The infrastructure scaling robots from North Side-based Gecko Robotics Inc. are continuing their spread across the planet and will aid a Middle Eastern country's Industry 4.0 digital transformation objectives starting in the new year.
According to Gecko CEO and Co-Founder Jake Loosararian, the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) sought out Gecko to aid its efforts in bringing Industry 4.0 — the modern convergence and use of technology throughout industrial supply chains — to the UAE as part of a larger $300 billion modernization investment the country is undertaking. It also comes at a pivotal time for heightened global energy demand caused by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"I think it's important to note that these emerging economies, the UAE being the prime example, they are in a lot of ways emerging as the leaders in what the word Industry 4.0 means," Loosararian said. "You would think it would not be that way but it very much is and you're seeing this with the news of the U.S. relying on Middle East energy to be able to meet our energy needs, you're seeing this with Europe as well, increasing demand and importing energy from the region and so forth."
To keep up with this demand, Loosararian said Gecko's robots will be deployed to inspect critical energy-related infrastructure projects so the country can better prioritize items in need of repair while simultaneously building out new systems that will double the country's oil production output in the coming years.
While he declined to disclose specific figures, Loosararian said Gecko will generate revenue from this partnership and that the company first became profitable in 2017. It'll hire a mix of American and local employees to perform this work in the UAE, though Loosararian couldn't say yet how many Gecko would recruit to do so. It employs about 200 globally, with its fastest-growing offices being those in Boston and New York.
"We make a lot of money," Loosararian said, although he declined to give specific revenue numbers. "At the beginning when we started, [we said] we don't give out free demos, we have strong financial principals."
And it's not just the robots from Gecko that will aid in this process but the startup's proprietary software and related tools as well.
"One of the things that [the UAE] identified as the only way to solve this is through data digitization tools and in particular ones that work in unlocking increased utilization, increased time-to-failure and increased production of their critical infrastructure as they build more as well," Loosararian said. "There's no company suited to do that better Gecko."
Loosararian said more examples of the specific type of work the startup will be doing in the country will come later but cited other examples — like the use of its robots to climb on and inspect servo tanks, pipelines and nuclear power plants — as the types of projects Gecko is working on elsewhere.
"By tapping into the country’s competitive advantages, which include an advanced technology-enabled industrial ecosystem, Gecko will be able to boost its exports to key markets in the region and beyond," Abdulla Al Shamsi, assistant undersecretary of industry growth at MoIAT, said in a prepared statement. "As was highlighted at the inaugural GMIS America in Pittsburgh earlier this year, MoIAT is keen on working with more companies from the U.S.’ industrial heartland in 2023.”
Added Thani al Zayoudi, UAE minister of state for foreign trade, in a prepared statement: "Gecko is at the forefront of Industry 4.0, climate change and many other initiatives that are shaping the world we live in. We look forward to continuing our assistance and further enabling their success in [the Middle East and North Africa] and beyond.”
Gecko's growth in the Middle East follows that of another recent expansion effort for the Pittsburgh startup.
In October, Gecko scored one of its biggest partnerships yet that will see the startup's infrastructure-scaling robots climb to new heights across Europe following a major collaboration with Siemens Energy’s European Field Service organization.
