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iRobot co-founder's new home robot startup hopes to raise $30 million

TechBrunchBy TechBrunchDecember 16, 20243 Mins Read
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Colin Angle, one of the co-founders of Roomba maker iRobot, is raising money for his home robot venture.

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Mr. Angle's new company, Familia Machines & Magic, is seeking to raise $30 million. To date, it has raised $15 million from a group of eight investors.

The filing, known as Form D, does not identify the backers by name. However, Data Point Capital lists Familiar Machines on its website as one of the VC firm's portfolio companies.

Familiar Machines has a domain name and a trademark application, but no functioning website. Mr. Angle did not respond to a request for comment via LinkedIn.

In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Angle said that Boston-based Familia Machines, which also has plans to expand into Los Angeles, is developing a new type of home robot focused on health and wellness. Then he said. In addition to Angle, co-founders include former iRobot CTO Chris Jones and iRobot alumnus Ira Renfrew. Notably, Renfrew also helped create Amazon's defunct Scout delivery bot.

Familia Machines is researching robot companions, which could include AI-powered “furry pets,” the Globe reported, citing investors. That's what it means. The company is hiring AI researchers and software engineers.

Familiar Machines' job description on LinkedIn says, “We are pioneering an exciting new category of home robots in health and wellness with a focus on human-robot interaction.” “Embodied AI and agentic AI are central to our product vision.”

Angle resigned from iRobot in January after Amazon's bid to buy the company failed amid opposition from EU antitrust regulators. iRobot was forced to lay off 31% of its workforce, and former Procter & Gamble general manager Gary Cohen was named the company's new CEO.

Mr. Angle has dabbled in household robots before. In the early 2000s, iRobot created a prototype home companion robot called Grommet, The Globe reported.

However, the home robot market is proving difficult to solve.

In 2018, Bosch-backed Mayfield Robotics halted production of its companion robot Kuri, with its future in doubt. That same year, tabletop robot creator Jibo went out of business. Anki, which developed the virus robot Cozmo, shut down in 2019. Moxie, which developed AI-powered robots for children, also abruptly shut down last week.

But the failures haven't deterred the tech giants. Amazon continues to explore the suitability of its Astro home robot, and Apple is also reportedly working on a home robot in some form.

According to Markets & Markets, the home robotics sector could reach a value of $24.5 billion by 2028. Since 2019, about 1,500 robotics startups have raised about $90 billion, according to F-Prime, the venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments.



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