Robotics Startup Bootcamp at RoboBusiness

Listen to this article

Starting a robotics company, as well as growing and scaling, has many challenges. These can include taking a robot from prototype to production, raising funding, navigating government regulations, reaching their target audience, and more. 

The Robotics Startup Boot Camp at RoboBusiness, which takes place in Santa Clara, CA on October 18-19, will provide “tips of the trade” and include discussions around the many common challenges that can make or break a company along the way. Topics will include legal formation, dilutive and non-dilutive investments, IP and patents, path to manufacturing, accounting, when to bring on marketing, sales, & HR experts, and fundraising & exits.

The BootCamp will feature five speakers that will share their first-hand experience working with startups:

• Drew Fortin is the Founder and CEO of Lever Talent. Fortin is a people-first, values-driven leader with over 20 years of growth strategy and team-building experience across retail, marketing technology, local media, and HR tech. He is obsessed with the shift that AI, robotics, and Web3 have on the employer-employee relationship and the good things it means for humans in the future of work. This led him to found Lever Talent – the talent strategy agency – which helps 200+ companies run tech-enabled strategies to maximize the leverage of their workforce.
• Christie Bluhm is the Audit Principal at Clifton Larson Allen (CLA). Bluhm has more than 20 years of experience providing accounting, auditing, tax, and advisory services to manufacturers, distributors, and technology companies. She has extensive experience with assurance engagements—overseeing the entire engagement from planning to fieldwork and reporting. Additionally, she provides advisory services to businesses and their owners on financial analysis, general business questions, buy/sell preparation, and tax planning.
• Aaron Capron is a Partner at Finnegan’s Palo Alto office. With more than 18 years of experience, Capron counsels clients of all sizes, ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, on prosecution, post-grant considerations, portfolio management, and pre-litigation strategies. He has drafted and overseen the drafting of hundreds of patent applications for electrical, electronics, telecommunications, and software-based technologies.
• Daniel Theobald is the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Vecna Robotics. Theobald has decades of experience leading research scientists and teams of engineers in developing cutting-edge technology. He has 67 issued patents and more than 30 patents pending.   In addition to founding Vecna Robotics, Daniel also co-founded MassRobotics, a non-profit dedicated to the global advancement of the robotics industry and Twisted Fields, an organic research farm dedicated to the advancement of automation in agriculture.
• Joyce Sidopoulos is the Co-Founder and Chief of Operations at MassRobotics, an innovation hub, collective workspace, and laboratory for robotics startups. MassRobotics’ mission is to enable and grow the next generation of robotics companies. In her role, Sidopoulos works on initiatives to expand the breadth and depth of the robotics ecosystem and develops high-impact programs, highlighting startup technology, matching startups with funders and customers, engaging with robotics adoption, connecting talent to employers and working with academia to commercialize research.

RoboBusiness is the leading event focused on developing commercial robots. There will be 60-plus speakers, 100-plus exhibitors and demos on the expo floor, networking receptions, the Pitchfire Robotics Startup Competition and more. You can check out the current list of speakers, to which more will be added.

RoboBusiness will be co-located with the Field Robotics Engineering Forum, an event focused on successfully developing robots that operate in wide-ranging, outdoor, dynamic environments.

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.