Natick, Mass. – September 22, 2026 -- Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX) has agreed to acquire RealSense, the market leader in depth-sensing cameras for robotic perception and Physical AI, for approximately $500 million in cash, the company announced. The deal, financed entirely from Cognex's existing cash and investments, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 subject to customary conditions.
RealSense revenue is set to grow more than 50% to $80-90 million in 2026
RealSense, originally founded by Intel in 2014 and spun out as an independent company in 2025, is projected to generate $80 million to $90 million in revenue this year, representing growth of more than 50% over the prior year. The company's 3D perception technology serves fixed-arm robotics, autonomous mobile robots, quadrupeds and humanoids.
The robotic perception market is forecast to nearly triple to $1.6 billion by 2030
Cognex estimates the robotic perception market at $600 million today, with annual growth exceeding 25% expected to push it to approximately $1.6 billion by 2030. The acquisition extends Cognex's core machine vision business into this adjacent, high-growth segment, diversifying its long-term growth engine.
Cognex will layer 3D depth perception onto its existing 2D and 3D vision portfolio
Matt Moschner, President and CEO of Cognex, said the combination creates a full-stack visual intelligence platform spanning industrial ID, 2D and 3D machine vision measurement, and 3D depth perception for robotic navigation. Nadav Orbach, CEO of RealSense, said joining Cognex gives the company access to a global industrial customer base and go-to-market infrastructure that would have taken years to build independently.
Employee retention costs total more than $106 million combined
Cognex will fund a three-year, $56.5 million cash retention program at target for RealSense employees, subject to performance modifiers, plus restricted stock units valued at approximately $50 million under its 2023 Stock Option and Incentive Plan. CFO Dennis Fehr said the transaction is expected to be strongly accretive to Cognex's growth profile, with the business scaling toward the company's through-cycle financial framework, including attractive Adjusted EBITDA margins and free cash flow conversion.
RealSense will spin off its facial authentication unit before the deal closes
Ahead of closing, RealSense will separate its Facial Authentication product line into an independent company, including all functions needed to pursue a focused growth strategy in the biometrics market. Evercore served as financial advisor to Cognex on the transaction.