But its buzz has cooled considerably in recent years as some investors grew skittish about hardware plays and others struggled to wrap their heads around what could reductively be considered just a toy business. We’re doing our best to take care of every single employee and their families, and our management team continues to explore all options available.”Īnki, founded by roboticists from Carnegie Mellon University, was a big deal in the robotics world at one point - its first product, Anki Drive, was prominently featured onstage in a demo at an Apple event in 2013. “A significant financial deal at a late stage fell through with a strategic investor and we were not able to reach an agreement. “Despite our past successes, we pursued every financial avenue to fund our future product development and expand on our platforms,” a company spokesperson said. The company said in a statement to Recode that it was left “without significant funding to support a hardware and software business and bridge to our long-term product roadmap.” Leadership had previously told employees that it was fielding acquisition interest from companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Comcast. So this isn’t some small lemonade stand closing down. The startup is frequently called “cute” for the little robots it produces like Cozmo, but it has raised serious money from investors like Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, whose co-founder, Marc Andreessen, at one point sat on the company’s board.Īnki said last fall that it “approached” $100 million in revenue in 2017 and expected to exceed that figure in 2018. Sofman had told employees a few days earlier that the company was scrambling to find more money after a new round of financing fell through at the last minute, imperiling the company’s future. In a teary all-hands meeting on Monday morning, CEO Boris Sofman told his staff they would be terminated on Wednesday and that close to 200 employees would be paid a week of severance, according to people familiar with the matter. Anki, the robotics company that has raised over $200 million in venture capital, is laying off its entire staff and the startup is shuttering, Recode has learned.
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