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The New York Robotics Community is constructing a neighborhood within the metro space and worldwide. Credit score: Adobe Inventory
As robots unfold from factories and warehouses all over the world, robotics clusters are popping up wherever there’s a crucial mass of commercial want, expert staff, and modern entrepreneurs. Since 2021, the New York Robotics Community has been rising and organizing occasions to assist startups, engineers, traders, and finish customers join.
The group stated it’s within the “fastest-growing tech ecosystem within the U.S.”
The Robotic Report spoke with Jacob Hennessey-Rubin, founding board member, and Randy Howie, founding board member and senior working director of the New York Robotics Community (NYRN), about their actions and plans.
How New York is totally different than different clusters
Why does metropolitan New York want a robotics cluster?
Jacob Hennessey-Rubin, co-founder, NYRN
Hennessey-Rubin: There’s a want for the New York Robotics Community to construct an ecosystem that helps startups, trade, VCs/traders, and companions navigate the complicated panorama of expertise and enterprise within the area, all through the nation, and across the globe.
We see a chance to concentrate on financial growth within the Tri-state space [New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut]. There’s loads occurring on this area.
Over the previous three years, we’ve placed on greater than 10 networking occasions for the neighborhood and have signed 501(c)(6) nonprofit incorporation papers.
What’s your membership?
Hennessey-Rubin: NYRN presently counts 100+ startups in our index, and we’re uncovering extra each week. We’ve seen founders of corporations like Adagy come to New York from different places, in addition to startups based mostly elsewhere hiring distant staff, like Joby, Phantom, or Zoox.
Samsung, Johnson & Johnson, and others have analysis amenities or company headquarters within the space.
How is the New York Robotics Community totally different from different robotics clusters, akin to MassRobotics, the Pittsburgh Robotics Community (PRN), or Silicon Valley Robotics (SVR)?
Hennessey-Rubin: They’re well-established. We’re much less centered round one or two universities, on getting grants, or on straight incubating startups. This space already has over a dozen universities, and robotics is multidisciplinary. We would like extra corporations to rent all of the graduates popping out right here.
NYRN’s mission is:
- To assist empower and assist our various membership as they handle the complexity of the world’s fastest-growing tech ecosystem,
- To forge partnerships between our ecosystem with companions throughout the globe,
- To signify the area’s robotics ecosystem domestically and globally, and
- To increase the robotics trade inside the New York metro space.
We’re simply getting began constructing the muse for the following nice industrial and technological revolution in New York, and we goal to determine the area as a number one hub for robotics excellence and to propel the trade towards a way forward for transformative influence and international management.
Howie: We appeared on the different profitable organizations and realized that we’re not going to be the identical.
New York Robotics Community works with artwork, trade
If Silicon Valley is a middle of software program and synthetic intelligence and Boston a hub for robotics {hardware} innovation, what’s New York? What industries are represented in NYRN?
Hennessey-Rubin: Not solely is New York a capital of finance, but it surely’s additionally host to leisure, in addition to different industries. NYC nonetheless has extra manufacturing than many individuals understand.
We listing our main trade sectors as: medical/bio/lab like Opentrons, development and infrastructure, superior manufacturing, artwork and theater, meals and hospitality, and warehouse and logistics.
In development, there are corporations like ULC, Skyline, and Toggle. In meals and hospitality, three ghost kitchens have deployed robots.
Randy Howie, co-founder, NYRN
Howie: Within the arts, we’ve seen robots management lighting and cameras onstage and for tv. Dr. Kari Love, a professor at NYU and ITP, has labored with robotics in burlesque and puppetry, and Natalie Friedman, who simply graduated together with her Ph.D. from Cornell, wrote her thesis on “Ought to Robots Put on Garments?”
One NYU grad has used additive manufacturing to make costumes, and one other startup tapped the costume designer to make precise area fits.
We need to merge the dynamism of the New York spirit with the transformative energy of robotics. The town’s skyline is inspirational — we’ve all the time been pushing the bounds of expertise and artwork, that are altering on a regular basis.
Worldwide and regional partnerships welcome
As a gateway between the U.S. and the world, how is New York’s international outlook a energy?
Hennessey-Rubin: We’re creating nation focus teams for nations which might be investing in and centered in robotics. The primary such group is Japan, the place we’re working with our companion Monozukuri Ventures.
We search to duplicate this mannequin with the U.Okay., France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
On the identical time, how a lot do you concentrate on New York Metropolis versus the area at giant?
Hennessey-Rubin: We’re based mostly within the Brooklyn Navy Yard, inasmuch that Newlab is our workplace and mailing tackle, however I wouldn’t restrict us to a bodily location. We need to be seen as a blanket consultant of the area.
We’ve got over 30 ecosystem companions, and there are lots of stealth startups within the space.
Howie: We’ve dropped the “C” in “NYC” and are trying on the better space as a part of our trajectory for being a extra nationwide or international group.
What’s the New York Robotics Community “founding companion” program?
Hennessey-Rubin: Our founding companions assist the expansion, technique, and imaginative and prescient of NYRN via contributing working capital in alternate for a spot in our “internal circle,” perpetual promotion as a founding companion, and different particular advantages. We’ve got closed 4 founding companions and have many extra in our pipeline or underneath dialogue.
The 4 founding companions which have closed are Interwoven Ventures; Monozukuri; Customary Bots, which not too long ago raised funding and acquired READY Robotics’ IP; and SDP/SI, a Designatronics firm.
Cybernetix Ventures is a strategic companion of NYRN, and Fady Saad has joined the board of administrators. Kel Guerin, co-founder and CEO of READY Robotics, can also be on our board.
Howie: The group is elevating cash at an excellent clip. It implies that the neighborhood sees worth in working with us.
We’ve additionally gotten assist from Newlab, Cozen O’Connor, and ideometry.
New York Robotics Community is simply getting began
Supply: NYRN
What are some current NYRN actions?
Hennessey-Rubin: In February, we had 185 members at our discussion board on “Exploring the Way forward for Robotics in NYC,” and in June, we had our first “founders and funders” dinner with J.P. Morgan.
Howie: We’ve hosted Meetups round actions akin to sports activities, sponsored by the NYC Solidworks Consumer Group, and with the NY Tech Alliance.
We simply partnered with AcceleratorCON final week.
What can we stay up for within the coming months and 12 months?
Howie: We’re additionally planning on offering profession and enterprise growth providers and acceleration alternatives.
We count on to have a big presence at ICRA and are speaking with A3 [the Association for Advancing Automation].
Supply: NYRN
Hennessey-Rubin: On Thursday, Nov. 14, we’re co-hosting with Cybernetix Ventures an unique occasion: “Navigating the Future — Robotics and AI Funding Methods.”
We’ll be at occasions akin to ATX East, and we’ll have extra to announce quickly.
It’s nonetheless pretty early, however the time is now for robotics. When you have a look at the timeline of computer systems, which had been first constructed within the Thirties for the army, then the ’40s for giant firms, and got here into different companies within the ’60s. In 1984, computer systems from Tandy and others grew to become family names. Now now we have computer systems in our pockets.
Robots are like 1972 — lots of corporations are making them, and functions are creating, however most nonetheless require specifically educated operators. We’re getting nearer to 1984, and it’s noteworthy that most of the humanoid builders began out constructing customized motors.
