As another example of a robust and growing Massachusetts based robotics economy, startup Harvest Automation celebrated the opening of its new 6,000-square-foot headquarters on May 27. The company, founded as QRobotics in late 2006 by Joe Jones and Paul Sandin, inventors of iRobot Corp.‘s Roomba autonomous vacuuming robot, is developing mobile materials handling robots targeted at commercial growers.
In January Harvest Automation announced that it had received $4 million in Series A financing from investors Life Sciences Partners, MidPoint Food & Ag Funds, and the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation. But the funding process was a bit more interesting than what was portrayed in the announcement, and provides insights into how government and business can work together to promote each other’s interests.
During one of the speeches that preceded the ribbon cutting, Dina Routhier, principal at the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), described how Harvest was really funded in two steps. The company first received $400K from the MTDC. These funds, with assistance from Routhier and the MTDC, were subsequently used to secure additional financing from investment groups that specialize in agriculture-which it did from Life Sciences Partners and MidPoint Food & Ag Funds.
Robots based on a humanoid form factor will eventually join us at home, in the workplace and in public places. Here’s what’s news in humanoid robotics.
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