Learn why robotics companies fail — and how to succeed at RoboBusiness

By The Robot Report Staff | September 4, 2024

Building robots is hard; building a robotics company may be even harder. Dave Coleman, co-founder of PickNik Robotics, will share his experiences and observations of what works and what doesn’t when starting a robotics business at RoboBusiness 2024.

Opportunities to improve industry and people’s lives with robots, automation, and artificial intelligence have led to a Cambrian explosion of startups focused on solving various problems. Many of these opportunities are beyond the bounds of traditional factory automation, leading to hundreds if not thousands of corporate R&D initiatives and startups in the past decade.

However, very few winners have emerged, despite the excitement. 

Coleman was CEO of PickNik Robotics for nine years until he stepped aside in August to become its chief robotics officer. Coleman started his robotics career at Willow Garage and remains close to many of the industry’s top robotics leaders. He said he has consulted with more than 100 robotics companies over the past decade.

In his session, Coleman will examine business risks and technology pitfalls for robotics startups. He has seen it all firsthand and will share his insights. While Coleman’s primary focus is on applications for robotic arms, his lessons will be generalizable to mobile robots, drones, and more.

If you are actively building a robotics business or are considering launching a new venture to solve an interesting problem, don’t miss this session on Thursday, Oct. 17, from 12:00 to 12:45 p.m. PT.

Register now.

Hear from Coleman and more at RoboBusiness

In addition to enabling tech and robotics innovation, RoboBusiness 2024 focuses on investments and business topics related to running a robotics company. Keynote talks at the event will include:

• Rodney Brooks, co-founder and chief technology officer at Robust AI
• Claire Delaunay, chief technology officer at farm-ng
• Torrey Smith, the co-founder and CEO of Endiatx

The show will also include a keynote panel on “Driving the Future of Robotics Innovation” featuring:

• Amit Goel, head of robotics at edge AI ecosystem at NVIDIA
• John Bubnikovich, president of ABB Robotics US
• Eric Truebenbach, managing director of Teradyne Robotics Ventures
• Joan-Wilhelm Schwarze, a senior global innovation manager at DHL