Grishin Robotics, the New York City based robot investment firm started by the “Russian Mark Zuckerberg,” Dmitry Grishin, announced its very first portfolio company today via a $250,000 investment in Double Robotics.
Double Robotics is a recent Y Combinator graduate based in California. They have already sold 600 units of their first product, Double, a bot that puts your iPad on wheels and turns it into a mobile telecommunications device. It’s perfect for bosses in remote locations who want to supervise more than just the conference room from afar.
“Investment in Double Robotics perfectly fits our strategy,” Mr. Grishin said in a press release sent to Betabeat. “It is a consumer-oriented product with potential to fit a broad range of applications and has already generated strong consumer demand. It’s also important that the price of the product makes it accessible to the wide audience.”
After seeing this promotional video from Double Robotics, we understand why they chose this as an inaugural investment. At $1,999, it seems affordable enough for companies to try out. The notion of casually browsing your way through an art gallery while cuddling up on the couch (0:53), however, might be a harder sell:
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/47000322 w=600&h=337]
Double by Double Robotics – Pre-order Now from Double Robotics on Vimeo.
If the future is going to be that snuggly, we don’t want to have anything to do with it.