Kansas City-based Mycroft AI Inc. rounded up a number of wins over the past year and a half: a NASA contract, new CEO and raising $2.4 million. Like other tech companies, it’s also wrestling with a global semiconductor chip shortage.
“It’s a really crazy roller coaster ride of demand,” Mycroft AI co-founder Joshua Montgomery told the Kansas City Business Journal. “The good news is it gives us time to continue working on our software.”
Mycroft developed open-source voice assistant technology that’s focused on privacy and allows consumers to control their data. It doesn’t store queries or other sensitive data. The voice assistant is customizable and can run on a variety of platforms. It’s showcased in children’s toys, robots and in Mycroft’s second-generation smart speaker system, Mark II, which eclipsed $1 million in pre-orders and continues growing.
NASA contract
Last year, Mycroft scored a contract with NASA to evaluate how voice assistants can be used in early-stage satellite design such as gleaning information about past designs to expedite the build-out process.
Montgomery expects voice assistants will play a role in future space exploration. Space suits are bulky, and astronauts have limited mobility with their fingers. Instead of trying to manually turn on switches and electrical instruments, astronauts could use voice assistants, he said.
“We’ll see our fair opportunities to work with some of the other incoming space players for everything from satellite control at the ground station to actually on-orbit applications, where voice technology works directly with astronauts,” Montgomery said.
New hires
Montgomery handed off his CEO role last year to a new hire, Michael Lewis, who founded San Jose-based Stellar Semiconductor Inc., which sold to Broadcom Corp. for a reported $161 million. Lewis also founded one of the first massively multiplayer online gaming companies, Cryptic Studios.
Mycroft continued building out the team this year with the additions of Duane Guenard, director of manufacturing and operations; Sarah Karner, project manager; and Leanna Pohevitz, legal director. The additions bring Mycroft’s team to 13 full-time employees.
Funding and challenges
During the second quarter, Mycroft raised $2.4 million from investors such as Asymmetry Ventures; Albert Wenger, a managing partner at Union Square Ventures; and Mycroft CEO Michael Lewis. It also launched a $5 million campaign on regulated crowdfunding site StartEngine.
Mycroft is using the money to build software and invest in manufacturing its Mark II. Although it has a contract manufacturer, the biggest challenge is the semiconductor chip shortage, he said. Today, companies are expected to pay upfront for components.
“Cash flow has become a very different beast in the post-Covid world, so we’re out raising to mitigate that,” he said.
Montgomery said he’s not worried about the chip shortage affecting the viability of the company; it only affects Mycroft’s timeline for shipping products. If it weren’t for supply chain issues, Mycroft probably would have started shipping during the fourth quarter. Now it’s unclear.
Montgomery remains bullish, however – driven by the fact that smart speakers are among the fastest-growing consumer technology, according to a report from Canalys.
And Mycroft has an advantage: its speakers cater to consumers’ desire for privacy. Some consumers won’t buy from companies like Google and are waiting for a company they can trust, he said.
“I don’t see any other company standing up to meet that demand, so for now, I feel really comfortable about where we sit as a company,” he said.
