Oliver Mitchell

Oliver Mitchell is a partner at Arkenstone Venture Partners, a dual-use venture firm investing in defense technology, cybersecurity, automation, and AI-driven enterprise software, born out of Israel’s elite military units. Oliver is also a partner at ff Venture Capital, where he leads investments in robotics, artificial intelligence, drones, industrial automation, and climate tech, and builds strategic alliances with limited partners and corporate venture groups. A seasoned investor, Oliver boasts a proven track record of successful exits, including two IPOs (Novocure and Ekso Bionics), a $1.4 billion private equity sale of TripleLift, and high returns from recent transactions, including the acquisition of Scite.ai by Research Solutions (RSSS) and CardFlight’s growth equity round led by WestView Capital Partners. He currently serves on the boards of CivRobotics, Cambrian Robotics, and Paraspot, leveraging his deep tech expertise to scale transformative companies. Previously, he built and exited ventures such as Holmes Protection, AmeriCash, and RobotGalaxy, a national STEM-focused brand. As an Adjunct Professor at Sy Syms School of Business and the author of A Startup Field Guide in the Age of Robots and AI, he continues to shape innovation, sharing insights on his blog as the “Robot Rabbi.“

A Startup Field Guide in the Age of Robots and AI

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My goal for this book is to help you at a pivotal point in your ideation process and, at the same, introduce you to a cadre of potential mentors. Just like it’s essential to satiate yourself before scaling mountains, fast-tracking your innovation into the hands of early adopters is vital for achieving success on Main Street.

Locus Lock: Protecting Autonomy From GPS Spoofing And Other Nefarious Activity

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Flying back from Miami last week I put my life in the hands of two strangers, just because they wore gold epaulets. These aviators, in turn, trusted their onboard computers to safely navigate the passengers home. The computers accessed satellite global positioning data to set the course. This chain of command is very fragile, the … Read more

Will 2024 See Autotech Ventures Racing East?

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As my colleague Steve Crowe reported last October, one of the biggest automation stories of the year was the stalling of Cruise after California’s Department of Motor Vehicles suspended its driverless testing license. While Cruise has had many mishaps since the launch of its robotaxi service on the streets of San Francisco in June 2022, … Read more

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

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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, and artificial intelligence ecosystem gathered … Read more