Feb 21 2013
Grishin Robotics, the first venture capital firm in the world that is focused on consumer robotics, announces its investment into the Boston-based hardware incubator Bolt, which helps hardware startups (including robotics and connected devices) with seed capital and an extensive mentorship program.
Along with Grishin Robotics, there are another two strategic partners -- Logitech and Autodesk -- that also agreed to support Bolt's startups with capital and parts/services. Among the prominent angel investors, partnered with Bolt, are Mick Mountz (Kiva Systems, acquired by Amazon) and Brad Feld (Foundry Group, investor in companies such as MakerBot and FitBit).
Over the course of the next two years, Bolt will accept 25 hardware startups into its program. The application process for the first batch opens today at www.bolt.io and will last for 2 months -- 10-15 companies are going to be accepted for the 6-month program. Projects' founders will receive seed capital, access to office and prototyping facilities, and extensive support from a full-time engineering/design staff and a wide array of hardware-centric mentors. Bolt's program is focused on key aspects of ideation and development of any successful mass-market hardware products, including manufacturing and commercialization.
"The key to the upcoming consumer robotics revolution, I believe, is in the startup ecosystem. Talented hardware entrepreneurs, dreaming about a new generation of smart devices, do not have today a supporting community around, that is as developed as software developers do. That's why we have decided to invest in Bolt -- this is an investment into the market's future," said Dmitry Grishin, founder of Grishin Robotics and co-founder of the Mail.Ru Group.
"Hardware startups are typically at a major disadvantage compared to their software counterparts," said Bolt's Managing Director Ben Einstein. "But this disadvantage means it's ripe for disruption. We've built a model that changes the equation and enables startups to get capital -- efficient hardware to market at unprecedented speed."
Source: http://grishinrobotics.com/