China-based Ninebot Inc. has bought out Segway Inc., the maker of the eponymous two-wheeled, electric-powered vehicle for one.

Ninebot will use Segway to create technologies for future products, said Gao Lufeng, CEO of Ninebot,  at a press conference in Beijing today.  Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp., which owns a controlling stake of Ninebot, joined in an $80 million funding round for Ninebot that included Sequoia Capital and the Shunwei Foundation, reports Bloomberg News.

Xiaomi is investing in a growing number of hardware startups in a bid to build an integrated system of interrelated smart devices, according to China state news agency Xinhua.

Ninebot was launched in 2013 as a crowd-funded project, and its products are now available in more than 38 countries, with production facilities in China, according to its website.

"Ninebot is a fast-growing short-distance transportation company backed by well-known investors," Segway President Rod Keller said via video at the Beijing press conference. "The combination of Ninebot and Segway will bring together industry-leading research, development, engineering and manufacturing."

With the acquisition of Segway, Ninebot gets all of the company's assets, including the 400 patents Segway owns.

The Segway was introduced to great fanfare in 2001 and was created by Dean Kame, a charismatic and wealthy inventor. He boasted that the new transporter would change the way the world gets around.

Kamen sold the company, which was later bought by Summit Strategic Investments in 2013, according to Segway's website. The Segway transporters are most commonly used by police and tour groups. Sales to individual consumers have been hindered by their high price tag and restrictions by cities on where they can be ridden.

In November, the U.S. International Trade Commission agreed to investigate an accusation by Segway that Ninebot and other Chinese companies infringed on its patents. Segway had been seeking to block imports of the Ninebot transporters in an investigation that would probably have taken 15 to 18 months, according to an ITC statement in November, reports Bloomberg.

TagsChina’s Ninebot Buys Segway with Help From Xiaomi, Ninebot, Segway, Dean Kamen, Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Foundation