Colin Angle, the co-founder of iRobot, is starting a new robotics company called Familiar Machines & Magic. The startup is trying to raise $30 million and has already secured $15 million from eight investors. Angle left iRobot in January after Amazon’s failed attempt to buy the company.
iRobot then laid off 31% of its staff and appointed a new CEO. Familiar Machines, based in Boston with plans for a presence in Los Angeles, will develop a new kind of home robot focused on health and wellness. Angle is joined by former iRobot CTO Chris Jones and iRobot alumnus Ira Renfrew, who helped create Amazon’s now-defunct delivery bot.
According to an investor, Familiar Machines is exploring robots as companions, potentially including AI-powered “furry pets.” The company is hiring AI researchers and software engineers, among other roles. A job description on LinkedIn mentions, “We are pioneering an exciting new category of home robot in the health and wellness space with a significant focus on human-robot interaction.
iRobot alumni launch Familiar Machines
Embodied and agentic AI are central to our product vision.”
Angle has experience with home robots. In the early 2000s, iRobot created a prototype home companion robot called Grommet. However, the home robotics market has been challenging.
Companies like Bosch-backed Kuri robot companion and the company behind the viral robot Cozmo have faced difficulties. Despite the challenges, tech giants continue to show interest in home robotics. Amazon is still trying to find a fit for its Astro home robot, and Apple is reportedly working on home robotics in some form.
According to Markets and Markets, the household robots segment could be worth $24.5 billion by 2028. Since 2019, roughly 1,500 robotics startups have raised about $90 billion, according to F-Prime, the venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments.
