“Both, my father And my mom had their own business,” Ally Robotics founder and CEO Mitch Tolson told TechCrunch. “My mom had a sign company. Every weekend and weeknight I was putting up neon signs, assembling frames, drilling holes, electrical holes, everything.
The executive said his years on construction sites were part of the motivation behind founding the Washington-based startup. The central idea behind the company is simple: What if we could train robots like we train people?
The company, which took the stage at Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt today, has developed a hardware and software solution designed to make these automated solutions easy to deploy for those with no coding/robotics experience. A perfect example is Ally’s first major partner, Miso Robotics. The company behind the Filipino robot grill chef has signed a $30 million letter of intent to use Ali’s technology. It’s a big win at this early stage.
The startup raised $4.7 million in a $6.1 million Series A round led by Joe Rodriguez at Pancho Ryan LLC. The company is currently developing weapons for the robot and plans to start production at the end of next year. Beyond the already announced Miso deal, the company has additional letters of intent worth about $200,000 per month, in a sort of RaaS (robotics-as-a-service) model.
Beyond flipping burgers, Tolson noted that construction workers — including a roofer — are interested in the platform along with Bobassino, an automated boba tea bar. Yet another company has shown interest in the technology to help paint Christmas ornaments.
The company says it has developed both hardware and software components together to reduce barriers to entry for non-robotics, creating a codeless solution in the process. Users show the robot how to perform a task by going through steps like making a hamburger or sticking shingles on a roof.
“I think it’s not just about being a software company or a hardware company to build a great product focused on solving real customer needs and requirements,” Tolson says. “You have to do both.”
