Robotics Invest

Thank you Aaron Pressman and the Boston Globe Media for the reflective conversation and the opportunity to share some of the sentiments of the #robotics community around #humanoids. A big shout out and sincere gratitude to the fearless humanoid innovators; Marc Raibert, Gill Pratt, Taskin Padir, Jeffrey Cardenas, Brett Adcock, Geordie Rose and many others all over the world ?????? I am looking forward to Robotics Invest 2024 Debate on Humanoids that will be moderated by the amazing Amy Feldman of Forbes ???? #investment #familyoffices #vc #venturecapital Cybernetix Ventures #bostonglobe

In the great debate of humanoids as “hype” or “reality” at Robotics Invest.. all the panelists agreed!? “Hyped” in the sense that valuations are inflated and there is a crazy rush of capital for humanoids alongside a high likelihood for disappointment in the time it takes. “Reality” is that humanoids will be a product category alongside cobots, AMRs, ASRS systems, drones, etc. Where the views diverged was on, well, almost everything else ?? Moderator:? - Amy Feldman | Forbes Panelists: - Aaron Saunders | Boston Dynamics - Brad Porter | Collaborative Robotics - Erik Nieves | Plus One Robotics - Jeffrey Cardenas | Apptronik About the Humanoid Hype: - Humanoids are the wrong solution for most but not all tasks. - The weaponization of the word humanoid is not helpful. Just focus on the problem statement and what is the best way to solve it and how to drive value to customers. - One major downside is the heightened competition for talent. - Be wary about humanoid videos as they are being shared for various purposes – to show off tech progress, make the robot more relatable to the public, etc. but it can be very misleading. Sometimes they are teleoperated, sometimes these videos are sped up, usually they are choosing easy lightweight tasks and encouraging the audience to extrapolate from this easier task all the things that might be able to do, which is ultimately unrealistic. - High dexterity applications are where the humanoid will have a really hard time. We are a long way away and maybe never for certain applications. About the Humanoid Reality: - What is the definition of a humanoid? There are a lot of different views. This will be important for standardization.? - The two big debates on what is a humanoid form factor – does it have to have hands? Does it have to have legs? One view is that the real definition is that it has a human footprint and how it fits in a workspace. It doesn’t have to have hands or legs. - The big challenge is “taskability” – what use cases can you realistically solve with a humanoid? AI is helping on this front, but you need to enable customers to augment/program/teach the robot to perform tasks which is still a significant obstacle. - A key question on use case fit is the ratio of mobility to manipulation - High dexterity applications are where the humanoid will have a really hard time. We are a long way away and maybe never for certain applications. - You eventually hit hard, practical challenges – for example, how do you safely rate a self-balancing robot system? - All the capital going into humanoids is a good thing for the industry. There is no doubt that with this much capital and all the talented people going after humanoids, there will be major tech breakthroughs and capabilities that many robotics platforms can leverage. So what’s your take on Humanoids? Comment “Hype” or “Reality” and join the discussion in the comments below! #humanoids #robotics #AI

The Robotics Invest panel, “The Acquisition Landscape and Public Markets for Robotics Companies,” addressed the challenging exit landscape for robotics companies today and how to best prepare for a successful exit. There is a high quality pipeline of robotics companies in Series B to Series F+ that are poised for an exit when the market reopens. Moderator:? - Aaron Pressman | Boston Globe Media Panelists: - Firdaus Pohowalla | Cascadia - Nabil Malouli | DHL Supply Chain - Justin Krauss | J.P. Morgan Here are the key takeaways: Exit Market Landscape: - Similar to the broader market, the IPO market for Robotics companies is stalled and M&A activity has been limited.? - Many robotics companies that went public via SPAC initially launched at attractive prices but faced substantial post-IPO price erosion due to their inability to scale and meet revenue targets at a pace that justifies their initial public launch valuation. Symbotic, on the other hand, stands out as a notable exception, thriving post-IPO due to its successful scaling and revenue growth. - While we wait for the IPO and M&A markets to re-open, the key conversation is how robotics companies can better prepare themselves for a private or public exit. Preparing for a successful exit: - An early indicator for the possibility of a private exit depends heavily on the transition from the B to C round. Beyond the usual numerical analysis, what matters a lot is who you are adding to the cap table as a strategic investor and partner to scale. - Incorporating a RaaS model is desirable for sustained revenue creation and can be correlated with higher valuation in many cases if you're planning to scale to an exit.? - The RaaS business model can lower barriers to adoption, simplify the customer decision making process, boost revenue confidence and accelerate growth. Choose your strategic customers and investors wisely: - Many, many deals get done where the acquirer is on the cap table already prior to exit - Many startups naturally aim for the big companies, big players. But it is often easier to collaborate with a customer / investor that is a mid market company, rather than a huge name player. The value lost by not getting the PR is made up in the successful development of the business and the relationship. - The vast majority of successful robotics startups today are solving one problem, a single use case(s) and doing it well. In this case a more likely acquirer could be 1) another player in the industry looking to expand their product portfolio and tech capabilities, or 2) customer with a heavy focus on a narrow market application or use case(s)? - It is important to foster trust and compatibility in business and investor relationships, not just technical expertise, as you develop strategic partnerships and scale your business to attract acquirers. How do you think the exit landscape will change? How else can companies prepare and partner for an exit? Let us know in the comments!

In case you were wondering why we’re already excited for next year ?? Our deepest thanks to those that made #RoboticsInvest24 possible - Platinum Underwriters: Cybernetix Ventures Gold Underwriters: J.P. Morgan Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Silicon Valley Bank Silver Underwriters: AlleyCorp Baker Tilly US Cascadia fama PR Fidelity Private Shares Grassi Gunderson Dettmer HSBC Ideometry Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services Pittsburgh Robotics Network UBMB, LLC Wolf Greenfield

Climate change is one of the greatest threats to humanity today, so “The Critical Role of Robotics in Climate Tech” Robotics Invest panel was as meaningful as it was interesting. The importance of making changes at societal scale, networking, and aligning incentives to tackle climate change rang true throughout the conversation. Moderator:? - Abe Murray | AlleyCorp Panelists: - Duncan Turner | SOSV - Frank Kjerstein | REBLADE - Rebecca Hu | Glacier While outlooks spanned enthusiasm, pessimism, and optimism, the panelists agreed that the time for change is now. Here are a few of their key takeaways: Business Building in Climate Tech - It’s become clear that robotics startups can both play a crucial role in successfully tackling climate challenges and have profitable business models. - We still need optimization across many segments of climate tech. There is a big concern with the “sustainability of the sustainability”. With some of the more mature spaces, like wind and like solar, the biggest problems are currently in OpEx.? - A good business approach is to take deposits up front + RaaS to cover BOM cost. - Focus on Adaptation or Mitigation. - Robots give careers, not just jobs, to waste and recycling workers. Upskilling these employees is important and beneficial for all. The Big Picture - Climate tech needs to reinvent everything —reengineer and reroute all of the core industries in our country— and we will need to employ robots to get this to happen quickly enough. Especially rapid decarbonization, which is arguably impossible without robotics. - In climate, apply the “Mr. Burns” test from the Simpsons - the idea that Mr. Burns, who is the cynical capitalist from The Simpsons, if he were to take over the helm of a mission-oriented company or a climate company, would that company still fundamentally be doing good? In other words, is doing good a core part of the business model? - We are in a mission-critical moment. This will be the generation that was seen as either “you knew exactly what was going on and you didn't do anything about it” or “oh, you actually kind of averted a potential world changing disaster, which we saw coming”. What else would you add here? How can we evolve these learnings to continue accelerating the impact of robotics in climate tech? Share your thoughts in the comments! #climaterobotics #climate #roboticsinvest

We’re kicking off a series to share the insights uncovered in each of this year’s dynamic Robotics Invest panels. Beginning with “Robotics as an Investment Class: Part II”, which built on last year's foundational theme, panelists engaged the audience with a gripping and timely conversation centered around the current state of the robotics investment landscape. Moderator:? - Kristina Nilsson | J.P. Morgan Panelists: - Eric Paley | Founder Collective - Fady Saad | Cybernetix Ventures - Lane Bruno | Silicon Valley Bank - Udit Bhatnagar | McRock Capital Insights abound as the panelists discussed the promise and pitfalls of robotics as an investment class and the importance of connecting the dots between technology and financing. Here are a few of their key takeaways: The Investment Opportunity: - There remains significant opportunity for a broader systematic approach from the investment community and a more deliberate framework for robotics investment. - We are witnessing massive industry buy-in and great progress from talented entrepreneurs solving focused problems. The Robotics Ecosystem: - Despite its somewhat nascent stage, the robotics ecosystem is already a global community, passionate about making an impact on some of the largest challenges facing the world today. - Founders, investors, large corporates, service providers, and pharmaceutical/medical device giants are all emphasizing robotics as the future and doubling down on robotics innovation, adoption, and use case applications at every level of industry . The Approach to Building Robotics Companies: - Especially in a space where pivots are costly, it's critical to build a strong business case through deep customer and use case analyses. - As companies reach the scaling and aggressive growth stage (Series B and beyond), securing access to sufficient capital and building a team with the necessary skills and capabilities are essential. - When it comes to raising capital, larger rounds with a target for longer runway is often the right approach to build in “margin” and account for the variability in market adoption timing. - There are several unique considerations when investing in the robotics space. For robotics startups, choosing the right business model (capital sale, RaaS, rent to buy, etc.) will depend on variables like the market sector, location on the product maturity curve, and the customer adoption cycle. - It's also worth noting that as industrial customers make their capital plans multiple years out, robotics companies that have a strong strategic fit with a customer could produce faster exits in the coming cycles. As we continue to build this global robotics ecosystem, tag your favorite robotics innovators and investors here! #robotics #investment #roboticsinvest #venturecaptial

My recap of #RoboticsInvest 2024 and some #robot #economy discussions that took place from industry leaders:

We’re still riding high on the energy from Robotics Invest 2024 — what a summit it was! From stellar panelists, inspiring keynotes, and the great humanoid debate to Day 2’s deep-dive roundtables and 1:1 matching, we hope the collective enthusiasm and actionable insights harnessed last week have helped accelerate the ascension of the robotics space. Our fellow robotics pioneers showed up in full force: ?? 260 attendees ???? 134 founders ?? 60 investors ?? across 6 robotics clusters ?? representing 9 countries A huge thank you to this global community as we challenge the status quo, solve real-world problems, and scale solutions for humanity. Also, special thanks to Kevin Thai for the amazing photography. More to come!? #RoboticsInvest24

We love these key takeaways from #RoboticsInvest24 Underwriter Fidelity Private Shares and remain immensely grateful for those who help to support this incredible community of robotics pioneers!

It was great attending Robotics Invest in Boston that was organized by fellow MIT System Design and Management alum Fady Saad and the team at Cybernetix Ventures! Massachusetts Technology Collaborative colleague Peter Haas helped open the event, sharing much about why Massachusetts is a global hub for robotics and where we're headed next. MA State Rep. Jeffrey Roy pulled on that thread a bit further and shared more about what MA's administration and legislature are doing to support #robotics, #AI, #ClimateTech, and the the startups, businesses, students, and workforce needed to deliver on this vision. He also highlighted the strong showing of his districts local FIRST robotics team. Lastly, Dean Kamen, who's always an audience highlight, gave a compelling call to action for more folks to get involved in FIRST to help build the STEM pipeline and technical leaders of tomorrow!