Analysis:
Bossa Nova Robotics was founded in 2005, a spinout  from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute. The company initially focused on robotic toys. Bossa Nova pivoted to become a data service provider for the retail industry using highly sensored, autonomous mobile robots to detect out-of-stock items, identified mispriced and misplaced items, and more.

Bossa Nova faces competition  from a number of other companies that employ robotics as autonomous mobile sensors. The 2017 partnership announcement with Walmart was rightly seen as a huge win for Bossa Nova. At one stroke, it legitimized the company, along with its business model and value proposition. But it is Bossa Nova’s follow-up expansion of Walmart deployments following initial assessment phase that is most critical.

Walmart is the world’s largest brick-andmortar retailer, with over 1,500 stores and 2 million employees worldwide. It is in the midst of a massive innovation program centered on robots, AI, and data. Bossa Nova Robotics is a key piece of that initiative. – Dan Kara