RoboBusiness keynote to analyze state of robotics investment

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Research advancements and technological progress have combined to remove barriers to robotics innovation and commercialization, providing the robotics sector with many opportunities for startups that can deliver robotics solutions that are functional and deliver real value.

While funding for robotics start-ups continues to increase, it is equally true that fundraising for a robotics startup can be challenging, more so compared to other sectors and technologies. At RoboBusiness, which takes place October 19-20 in Santa Clara, Calif., a keynote panel of leading robotics sector investment professionals will discuss venture capital (VC) and private sector investment into companies producing robots or enabling technologies.

The keynote, called “Robotics Sector Fundraising and Investment – Status, Trends and Recommendations,” will also highlight companies, technologies, and applications that have found commercial success or have the potential for doing so. Macro trends in the robotics sector, useful for uncovering novel technological innovations, as well as surfacing overlooked business opportunities, will be discussed. Topics include:

• The state of robotics sector investment
• Business, technological and social drivers for investment
• Gating factors and headwinds
• Why robotics startups succeed (or fail)
• Robotics unicorns
• Ongoing robotics opportunities

The panel will feature Karthee Madasamy, founder and managing partner of Mobile Foundation Ventures, Sherwin Prior, director of Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund, and Fady Saad, founder and general partner of Cybernetix Ventures. The panel will be moderated by Dan Kara, VP of robotics at WTWH Media, parent company of The Robot Report. View the entire RoboBusiness agenda here.

The other RoboBusiness keynotes include:

• Anthony Jules, co-founder, CEO, Robust AI
• Allison Thackston, senior technical lead and manager, roboticist, Waymo
• Sally Miller, CIO, North America, DHL Supply Chain
• Jonathan Hurst & Damion Shelton, Co-founders, Agility Robotics

RoboBusiness will feature 100-plus exhibitors, 50-plus speakers, a MassRobotics Career Fair and Startup Workshop, the Pitchfire Startup Competition, networking receptions and much more. Full conference passes are $795, while expo-only passes are just $75. Academic discounts are available and academic full conference rates are $295. Register today.

Co-Located Events
RoboBusiness will be co-located with the Field Robotics Engineering Forum, an international conference and exposition designed to provide engineers, engineering management, business professionals and others with information about how to successfully develop and safely deploy the next generation of field robotics systems for operation in wide-ranging, outdoor, dynamic environments. You can check out the current list of speakers, to which more will be added, here.

Also co-located with RoboBusiness is DeviceTalks West, the premier industry event for medical technology professionals, currently in its ninth year. Both events attract engineering and business professionals from a broad range of healthcare and medical technology backgrounds.

Sponsorship Opportunities
For information about sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, download the prospectus. Question regarding sponsorship opportunities should be directed to Courtney Nagle at cnagle[AT]wtwhmedia.com.

About WTWH Media
WTWH Media is an integrated media company serving engineering, business and investment professionals through 50+ websites, 5 print publications, along with many other technical and business events. WTWH’s Robotics Group produces The Robot Report, Robotics Business Review, Collaborative Robotics Trends and Mobile Robot Guide, online technical, business and investment news and information portals focused on robotics and intelligent systems. WTWH Media also produces leading in-person robotics conferences, including the Robotics Summit & Expo, RoboBusiness and the Healthcare Robotics Engineering Forum. See www.wtwhmedia.com for more information.