Colin Angle, one of many co-founders of Roomba maker iRobot, is elevating money for a house robotics enterprise.
A submitting with the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee reveals that Angle’s new firm, Acquainted Machines & Magic, is attempting to lift $30 million. To date, it has raised $15 million from a gaggle of eight buyers.
The submitting, referred to as a Type D, doesn’t establish backers by identify. Nonetheless, Knowledge Level Capital lists Acquainted Machines on its web site as one of many VC agency’s portfolio firms.
Acquainted Machines has a site identify and trademark utility however not a purposeful web site. Angle didn’t reply to a request for remark through LinkedIn message.
In a latest interview with The Boston Globe, Angle mentioned that Acquainted Machines, which relies in Boston with plans for a presence in Los Angeles, will develop a brand new sort of dwelling robotic centered on well being and wellness. Along with Angle, the co-founders embody former iRobot CTO Chris Jones and iRobot alumnus Ira Renfrew. Renfrew, notably, additionally helped create Amazon’s now-defunct Scout supply bot.
In keeping with The Globe, citing an investor, Acquainted Machines is exploring robots as companions — doubtlessly together with AI-powered “furry pets.” The corporate is hiring AI researchers and software program engineers, amongst different roles.
“We’re pioneering an thrilling new class of dwelling robotic within the well being and wellness house with a big give attention to human-robot interplay,” a Acquainted Machines job description on LinkedIn reads. “Embodied and agentic AI are central to our product imaginative and prescient.”
Angle stepped down from iRobot in January, after Amazon’s bid to amass the corporate collapsed within the face of opposition from EU antitrust regulators. iRobot was pressured to put off 31% of its workers, and Gary Cohen, an ex-Procter & Gamble normal supervisor, was appointed the corporate’s new CEO.
Angle has dabbled in dwelling robots earlier than. Within the early 2000s, iRobot created a prototype dwelling companion robotic referred to as Grommet, per The Globe’s reporting.
However the dwelling robotics market has confirmed to be a troublesome nut to crack.
In 2018, Bosch-backed Mayfield Robotics ceased manufacturing of its Kuri robotic companion amid a questionable future. That very same yr, tabletop robotic creator Jibo wound down operations. Anki, the corporate behind the viral robotic Cozmo, shut down in 2019. And Moxie, which made an AI-powered robotic for teenagers, abruptly shuttered final week.
However the failures aren’t dissuading tech titans. Amazon continues to attempt to discover a match for its Astro dwelling robotic, and Apple is reportedly engaged on dwelling robotics in some type.
In keeping with Markets and Markets, the phase for family robots could possibly be price $24.5 billion by 2028. About 1,500 robotics startups have raised roughly $90 billion since 2019, per F-Prime, the enterprise capital arm of Constancy Investments.
