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Colin Angle , one of the co - founders of Roomba Jehovah iRobot , is raising cash for a home robotics venture .
Afilingwith the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that Angle ’s novel party , Familiar Machines & Magic , is try on to lift $ 30 million . So far , it has raise $ 15 million from a radical of eight investor .
The filing , know as a Form D , does n’t identify angel by name . However , Data Point CapitallistsFamiliar Machines on its website as one of the VC business firm ’s portfolio company .
Familiar Machines has adomain nameandtrademark applicationbut not a functional website . Angle did n’t respond to a request for comment via LinkedIn message .
In arecent interviewwith The Boston Globe , Angle said that Familiar Machines , which is based in Boston with plans for a bearing in Los Angeles , will develop a fresh kind of home automaton focused on wellness and wellness . In addition to Angle , the carbon monoxide - founders include former iRobot CTO Chris Jones and iRobot grad Ira Renfrew . Renfrew , notably , also helped make Amazon ’s now - defunctScoutdelivery bot .
According to The Globe , bring up an investor , Familiar Machines is explore robots as companions — potentially including AI - powered “ furred pet . ” The company is hiring AI research worker and software engineers , among other roles .
“ We are initiate an exciting new category of home robot in the wellness and health infinite with a significant direction on human - robot interaction , ” a Familiar Machines job description on LinkedInreads . “ incarnate and agentic AI are cardinal to our product visual sense . ”
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Anglestepped downfrom iRobot in January , after Amazon ’s bid to acquire the company collapsed in the facial expression of opposite from EU antimonopoly governor . iRobot was forced to lay off 31 % of its stave , and Gary Cohen , an ex - Procter & Gamble oecumenical director , was charge the company ’s new CEO .
Angle has dabble in habitation robots before . In the early 2000s , iRobot created a epitome dwelling house companion robot hollo Grommet , per The Globe ’s reporting .
But the house robotics market has proven to be a tough ball to crack .
In 2018 , Bosch - backedMayfield Roboticsceased production of its Kuri golem associate amid a confutable future . That same year , tabletop golem creatorJibowound down surgical operation . Anki , the company behind the viral golem Cozmo , shut out down in 2019 . AndMoxie , which made an AI - power robot for kids , suddenly shutter last week .
But the failures are n’t dissuade technical school behemoth . Amazon continues to seek to find a conniption for its Astro home robot , and Apple is reportedly working onhome roboticsin some form .
Accordingto Markets and Markets , the segment for household robots could be deserving $ 24.5 billion by 2028 . About 1,500 robotics startups haveraisedroughly $ 90 billion since 2019 , per F - Prime , the venture capital sleeve of Fidelity Investments .
