Vecna Robotics

Vecna Robotics originated as a division of Vecna Technologies,{{cite web |author1=RBR Staff |title=Vecna Throws Hat into Robotics Ring |url=https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/health-medical/vecna-throws-hat-into-robotics-ring/ |website=Robotics Business Review |accessdate=December 15, 2018 |date=February 17, 2010}} which had been founded in 1998 by MIT engineering alumni, Daniel Theobald.{{cite web |last1=Barr |first1=Julie |title=Robot Road Race Helps Save Lives [VIDEO] |url=https://alum.mit.edu/slice/robot-road-race-helps-save-lives-video |website=MIT Alumni Association |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |date=May 5, 2015}} According to a December 2017 profile of Theobald by Forbes contributor, Frederick Daso, the company name ‘Vecna’ is derived from the Czech word věčný, fem. věčná, meaning ‘eternal’.{{cite news |last1=Daso |first1=Frederick |title=Bill Gates And Elon Musk Are Worried For Automation - But This Robotics Company Founder Embraces It |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickdaso/2017/12/18/bill-gates-elon-musk-are-worried-about-automation-but-this-robotics-company-founder-embraces-it/#153cca6440f8 |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |work=Forbes |date=December 18, 2017}} Vecna Technologies focused primarily on health-care software development, while the robotics division engaged in research for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and National Aeronautics and Space Administration.{{cite news |last1=Seiffert |first1=Don |title=Research grants let Vecna stay true to startup principles |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/beginners/2013/vecna-taps-sbir-research-grants.html |accessdate=December 13, 2018 |publisher=Boston Business Journal |date=June 14, 2013}}{{cite news |last1=Bray |first1=Hiawatha |title=Vecna aims new wave of robots for warehouses |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2017/04/03/vecna-aims-new-wave-robots-for-warehouses/cikHvRooMQmi8PI53DFNiK/story.html |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |publisher=Boston Globe |date=April 3, 2017}}{{cite web |title=SBIR Award Listing: Vecna Technologies, Inc. |url=https://www.sbir.gov/sbc/vecna-technologies-inc |website=Small Business Innovation Research |accessdate=December 13, 2018}}

The company was later based in Cambridge, MA and supported efforts to build the Massachusetts Robotics Cluster.{{cite news |last1=Huang |first1=Gregory T. |title=Vecna and VGo Are Now One: An Important Robotics Acquisition |url=https://xconomy.com/boston/2015/07/16/vecna-and-vgo-are-now-one-an-important-robotics-acquisition/ |accessdate=January 28, 2019 |publisher=Xconomy |date=July 16, 2015}}{{cite journal |last1=Nickerson |first1=Russell |title=Pioneering the Personal Robotics Industry |journal=Bridgewater State University Undergraduate Review |date=2009 |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=136 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/48824742.pdf |accessdate=January 20, 2019}}

In the mid-2000s era, Vecna Robotics received funding from the U.S. Army, DARPA and other government agencies to develop the Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot (BEAR).{{cite news |last1=Barrie |first1=Allison |title=Teddy bear-faced robot is built for battlefields |url=https://www.foxnews.com/tech/teddy-bear-faced-robot-is-built-for-battlefields |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |publisher=Fox News |date=March 29, 2012}} The humanoid robot was originally designed to rescue wounded soldiers from the battle field, but as the company refined and adapted its robotics software, other commercial applications became evident.{{cite news |last1=Silverstein |first1=Jonathan |title=The BEAR: Soldier, Nurse, Friend and Robot |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2740699&page=1 |accessdate=December 13, 2018 |publisher=ABC News |date=December 20, 2006}}{{cite news |last1=Weinberger |first1=Sharon |title=Next generation military robots have minds of their own |url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120928-battle-bots-think-for-themselves |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |publisher=BBC |date=November 18, 2014}}{{cite book |last1=Vallor |first1=Shannon |title=Technology and the Virtues: A Philosophical Guide to a Future Worth Wanting |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190498511 |page=213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D3PADAAAQBAJ&q=vecna+robotics&pg=PA213 |accessdate=December 19, 2018 |via=Google Books}} In turn, Vecna Robotics abstracted its autonomy software or "brain" from the BEAR's physical hardware and utilized the same methodology to develop a range of logistics robots.{{Cite interview | url= https://www.wbur.org/bostonomix/2017/12/22/warehouse-robots | title=Boston-Area Companies Push For Robot Workers In Warehouses Under Holiday Crunch | interviewer=Asma Khalid | subject=Daniel Theobald | series=WBUR-FM Bostonomix | date=December 22, 2017 | medium=radio broadcast | access-date=December 13, 2018}} In April 2012, the QC Bot, a robotic courier, was piloted in hospitals to distribute medicine and food.{{cite news |last1=Overly |first1=Steven |title=At Vecna Technologies, low funding for BEARs leads to building Bots |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/at-vecna-technologies-low-funding-for-bears-leads-to-building-bots/2012/04/06/gIQA3ryi4S_story.html?noredirect=on |accessdate=December 18, 2018 |work=Washington Post |date=April 8, 2012}} The company's product expansion continued in April 2017 when additional logistics robots became generally available to the industrial sector.{{cite news |last1=Banker |first1=Steve |title=Distinctive Warehouse Robotics Solutions Are Emerging |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2018/02/06/distinctive-warehouse-robotics-solutions-are-emerging/#3790d31921c7 |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |work=Forbes |date=February 6, 2018}} Concurrently, Vecna Robotics was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Vecna Technologies. The separation positioned Vecna Robotics to seek outside investment as well as specialize in autonomous mobile solutions for manufacturing and warehouse applications.{{cite web |last1=Engel |first1=Jeff |title=Vecna Reorganizes, Pushes Logistics Robots in Hot Market |url=https://xconomy.com/boston/2017/04/03/vecna-reorganizes-pushes-logistics-robots-in-hot-market/?_ga=2.198417455.163367975.1544853779-871638036.1544853779 |website=Xconomy |accessdate=December 15, 2018 |date=April 3, 2017}}{{Cite report |author=Andersson, Thomas |date=February 2018 |title=Goods-to-Person Ecommerce Fulfillment Robotics 2018 |url=https://6river.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Goods-to-Person-Robotics-by-Styleintelligence-February-2018-v1.3.pdf.|publisher=Styleintelligence |page=24 |accessdate=December 18, 2018}}

In January 2018, Daniel Patt, the former deputy director of DARPA's Strategic Technology Office (STO), joined as CEO.{{cite web |author1=DC Velocity Staff |title=Backed by new VC, Vecna Robotics spins off from parent company |url=https://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20181203-backed-by-new-vc--vecna-robotics-spins-off-from-parent-company/ |website=DC Velocity |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |date=December 3, 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Engel |first1=Jeff |title=From DARPA to Vecna: New CEO on How Automation Can "Elevate" Humans |url=https://xconomy.com/boston/2018/01/17/from-darpa-to-vecna-new-ceo-on-how-automation-can-elevate-humans/ |publisher=Xconomy |accessdate=December 13, 2018 |date=January 17, 2018}} The same year, Vecna Robotics spun out from former parent, Vecna Technologies. 60 existing employees transferred to positions in the new company. According to a filing with the SEC, Vecna Robotics reincorporated in Delaware and raised $13.5 million in a funding round that began August 14, 2018.{{cite web |author1=Vecna Robotics, Inc. |title=SEC Form D |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1750649/000175064918000001/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml |website=United States Securities and Exchange Commission |accessdate=December 11, 2018}} The round was led by Columbus, Ohio-based venture capital firm, Drive Capital, and marked the first outside equity investment in the new company Vecna Robotics.{{cite web |last1=Engel |first1=Jeff |title=Vecna Robotics Grabs $13.5M, Led by Drive, as Logistics Robots Stay Hot |url=https://xconomy.com/boston/2018/08/30/vecna-robotics-grabs-13-5m-as-logistics-robots-stay-hot/ |website=Xconomy |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |date=August 30, 2018}} In January 2020, an additional $50M in investment was announced along with a change of leadership as Theobald took over as CEO.{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Jennifer |title=Warehouse Robotics Startups Drawing Bigger Investor Backing |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/warehouse-robotics-startups-drawing-bigger-investor-backing-11578394802 |website=Wall Street Journal|accessdate=January 7, 2020 |date=January 7, 2020}}

In June 2021, the company announced former founder and CEO of Lifesize Craig Malloy as CEO.{{cite web |last1=Demaitre |first1=Eugene |title=Vecna Robotics Names Craig Malloy as CEO, as Mobile Robot Demand Surges|url=https://www.robotics247.com/article/vecna_robotics_names_craig_malloy_ceo_mobile_robot_demand_surges/supply_chain |website=Robotics247|accessdate=June 8, 2021 |date=June 8, 2021}}

In January 2022, the company announced a series C raise led by Tiger Global with participation from Lineage Logistics, Proficio Capital Partners, and IMPULSE, bringing the company's total capital raised to $128.5 million.{{cite web |last1=Wiggers |first1=Kyle |title=Vecna Robotics raises new capital as the warehouse automation industry grows|url=https://venturebeat.com/2022/01/26/vecna-robotics-raises-new-capital-as-the-warehouse-automation-industry-grows/|website=VentureBeat|accessdate=January 26, 2022 |date=January 26, 2022}}

In March 2022, the company released the industry's first co-bot pallet jack in partnership with forklift maker Big Joe.{{cite web |last1=Allinson |first1=Mark |title=Vecna Robotics partners with forklift maker Big Joe to launch robotic pallet jack|url=https://roboticsandautomationnews.com/2022/03/28/vecna-robotics-partners-with-forklift-maker-big-joe-to-launch-robotic-pallet-jack/50014/|website=Robotics and Automation News|accessdate=March 23, 2022 |date=March 23, 2022}}

Vecna Robotics’ automated material handling product line includes the RC20 Conveyor, RC500 Conveyor, RL350 Lifter, RL3600 Pallet Truck, RT4500 Tugger and the Tote Retrieval System (TRS).{{cite web |last1=Britt |first1=Phil |title=10 Robots That Can Speed Up Your Supply Chain |url=https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/RBRi_10Robots_Final2.pdf |website=Robotics Business Review |publisher=RBR Insider White Paper |accessdate=January 2, 2019 |pages=11–12}}{{cite web |title=Company Profile: Vecna Robotics |url=https://www.robotics.org/company-profile-detail.cfm?company=1386&tab=1#copro |website=Robotics Industries Association |accessdate=December 11, 2018}} As of October 2018, the company's RL3600 Pallet Trucks were deployed at Milton CAT's Milford, Massachusetts distribution center to increase fulfillment speed.{{cite web |author1=RBR Staff |title=Innovation at Work: Vecna Robotics Helps Milton CAT Develop a Flexible Workflow |url=https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/supply-chain/milton-cat-flexible-workflow-vecna-robotics/ |website=Robotics Business Review |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |date=October 30, 2018}} The RL3600 addressed the problem of retrieving slow-selling items stored at long walking distances. In March 2018, a fleet of six RT4500 Tuggers were profiled by Cade Metz in The New York Times as new “robotic colleagues” at the FedEx industrial shipping hub in Kernersville, North Carolina.{{cite news |last1=Metz |first1=Cade |title=FedEx Follows Amazon Into the Robotic Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/18/technology/fedex-robots.html |accessdate=December 11, 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=March 18, 2018}} In this warehouse application, the tuggers pull trains of carts with bulky goods such as car tires or canoes to manage a growing percentage of eCommerce orders for items unable to fit on conveyor belts. In addition to Vecna Robotics’ hardware line, the company also developed artificial intelligence (AI) software designed to integrate warehouse management systems, robotics and human workflow.{{cite web |title=Autonomous Robots Take On Dangerous Warehouse Jobs |url=https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2018/ps_4.html |website=NASA Spinoff |accessdate=December 18, 2018 |date=2018}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|vecnarobotics.com}}

Category:2018 establishments in Massachusetts