MassRobotics has renewed partnerships with global robotics and technology companies, and added new annual partners. These corporate partners provide strategic guidance and help fund MassRobotics programming; partner investment is fueling the organization’s growth as it plans to expand its co-working space in Boston. 

MassRobotics is an independent, nonprofit organization with a mission to create and grow the next generation of robotics and smart connected device companies in Massachusetts. It provides entrepreneurs and innovators the facilities and resources they need to develop, prototype, test, challenge and nurture early ideas. Fady Saad, MassRobotics’ co-founder and director of partnerships recently announced the following signed partnership agreements:

• iRobot signed an exclusive five-year partnership in the consumer home robot cleaning segment. iRobot’s product line, including the Roomba robot vacuum and Braava family of mopping robots, feature advanced concepts in cleaning, mapping and navigation.
• Panasonic renewed its annual partnership after a successful 2017 engagement, which included a Technology Day event organized by MassRobotics and a high-level board visit early in 2018.
• Amazon Robotics, a founding partner of MassRobotics, is now an Annual Partner.
• Harmonic Drive renewed its annual partnership, and will take a seat on MassRobotics’ upcoming advisory board, and will have naming rights in the new facility.
• Faurecia, the largest international automotive parts manufacturer in the world, is a new Annual Partner. Faurecia designs and manufactures automobile seats, exhaust systems and interior systems; one in four automobiles globally is equipped by Faurecia.
• New Annual Partner, SMC, is a leader in pneumatic technology, providing industry with technology and products to support automation based on the guiding principle of “contributing to automation labor savings in industry.”

Recent commitments from Annual Partners total $550,000 and bring the total funding from corporate partners to nearly $1.8M. As a result of both private and public investment, MassRobotics now features:

• 30 resident startups in its space
• 50+ events organized in the last year
• Two graduate startups: Square Robot, with 15 people and an investment from Philips
  Ventures; and American Robotics, now at 10 people and $3M+ in seed funding
• 30 strategic and corporate partners

With the support of its sponsors and with the aid of the $2.5M MassWorks grant from the state of Massachusetts, MassRobotics is more than doubling its size. The new, larger facility that is now being designed will be able to support close to 70 startups in the robotics space, with many of the private labs already spoken for.

About MassRobotics

MassRobotics is the result of the collective work of a group of engineers, rocket scientists and entrepreneurs with a shared vision to create a strong, vibrant robotics and IoT ecosystem in Massachusetts. MassRobotics’ mission is to help create and scale the next generation of successful robotics and connected devices companies by providing entrepreneurs and innovative robotics/automation startups with the workspace and resources they need to develop, prototype, test and commercialize their products and solutions.

See www.massrobotics.org for details.