New York’s Drones & Robotics AI Summit Ushers In A Growing Automation Industry

The Big Apple is the center of the East Coast innovation corridor, which stretches north to Canada and down south to D.C.’s Tech Triangle, with its tentacles extending as far as Detroit’s Motor City. On November 8th, in the heart of New York City, 200+ leaders within the drones, robotics, … Read More

Israeli Robot Startups Prepare for Post-War Valuation Bump

One could hear in the hallways of RoboBusiness murmurings of shock and disgust with the Hamas terrorist attacks still smoldering. Just eleven days prior, a sunny morning in Israel was marred by bloodshed and the death of thousands of innocents. Consequently, the startup nation’s economy quickly spiraled. Almost overnight some … Read More

Tackling Loneliness With ChatGPT And Robots

As the last days of summer set, one is wistful of the time spent with loved ones sitting on the beach, traveling on the road, or just sharing a refreshing ice cream cone. However, for many Americans such emotional connections are rare, leading to high suicide rates and physical illness. … Read More

Submersible Robots That Can Fly

Last month, the entire world was abuzz when five über wealthy explorers perished at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean near the grave of the once “unsinkable ship.” Disturbingly, during the same week, hundreds of war-torn refugees drowned in the Mediterranean with little news of their plight. The irony of … Read More

Automate 2023 Recap And The Receding Horizon Problem

“Thirty million developers” are the answer to driving billion-dollar robot startups, exclaimed Eliot Horowitz of Viam last week at Automate. The hushed crowd of about 200 hardware entrepreneurs listened intensely to MongoDB‘s founder and former CTO (a $20Bn success story). Now, Horowitz aims to take the same approach that he … Read More

Gen-Z Roboticists In The Age of ChatGPT

This past Wednesday I had the good fortune to host my firm’s sixty-fourth Idea Dinner on the challenges and opportunities facing the automation industry. Part of ff Venture Capital‘s mission is partnering with corporates to bolster our portfolio’s reach and contribute to the broader innovation ecosystem. In this spirit, I … Read More

2023: The Year of Tombot – The Robo Dog

Hands down, the robot story of 2022 was the San Francisco Police Department’s decision, and subsequent retraction, to order a fleet of killer robots. The highly-debated proposal tried to set nerves at ease by stating: “Robots will only be used as a deadly force option when the risk of loss … Read More

Countering Luddite Politicians With Life (and Cost) Saving Machines

Earlier this month, Candy Crush celebrated its decade birthday by hosting a free party in lower Manhattan. The climax culminated with a drone light display of 500 Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) illustrating the whimsical characters of the popular mobile game over the Hudson. Rather than applauding the decision, New York … Read More

ffVC’s Drones & Robotics Summit: Automation Is The Recession Hedge

Chicken Little blog missives have inundated Medium’s site lamenting the stock market’s decline. Since joining ff Venture Capital’s partnership this summer, I’ve been awestruck by the level of optimism that permeates the organization. While others are now constricting their activity; ffVC is plowing ahead by closing its seventh fund and … Read More

Solving Supplychain Woes With Robot-Enabled Humans

The Pandemic has propelled e-commerce to stratospheric heights with sales skyrocketing over 30% in 2020, and close to 40% in 2021. Globally, online shopping jumped to nearly $30 trillion led by Alibaba and Amazon. This consumer behavior shift has accelerated the adoption of warehouse automation technologies with packaging systems estimated … Read More