Build With Robots inched closer to its multimillion-dollar funding goal thanks to an investment by the Arrowhead Innovation Fund.
The Arrowhead Innovation Fund, a venture capital fund focused on making seed and early-stage investments housed at New Mexico State University, invested an undisclosed amount of money into Albuquerque-based Build With Robots, according to a June 2 NMSU news release.
Representatives for both Build With Robots and Arrowhead declined to disclose the amount of the investment when asked by Albuquerque Business First. But a representative with Build with Robots said it was "an important step towards the completion of the company's $4 million Series A raise."
The startup has gained momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic with its Breezy One robot, which sprays disinfectant throughout large spaces.
Build With Robots co-founder and chief strategy officer Matthew Ennis said in a prepared statement that the investment will be used to "scale the deployment of Breezy One at schools throughout New Mexico and around the country, providing more New Mexicans with great technology jobs." The company has already deployed the disinfecting robot at the Albuquerque International Sunport, Electric Playhouse and St. Mary's Catholic School, among other places.
"Schools fit the model really well," CEO Chris Ziomek said in an interview, adding that some have "realized disinfecting by hand is very difficult and costly” during the pandemic.
Build With Robots sees opportunity in helping organizations disinfect large shared spaces frequently occupied by different people, such as schools and airports, Ziomek said. The Breezy One robot could sanitize all of Electric Playhouse's 24,000-square-foot facility at the West Bluff Shopping Center in about 20 minutes, he previously told Business First. The technology caught on quickly with the company doing about $1 million worth of Breezy One sales between the end of March 2020 and the end of March 2021.
“With COVID-19, we saw that the need for disinfection might be something needed in a globalized world, where new strains of even the flu can affect the society,” said Beto Pallares said, fund manager for the Arrowhead Innovation Fund, said in a statement. “Robotics can alleviate some of the hard-lifting that supports society to free up humans to use their time in other ways."
Rebecca Maestas-Sanchez, principal of St. Mary's Catholic School, told Business First that it costs about $20 per day to operate. She also said that it allows maintenance personnel to focus on other tasks while the robot sanitizes.
On Wednesday, Build With Robots is scheduled to debut its new headquarters in Albuquerque as part of a state-backed expansion effort. The company will grow to 24 employees within one year, with a total of 64 jobs created by the end of 2024 as part of the expansion, according to a news release from the New Mexico Economic Development Department. It will also receive $360,000 in Local Economic Development Act incentives.
LEDA money is used as a closing fund to grow existing New Mexico businesses and recruit others to the state.
The new Downtown location, near the intersection of Commercial Street and Marquette Avenue, is set to include space for manufacturing, research and development, as well as a robot demonstration area for clients, Business First reported. The company currently employs about 25 people with plans to hire about 10 more during the following six to nine months, according to Ziomek.
The company is currently located in the FUSE Makerspace and the Verge Building, according to its website.
