Boston-based architectural robotics company Ori just scored $20 million in Series B funding led by Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs. Ingka Group and Geolo Capital also joined the round, along with existing investor Khosla Ventures.
The funding will allow Ori to broaden its focus beyond creating products and systems to partnering with architects and builders on designing urban housing and affordable spaces, according to a press release. That's a significant shift from the company's original focus on robotic furniture.
Heading up the mission will be Edwin Hendriksen, who will become Ori's president as well as a member of its board of directors. Hendriksen was most recently senior vice president and global head of WeLive, The We Company's residential counterpart to WeWork. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of investment and development at "micro hotel" company citizenM.
"For developers and real estate owners, Ori’s technology and solutions create a real competitive advantage," Hendriksen said in the release. "But more importantly, being able to transform and configure your space in a frictionless and elegant way not only means an enhanced experience for residents living in compact urban housing, but it also opens a new pathway to affordability and access to urban communities."
Ori spun out of MIT in 2017 with $6 million in venture funding. At the time, as CEO and founder Hasier Larrea told BostInno, the main product—robotic furniture—was really the start of a new way of thinking about how people interacted with their architectural environments.
"We started thinking about how we could change the paradigm for space, how space could adapt to us, instead of us adapting to space," he said.
In March, Ori debuted a line of robotic closets that expand and contract with a click of a button. Called “Pocket Closet,” the piece of furniture could serve as a walk-in closet, kitchen shelving storage or living room entertainment console. That product, along with Ori's "Studio Suite" and "Cloud Bed," will be commercially available next year.
Ori was one of BostInno's 2018 50 on Fire.
