U-blox announced that it has signed an asset purchase agreement with Rigado, a provider of Edge-as-a-Service (EaaS) gateway solutions for commercial IoT, to acquire its Bluetooth module business.

The acquisition will enable u-blox to expand its portfolio of Bluetooth® low-power, Zigbee and Thread products and open up more market segments. By combining Rigado's short-range wireless communications products, u-blox will add new modular products to expand consumer markets such as sports and fitness, while existing Rigado customers will get all of u-blox's Wi-Fi, cellular wireless and location solutions for their IoT applications. In addition, Rigado's customers will benefit from u-blox's global technical support.

Herbert Blaser, director of short-range wireless communications at u-blox, said: "Rigado's Bluetooth module business complements u-blox's broad portfolio of products, allowing us to gain more new customers and sales channels in smart homes, wearables and fitness equipment. We also look forward to continued collaboration with distribution partners such as Digi-key or Future Electronics to achieve a seamless transition in the supply chain.”

Rigado Bluetooth module products will be under the u-blox brand name and will be part of the short-range wireless communication category. In addition, Ben Corrado, former CEO of Rigado, will be part of the u-blox short-range wireless communications product strategy team. In addition, other key members of the Rigado module division have joined u-blox, and Rigado's existing office in Salem, Oregon, USA will become the u-blox North American short-range wireless communications engineering center.