A North Side-based startup investment firm has appointed a new interim director to take over the leadership duties of an accelerator program that's designed to help grow robotics-based businesses.
Innovation Works Inc. announced that Kevin Dowling moved into the position, a post previously occupied by Mike Formica, who announced on June 1 that he'd be stepping down from his leadership roles at the organization on his own terms to pursue his "next big thing." In addition to leading the Robotics Factory initiative, Formica also served as the managing director of hardware at IW's AlphaLab Gear startup accelerator.
Dowling is no stranger to IW or its efforts despite being a newly onboarded employee at the company. His past experience has spanned three companies that have received investment form IW.
He's also a founding member and board chair of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network, which has partnered with IW for the creation and launch of the Robotics Factory. For 17 years, Dowling has served as a scientist and senior engineer at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.
"We are excited to have Kevin on board," Ven Raju, president & CEO of IW, said in a prepared statement. "Kevin brings deep domain experience to our ongoing Robotics Factory initiative. With his distinguished academic background coupled with his industry experience, he is exceptionally positioned to advance our Robotics Factory programs. Kevin will lead our highly talented team and further our efforts to create, accelerate and scale robotics startups in the region."
The Robotics Factory is a result of funding from the $62.7 million Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant that the region won last fall from President Joe Biden's administration. At least $12 million of that total grant funding will be used over the next four years to run the Robotics Factory, which will start incubating its first cohort of startups this summer.
