Robotics Company Anki Shutting Down

Anki, a robotics company known for its Vector and Cozmo home robots along with AI-based Anki Drive cars, is shutting down, reports Recode.

Anki CEO Boris Sofman today told all Anki staff that they would be terminated on Wednesday and would be given a week of severance pay. Anki has nearly 200 employees.

Just days ago, employees were told that Anki was aiming to find additional funding after a round of financing fell through. To date, Anki had raised more than $200 million in venture capital from investors like Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.

Anki in 2018 said that it had earned $100 million in revenue in 2017 and expected to exceed that number in 2018, but that wasn't enough to keep the company afloat.

In a statement to Recode, Anki said that it did not have the funding to support its business and reach its long-term product roadmap.

"Despite our past successes, we pursued every financial avenue to fund our future product development and expand on our platforms," a company spokesperson said. "A significant financial deal at a late stage fell through with a strategic investor and we were not able to reach an agreement. 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."

Anki was founded by roboticists from Carnegie Mellon University and in 2013, launched its first product, Anki Drive, AI-based cars that drove themselves with customer input. After that, Anki came out with Cozmo, a robot aimed at kids, and then Vector, a more advanced robot that sold for $250.