aiper is valued for a set of capabilities that have already been developed: products and technology, omni-channel sales, brand localization, overseas supply chain, global services and international organization. Hard Krypton’s interview gave a more direct explanation: After inspecting Chinese manufacturers, Fluidra valued Aiper for two things. First, it was willing to open up technical details, and second, it could customize the supply chain for different channels.
These two points are critical. Swimming pool robots must enter Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, and professional swimming pool stores at the same time. The price bands, after-sales requirements and product configurations of different channels are different. Aiper can supply Wal-Mart's products priced at US$500-800, equivalent to approximately RMB 3,400-5,400, and high-end models priced above US$1,000, equivalent to approximately RMB 6,800 or more, at swimming pool specialty stores. For a channel company like Fluidra, this is more valuable than a single hit.
*Aiper's product line extends from pool bottom cleaning to wall, waterline and surface cleaning. *
Competition no longer comes from just one direction, either. Beatbot Innovation uses financing and high-end products to promote Beatbot, completing a new round of financing of approximately 1 billion yuan in 2025; Wangyuan Technology shifts from manufacturing to WYBOT's own brand; Dreame, Roborock, and Ecovacs stand on the sidelines with funds, algorithms, and overseas channels. For Aiper, the window is getting shorter.
In such a competitive environment, Fluidra needs Aiper's speed, and Aiper needs Fluidra's foundation.
The deal structure also reflects this caution. Fluidra did not take a direct controlling stake, but instead took an initial 27%. The financial notes of the annual report show that Aiper’s initial equity investment cost was 85.396 million euros, approximately 670 million yuan, of which Goodwill’s was 74.42 million euros, approximately 590 million yuan. This means that the value of this alliance is not in the net book assets, but in Aiper's growth, brand, channels and technical capabilities.
This arrangement is based on Aiper's growth over the past few years. Fluidra disclosed that Aiper’s sales in 2024 will be approximately US$195 million, approximately 1.33 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 75%. Based on this growth rate, Aiper's sales in 2023 will be approximately US$111 million, equivalent to approximately 760 million yuan. A Forbes interview reprinted by Sohu mentioned that Aiper is expected to sell more than 1 million units in 2024 and enter more than 7,000 stores in Europe and the United States.
In 2025, Aiper's official website states that the company covers more than 57 countries and regions, has entered more than 10,000 retail stores, has 3 million+ global users, and will become the world's number one based on manufacturer sales in 2025. Fluidra did not separately disclose Aiper's sales in 2025, but management expects Aiper's sales to grow at a compound rate of close to 40% from 2023 to 2027, exceeding US$400 million in 2027, which is approximately RMB 2.72 billion.
*Aiper’s growth path: sales of approximately RMB 1.33 billion in 2024, continuing to hit the target of exceeding RMB 2.72 billion in 2027. *
This set of figures explains why the two parties are willing to form an alliance: Aiper needs to use Fluidra to continue to expand its growth, and Fluidra also needs to incorporate Aiper's growth into its own swimming pool equipment network.
But Aiper still has himself to prove. Wireless swimming pool robots are a category with high customer price, strong seasonality, and strong after-sales pressure. The U.S. CPSC issued a recall for the Aiper Elite Pro GS100 in 2023, involving about 22,000 units, due to the risk of burns and fire caused by battery overheating and short circuit. In 2025, the CPSC issued another recall for the Aiper Seagull Pro due to the risk of melting, smoking, or fire while charging.
In response to the 2023 recall in the Hard Krypton interview, Wang Yang said that the failure rate of this batch of products was 0.049%, but the company still chose to recall all, and said that the third-generation products dealt with related problems through the glue filling process. This response shows that swimming pool robots have been exposed to water, electricity, sunlight, high temperature and humidity for a long time, and safety redundancy and quality control will directly affect brand credibility.
The alliance between Aiper and Fluidra does not mean that competition in the swimming pool robot industry has stabilized. It just moves into a higher intensity level of competition.
*Fluidra gives Aiper a bigger ticket, but it's up against a playing field that's rearranging. *
On one side are Maytronics. Even with the pressure on 2025, Dolphin remains one of the most important names in the global pool robotics order. Aiper can supplement offline channels and professional services through Fluidra, and Maytronics may also use similar methods to find partners to supplement wireless, consumer channels and product iteration speed.
On the other side are our Chinese counterparts. Beatbot Innovation starts from the high-end market. If it continues to explore the higher volume price range, it will directly hit Aiper's basic market. Wangyuan Technology has moved from the depths of the supply chain to the door of the capital market. As a former supplier and an established manufacturing company, its manufacturing experience, cost control and product engineering capabilities are another kind of pressure.
Further away, Dreame, Ecovacs, Roborock, Nine Wildland, and Mammotion are also looking at outdoor home robots. They may not all have used swimming pool robots as their main battlefield, but they all have the funds, algorithms, supply chain, overseas channels and brand organization capabilities.
Like Wang Yang, they are not focusing on a niche business, but on becoming the world's number one outdoor home robot.
Fluidra gave Aiper a bigger ticket, but it didn't seal the victory for it. Competition in the swimming pool robot industry may not only occur through product substitution. It may also be rearranged in the form of equity, channels, supply chains and capital alliances.
Sources
- Aiper official website About Us: https://aiper.com/us/about-us
- Fluidra 2025 Integrated Annual Report: `40-Resource Library/Source Materials/Fluidra/Fluidra-2025-Integrated-Annual-Report-ENG.pdf`
- Fluidra FY2025 Earnings Call Transcript: https://www.fluidra.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FDR_Transcript_FY2025.pdf
- Data processing notes: `30-material pool/99-pending/2026-05-30_Fluidra 2025 annual report data processing.md`
- Aiper PRNewswire 2025-04-24: Industry Changing Innovation: How Aiper Revolutionized Robotic Pool Cleaning Technology in Under a Decade. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/industry-changing-innovation-how-aiper-revolutionized-robotic-pool-cleaning-technology-in-under-a-decade-302437272.html
- Sohu/Forbes Interview: A conversation with Aiper Intelligent Wang Yang, focusing on courtyard intelligence, wireless swimming pool robots, channels and organizational capabilities. https://it.sohu.com/a/822459210_100246910
- Sina Technology/Hard Krypton Interview: A conversation with Wang Yang, CEO of Aiper Intelligent, about professional swimming pool channels, channel distribution, recall response and Vietnam production capacity. https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2025-06-20/doc-infaspwq6476179.shtml
- Leifeng.com: Wangyuan Technology’s IPO process mentioned that it may be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2026. https://www.leiphone.com/category/robot/OiZC1Jbjlsau6Gk9.html
- CPSC 2023 Aiper Elite Pro GS100 Recall: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2023/Aiper-Elite-Pro-Cordless-Robotic-Pool-Vacuum-Cleaners-Recalled-Due-to-Burn-and-Fire-Hazards-Distributed-by-Shenzhen-Aiper-Intelligent-Co-Recall-Alert
- CPSC 2025 Aiper Seagull Pro Recall: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Aiper-Seagull-Pro-Cordless-Robotic-Pool-Vacuum-Cleaners-Recalled-Due-to-Burn-and-Fire-Hazards-Distributed-by-Shenzhen-Aiper-Intelligent-Co
- Maytronics 2025 Annual Report Data Processing: `30-Material Pool/99-Pending/2026-05-29_Maytronics 2025 Annual Report Data Processing.md`
- Maytronics 2018-2023 Investor Information Processing: `30-Material Pool/99-Pending/2026-05-29_Maytronics 2018-2023 Investor Information Processing.md`