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Kyle Vogt, former president and CTO of Cruise, presented a keynote address at the 2019 Robotics Summit & Expo.
The Bot Company, a venture helmed by ex-Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, has successfully secured $150 million in new funding, as reported by Reuters. Although the startup has yet to disclose any prototype of its service robot, this funding round has led to an estimated valuation of $2 billion for the company.
This recent funding was backed by Greenoaks, a global investment firm based in San Francisco. Prior investments were spearheaded by Nat Friedman, a California investor, along with notable figures such as Daniel Gross, an angel investor affiliated with high-profile companies including SpaceX and Stripe, and Nabeel Hyatt from Spark Capital. Others who contributed include Quiet Capital, Patrick Collison, John Collison, Elad Gil, and Fifty Years.
It has been over a year since Vogt introduced The Bot Company publicly, already securing $150 million in initial funding. Paril Jain, the chief technology officer and a former AI manager at Tesla, co-founded the company alongside Vogt. Luke Holoubek, an engineer at The Bot Company, previously acted as a technical advisor to the CTO at Cruise.
Vogt’s Experience in Fundraising and Autonomous Vehicles
Kyle Vogt has a profound understanding of both technical and business landscapes. He co-founded Cruise in 2013 with Dan Kan, which General Motors acquired for $1 billion in 2016. In November 2023, Vogt stepped down from his role, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and to explore new ventures.
This exit followed a challenging period for Cruise, as in October 2023, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended the permits necessary for Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and testing. The suspension was due to a series of incidents where the company reportedly “misrepresented” the safety of its robotaxi services. In a significant development, GM also decided to cease funding for Cruise’s robotaxi operations.
Vogt’s journey in the funding landscape did not begin with Cruise; he was also a co-founder of Justin.tv, which later became the parent company of Twitch. This live streaming platform was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for $970 million.
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The Bot Company’s Vision for Automating Daily Tasks
The Bot Company aims to develop robots that will assist individuals with everyday chores. Although the San Francisco-based startup has kept details about its robotic system under wraps, sources from Reuters indicated that efforts are underway to create a non-humanoid robot designed with a stable base and gripping mechanisms.
The focus of The Bot Company is on automating mundane household tasks to free up time for people to engage in more meaningful activities. However, the realm of household robotics is known for its complexity and unpredictability, presenting unique challenges compared to industrial robotics, where operational conditions are more controlled.
Other players in the home robotics sector include 1X Technologies, which has recently introduced the NEO Gamma humanoid robot and is preparing for trial deployments in select households. Meanwhile, on the non-humanoid front, Hello Robot offers the Stretch 3, a mobile manipulator designed to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities, enhancing their independence at home.
The funding acquired in this latest round is expected to advance The Bot Company’s development of robotics hardware and artificial intelligence systems tailored for household applications. Attempts to garner further insights from the company regarding its ambitions did not yield a response at the time of publication.
Source
www.therobotreport.com