Star Wars link helps Boulder-based Sphero complete $45 million funding round

BOULDER – Robotic toymaker Orbotix Inc., which does business as Sphero, announced Tuesday that it has completed a new $45 million funding round, a boost that comes as the company is expanding its headquarters in Boulder and expecting its employee count to grow by 25 percent by year’s end.

Sphero officials said that the company will use the new funding for product research, intellectual property development and to further global expansion. The company had filed a Form D with the Securities and Exchange Commission in recent weeks indicating that a large new round was…