Vodafone Ventures-backed robotics company Evolution Robotics sells to rival iRobot for $74m.

Robotics manufacturer iRobot will acquire Vodafone-backed fellow robot developer Evolution Robotics for $74m.

iRobot expects the deal will contribute an additional revenue of $4m to 6m for 2012, and a further $22m to 24m next year. Evolution chief executive officer Paolo Pirjanian will join iRobot as chief technology officer, and continue on in Evolution’s California base.

In 2008, Evolution held a series B round that raised $13.9m. Venture firm CMEA Ventures, Vodafone’s venture unit, and start-up investor Idealab all participated…