Google Buys Dexter Industries for 3.1415 Billion Dollars

We are excited to announce that Dexter Industries has been acquired by Google for 3.1415 Billion Dollars!  Read on for more information about our new partnership! Cupertino, CA — Google confirmed on Monday that they had recently completed the acquisition of another robotics company.  The purchase comes at the end of a quarter with similar purchases by the tech giant, as Google looks to establish a foothold in the robotics sector through acquisitions.  Google purchased Dexter Industries for just over 3 billion dollars in an effort to strengthen its position in the educational robotics field. Dexter Industries, based out of the Washington, DC area, is a robotics education company focused on the Raspberry Pi and LEGO Mindstorms products.  The company recently completed two successful Kickstarter campaigns to launch robotics education products.

GrovePi: Now Googlefied.

It is the ninth robotics company that Google has acquired in the last half-year.  This is not the first effort by the tech giant to the education field.  In September of last year, Google launched Google Coder, a Raspberry Pi interface to encourage kids to start programming at a younger age.  Google has also sponsored the Google Lunar X Prize Moonbots competition in the past.

Google executive Arty Rubitin discussed the acquisition, stating “The purchase of Dexter Industries is fully inline with our vision of robotics education and where Google, and the rest of the world are headed.  We think the Raspberry Pi is the future … and even though we’re late to the game, we want to be there.  The purchase of Dexter Industries lands us right in the middle of the educational and Raspberry Pi space.”  Rubin continued, “We’ve been in talks with Dexter Industries since their first successful Kickstarter Campaign to launch the BrickPi.  Combining LEGO and the Raspberry Pi was total genius.  After their second campaign to combine the Raspberry Pi and the Arduino system, we knew we had to make a move.”

Many analysts felt the deal put a low value on Dexter Industries.  James Smith, an analyst with S&P said, “The valuation of this deal was aggressive, and we feel that Google received a fair price.”  In an interesting twist to the acquisition, insiders to the deal report that Dexter Industries actually refused the initial bid by Google, requesting a lower price.  Bankers for Google who wanted to remain anonymous said, “It was the craziest thing.  We set an initial bid at $4.2 billion, and the founder, John Cole, demanded we lower the price to $3.1415 billion.  We were taken aback a bit, but we modified the papers immediately and signed the deal.”  Analysts speculate that Cole wanted to pay homage to the number Pi.

The internet was active with outspoken Kickstarter backers that were discouraged by the deal, especially those that had backed Dexter Industries at the “Well Wisher Level.”  One reddit commenter posted, “Never thought you guys would sell out so cheaply!  I want my $5 back!”.

Dexter Industries founder, John Cole, refused to comment for this story.  Insiders to the deal say his hand was forced into the deal at the end, despite his reservations about Google’s involvement with the NSA.  A spokesperson for the company made the statement, “While the large investment of capital will help us expand our development team and bring forward some products we’ve been working on, we are most excited about the opportunity to help Google assist the NSA increase their surveillance program on our youngest fellow Americans.”

Google’s other robotics acquisitions include companies in the United States and Japan, such as include Boston Dynamics.

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