![]()
by
Andra Keay
Business & Finance
News
December 1, 2016
Vidi Systems from Switzerland is the overall Grand Winner of the 2016 Robot Launch global startup competition, beating out many US contestants in a field that included sensors, artificial intelligence, social robots, service robots and industrial solutions. Overall, the European robotics startups performed very strongly this year with 8 making The Shortlist for awards. Canada also had good representation with 3 entries, but the rest of The Shortlist were based in the USA, even if they had originated in Israel or Hong Kong.
Switzerland based ViDi Systems provides deep learning vision software dedicated to automated aesthetic inspection & classification for a wide range of applications in pharmaceutical, med-tech, watch Industry, automotive, logistics center, bottling industry, textile, printing, ceramics, photovoltaic etc. Robot Launch judges said that they picked ViDi Systems for their “great early traction, impressive customers, strong team and large market potential”, noting that while ViDi Systems were clearly one of the most mature startups in The Shortlist, that they had achieved a lot in a comparatively short period.
The Robot Launch Grand Winner receives mentorship from Silicon Valley Robotics, Odense Robotics, QUTbluebox and the Australian Center for Excellence in Robotic Vision, connections which, along with the feature on Robohub.org, will be very useful for a startup interested in global expansion.
In contrast, the next most highly ranked startups, Robolink and Franklin Robotics were very young, with Robolink shipping educational robotics from San Diego, drawing on a background growing the local maker community. And Franklin Robotics developing an affordable gardening robot based on team expertize gained as founders at iRobot and Harvest Automation.
Robohub president Sabine Hauert said, “We’re delighted at Robohub to be working with Andra Keay to provide Robot Launchers with extra visibility to reach investors, partners, and future users. The quality of the startups this year was impressive, seems that Robot Launch raises the bar year after year!”
All of The Shortlist were evaluated by a team of investors and expert judges from venture capital firms and robotics clusters, including Intel Capital, Grishin Robotics, InnoSpring, PropelX, ElevenTwo Capital, Comet Labs, Root.vc, Singularity U’s Explorers Fund and Sony Ventures. Behind the scenes, there are some term sheets being offered to select startups. We can’t say more, but we can announce the rankings and other awards.
Odense Robotics and Invest in Odense are offering an incubation award for the Best European Startup team (2 persons) as follows: Travel to / housing in Odense, 1-month for 2 persons in Odense (travel/housing value 1500 USD), access to all Odense Robotics StartUp Hub facilities, Robot Innovation Hall, the other startups in the Hub, for one month (during May / June 2017), preparing for the JUNE PITCH SESSION – for the board of Odense Robotic StartUp Hub where they might be selected as one of two StartUps to enter the Odense Robotic StartUp Hub (12 months).
ODENSE ROBOTICS AWARD for EUROPEAN STARTUP:
Robomotive
ViDi Systems
Halodi
Tactile Robots
bridgeOS
With special mention of the USA teams (perhaps a good time for a holiday in Denmark?):
Robotics Materials
Cubits
Silicon Valley Robotics will offer a startup membership to all of The Shortlist, providing introductions to investors in Silicon Valley, access to network events and hosting in the new Robot Launchpad accelerator space. We are also coordinating demo opportunities at expos around the world. Although there were no shortlisted startups from the other regions, QUTbluebox and the Australian Center for Excellence in Robotic Vision will be offering mentorship and ‘down under’ connections to the Robot Launch winner.
The overall top scoring startups were:
ViDi Systems
Robolink
Franklin Robotics
Robomotive
MOTI: A Robot for Habits
Robotics Materials
TransRobotics
Kamigami Robotics
SD3D
Foldimate
Labs Cubed
Halodi
Ourobotics
Modular Science
Parihug
Startups that stood out from the shortlist were the bio robotics startups:
Labs Cubed, Ourobotics and Modular Science
The social robots:
MOTI, Parihug and nominee sciRobot
The service robots:
Franklin Robotics, Halodi and Foldimate
The robot sensors:
Robotics Materials and Transrobotics
The ROS robotics startups:
ViDi Systems, Robotics Materials, Halodi, Choitek, Semio, and bridgeOS
Competition organizer Andra Keay said that the range of startups was always a good indicator of the overall robotics industry growth areas. “I can’t wait to see what next year brings. After all, this year we already new industrial applications, bio robotics and several new sensors. We also saw a strong showing from social and service robots, ranging from full humanoids to restaurant delivery robots, from smart devices to software helping robot developers build advanced behaviors.”
Finally after last week’s popular vote, did the Robohub Readers agree with the judges? Not this time! So, perhaps there are more hidden gems in The Shortlist:
Announcing the Robot Launch 2016 Shortlist
Robot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick Round One
Robot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick Round Two
Robot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick Round Three
Andra Keay robot startup strategist.. read more
Research & Innovation
Business & Finance
Health & Medicine
Politics, Law & Society
Arts & Entertainment
Education & DIY
Events
Military & Defense
Exploration & Mining
Mapping & Surveillance
Enviro. & Agriculture
Aerial
Automotive
Industrial Automation
Consumer & Household
Space
latest posts popular reported elsewhere
November fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures
by
Frank Tobe
Robohub is a top 10 brand in robotics
by
Kassie Perlongo
Commerce announces first artificial intelligence hearing today, livestream available
by
Robohub Editors
Understanding the four types of AI, from reactive robots to self-aware beings
by
Arend Hintze
Where is robotic vision on the Hype Cycle?
by
Sue Keay
Giving thanks to Robohub on #GivingTuesday
by
Robohub Editors
When robots become art: Interview with Yi-Wei Keng
by
Yueh-Hsuan Weng
Analyzing the viability of Ethernet and UDP for robot control
by
Florian Enner
Considering robot care, ethics & future tech at #ERW2016 European Robotics Week
by
SPARC
The Drone Center’s Weekly Roundup: 11/28/16
by
Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College
latest posts popular reported elsewhere
US auto industry installed 135,000 robots and added 230,000 jobsRobot Launch 2016 – Robohub Readers’ Pick round threeMesh Mould: Robotically fabricated metal meshes100/100 Computer Vision ChallengeHow do self-driving cars work?The evolution of assembly lines: A brief historyFarming with robotsGenerating predictive videos using deep-learningLet’s hope Trump does what he says regarding robots and roboticsWho did Robohub reader’s vote for in Robot Launch 2016?
latest posts popular reported elsewhere
DARPA creates space robotics consortium | Signal
Castable bulk metallic glass strain wave gears: Towards decreasing the cost of high-performance robotics | Nature
Robot suitcases coming to an airport near you | TheStar.com
Mini robot delicate enough to perform cataract surgery | Reuters
Robots muscle in on the job interview | FT
In the future, will farming be fully automated? | BBC
‘MekaMon’ mixes biology and mechanics for mesmerizing robot battles | Forbes
Graveyard shift: Zombie-like robot helps guard cemetery at night | Global Times
Yann LeCun: The Next Frontier in AI (Unsupervised) | CMU RI Seminar
Jibo Social Robot Won’t Ship in 2016 | Robotics Trends
Cockroach robot flips itself with insect-inspired wings | IEEE Spectrum
Tech would use drones and insect biobots to map disaster areas | Science Daily
Wireless brain implant allows “locked-in” woman to communicate | Scientific American
ROOBO and Nuance to deliver conversational AI robots globally | Business Wire
U-M offers open-access automated cars to advance driverless research | University of Michigan News
Paralysed Iraq war veteran walks for the first time in eight years thanks to pair of robotic legs | SWNS
Robots likely to be used in classrooms as learning tools, not teachers | The Conversation
Berkeley’s 3D Robotics launches construction drone service | San Francisco Chronicle
The hover camera could change your travel photos | Architectural Digest
The future of artificial intelligence and cybernetics | MIT Technology Review
Marine robotics systems
November 30, 2015
A dedicated jobs board for the global robotics community.
Technical Officer/Senior Technical Officer (AUV software systems/field operations) - University of SydneyRobotics Engineering Manager - US Medical InnovationsPhD Position in Robotics - San Diego State UniversityAssistant Professors of Mechanical Engineering (Tenure-Track) - Louisiana State UniversityRobotics Engineers – Auro (Autonomous Shuttles for Campuses) - Auro Robotics
