How 2 young immigrant entrepreneurs created oven-sized Roombas to chase a $5 billion opportunity: by amyfeldman
shows off what the company’s 1,050-pound cleaning robot, Neo, can do. Inside an enclosure made of thousands of giant white, blue and yellow Lego bricks at the company’s factory in Kitchener, Ontario, the robot goes through a quality assurance test, turning corners and scrubbing the floor as it goes. Lights along the bottom of the machine glow blue as it moves autonomously, then turn fuchsia as it stops to remap its route, aided by artificial intelligence.
The economics are already in their favor in many developed countries. Neo costs around $50,000 , runs for around four hours on a single charge and should last five years. A typical service plan costs some $500 per month, adding another $6,000 a year. By contrast, a commercial-grade rider-style scrubber that a laborer would operate costs roughly $15,000 up front. That means the additional cost of a cleaning robot is some $35,000 before accounting for maintenance.
The two met as freshmen in the robotics program at Canada’s elite University of Waterloo in 2006. Almost immediately, they started talking about their dreams of a robot-enhanced future. “I wanted to build robots and see them in the real world,” Molina says. “That’s how I got together with Faizan.” Autonomous vehicles and robotic food-startups have captured the public's imagination, but cleaning robots have enormous, if unsexy, potential.
Not long after they returned to the U.S. from China, they met Rohit Sharma, a general partner at True Ventures, who told them flat-out: You’re taking the wrong approach and need to build the machines from scratch. “I don’t think they were thrilled by that response,” says Sharma, who passed on the deal then but invested two years later.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Dirty Work For Robots: How Two Young Immigrant Entrepreneurs Created Oven-Sized Roombas To Chase A $5B OpportunityFaizan Sheikh and Pablo Molina, both 31, are the founders of Avidbots, a maker of robo-janitors that hopes to catch onto economic forces pushing industry toward greater automation.
Read more »
Dirty Work For Robots: How Two Young Immigrant Entrepreneurs Created Oven-Sized Roombas To Chase A $5B OpportunityFaizan Sheikh and Pablo Molina, both 31, are the founders of Avidbots, a maker of robo-janitors that hopes to catch onto economic forces pushing industry toward greater automation.
Read more »
Dirty Work For Robots: How Two Young Immigrant Entrepreneurs Created Oven-Sized Roombas To Chase A $5B OpportunityAs Avidbots cranks up its sales and production, revenue could reach $20 million this year. Here are 2 other companies hoping to cash in on commercial cleaning robots: by amyfeldman
Read more »
You have to work to find them, but Swiss wines are well worth the chaseThese rarely exported wines are a delight.
Read more »
Perspective | Black like Kamala Harris: An identity dilemma for second-generation black immigrantsPerspective: Questions about whether black immigrants are authentically 'African American' point to the limited way we view black people in the United States
Read more »
Anthropologie launches plus-size collection that extends up to size 26Anthropologie launches plus-size collection that extends up to size 26.
Read more »
Ethiopia Mourns the Loss of Two Young PilotsWhen Ethiopian Airlines pilot Yared Getachew’s stops in Nairobi were brief, his mother would meet him at the airport for lunch before bidding him farewell again. Last Sunday, he didn’t make it.
Read more »
Ichiro says goodbye to adoring fans; Mariners beat A's in 12Ichiro Suzuki was showered with cheers and chants Thursday night while taking his final bow in a magnificent career that lasted nearly three decades when the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 in 12 innings. The 45-year-old Ichiro went 0 for 4 in the second game of the Major...
Read more »