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Starting a robotics business, as well as growing and scaling, comes with many challenges. These can include taking a robot from prototype to production, raising funds, complying with government regulations, reaching its target audience, and much more.
The Robotics Startup Boot Camp at RoboBusiness, taking place in Santa Clara, California on October 18-19, will provide “advice of the trade” and include discussions on the many common challenges that can make or break a business along the way. Topics will include legal education, dilutive and non-dilutive investing, intellectual property and patents, the journey to manufacturing, accounting, when to bring in marketing, sales and human resources experts, and collecting of funds and outflows.
The BootCamp will feature five speakers who will share their direct experience working with startups:
- Drew Fortin is the founder and CEO of Lever Talent. Fortin is a people-first, values-driven leader with over 20 years of growth strategy and team building experience in retail, marketing technology, local media and technology HR. He is obsessed with the change that AI, robotics and Web3 are having on the employer-employee relationship and the good things it means for humans in the future of work. This led him to found Lever Talent – the talent strategy agency – which helps over 200 companies implement technology strategies to maximize their workforce leverage.
- Christie Bluhm is an audit director at Clifton Larson Allen (CLA). Bluhm has more than 20 years of experience providing accounting, auditing, tax and consulting services to manufacturers, distributors and technology companies. She has extensive experience in assurance engagements, overseeing the entire engagement from planning to fieldwork and reporting. Additionally, she provides advisory services to businesses and their owners on financial analysis, general business matters, purchase/sale preparation and tax planning.
- Aaron Capron is associated with Finnegan’s Palo Alto office. With more than 18 years of experience, Capron advises clients of all sizes, ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, on prosecutions, post-grant considerations, portfolio management and pre-litigation strategies. He has drafted and supervised the drafting of hundreds of patent applications for electrical, electronic, telecommunications and software technologies.
- Daniel Théobald is the founder and chief innovation officer at Vecna Robotics. Theobald has decades of experience leading scientific researchers and engineering teams in the development of cutting-edge technologies. He has 67 issued patents and over 30 pending patents. In addition to founding Vecna Robotics, Daniel also co-founded MassRobotics, a non-profit organization dedicated to the global advancement of the robotics industry, and Twisted Fields, a biological research farm dedicated to the advancement of automation in agriculture.
- Joyce Sidopoulos is co-founder and head of operations at MassRobotics, an innovation hub, co-working space, and lab for robotics startups. MassRobotics’ mission is to enable and grow the next generation of robotics companies. In his role, Sidopoulos works on initiatives to expand the breadth and depth of the robotics ecosystem and develops high-impact programs, showcasing startup technology, connecting startups with funders and clients, engaging in robotics adoption, connecting talent with employers, and working with academia to commercialize research.
RoboBusiness is the premier event focused on the development of business robots. There will be over 60 speakers, over 100 exhibitors and on-site demonstrations, networking receptions, Pitchfire Robotics Startup Competition and more. You can consult the current list of speakersto which others will be added.
RoboBusiness will be co-located with the Field Robotics Engineering Foruman event focused on the successful development of robots operating in large and dynamic outdoor environments.
Also co-located with RoboBusiness is DeviceTalks West, the industry’s premier event for medical technology professionals, currently in its ninth year. Both events attract engineering and business professionals from a wide range of healthcare and medical technology fields.
