Promobot Promobot
Russia
Volga Federal District of the Russian Federation
Perm
st. Lunacharsky, 77a
Competitors: AlfaRobotics (AlfaLED)
Owners:
Alexey Alexandrovich Yuzhakov - 27,2%
Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) - 15,5%
Far Eastern High Technology Fund (DFVT)
Owners
Promobot is developing robots that can understand human speech, answer questions and maintain conversation. The robot functions using Cognitive Engine technology developed by a startup team. As of autumn 2016, the team is developing the third model of the robot (Promobot v.3). The production facilities of the enterprise are located in Perm: buildings are made here, robots are assembled and commissioning is carried out. According to the company itself, up to 1,000 robots can be produced at current facilities annually.
Promobot operates in the service robotics segment, which the International Federation of Robotics estimates is growing by 55% annually. In 2013, it amounted to $5.3 billion, and in 2017 it could grow to $30 billion.
See also: Robots (robotics)
The solution developed by the company allows you to create robots that meet the tasks of customers: they can be consultants, guides, concierges, banking workers. The consultant robot is able to solve the problem of automation and effective customer service, which is currently facing most of the largest banking and retail companies in the world. The parameters of a particular robot are adjusted according to the needs of the customer. It is also possible to integrate the robot with external systems and gadgets, for example, the robot can accept payments or interact with the CRM system. In the future, it is possible to expand the company's portfolio of robotic products and enter new niches.
Performance indicators
2023: Revenue growth by 50% to RUR 220 mln
In 2023, Promobot raised 220 million rubles, which is 50% more than a year earlier. The Perm robot manufacturer cited such data on December 26, 2023.
According to Kommersant, in 2022 the company recorded revenue at 147.1 million rubles with a net loss of 64.3 million rubles. In 2023, Promobot signed contracts totaling more than 250 million rubles. The company purchased most of the robots from educational institutions, museums, private business and government agencies in the industry. Thus, representatives of the education industry purchased 81 units of equipment, representatives of the private business industry purchased 92 units of equipment, and representatives of the government industry purchased 72 units of equipment. According to the developers, the high demand for products is due to the high quality of the company's products, the affordable price of products due to the use of domestic components, as well as the withdrawal of foreign suppliers from the market.
 | We can say with confidence that Promobot is forming the domestic robotics industry, "says Promobot CEO Maxim Chugunov, commenting on the results of 2023. - Our company has gone from a small startup to a major player in the market. In addition, Promobot popularizes robotics education and exports robots around the world. The company's products help improve business efficiency, helping to develop technology and build the future. We will continue to develop robotics and create new functional devices. |  |
Promobot expects to maintain growing revenues in 2024, including through the launch of new products on the market. By the end of 2023, the company's robots are operated in 44 countries.[1]
History
2022: Conclusion of an agreement with Rusatom Service on the development of industrial robots
In November 2022, Promobot and Rusatom Service signed a memorandum of cooperation, under which the companies agreed on the joint development of industrial robots. Read more here.
2021: Investing 40 million rubles in the development of a universal platform for robots
In early November 2021, the company Promobot announced an investment of 40 million rubles in the development of its own universal robotic platform. Thanks to its use, new generations of service robots for different industries can enter the market, the resident expects. Skolkovo
Financing is carried out within the framework of the competition "Commercialization 2021," (Queue (XIV)), which is held by the Innovation Assistance Fund. The competition is aimed at providing grants to small innovative enterprises that have completed R&D and are planning to create or expand the production of innovative products.
The winner will receive 20 million rubles, subject to equal co-financing from the company. Thus, the total financing of the project will be 40 million rubles.
Promobot will direct funds to the development of a universal robotic platform with at least 96% quality of Russian speech recognition, speech synthesis function, automatic trouble-free movement function, navigation function (localization failure in no more than 1% of cases), possibility of executing motion scripts (allows you to send device commands to other systems), the detection function and finding people with an accuracy of at least 85%, printing documents, receiving payments, issuing access cards.
It is assumed that the universal platform will be in demand among developers of robotic solutions. With its help, new service robots for the retail, hotel, transport, entertainment and many others can enter the market.[2]
| | The Promobot company has long outgrown the startup level and has become the flagship Russian robotic company developing advanced domestic robots used around the world. Financing the most promising developments in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, the company is moving to a new level of development, - said the head of the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence department of the information technology cluster of the fund. "Skolkovo Pavel Krivozubov | |
2020
Attracting 200 million rubles from the Far Eastern High Technology Fund
On April 10, 2020, Promobot announced the attraction of 200 million rubles from the Far Eastern High Technology Fund. As a result of the transaction, the management and co-founders of the company retained a controlling stake in the robot manufacturer. What share the fund received in exchange for non-investments is not indicated.
The attracted investments will go to the opening of the production of robots in the Far East and new developments in the field of artificial intelligence. Thus, the company will open a separate division in Vladivostok. It will create appearance elements for humanoid Robo-C robots.
Some of the invested funds will be spent on the development of a service robot for business, which can communicate with people, recognize faces and speech. The investment will go to the development of a new AI-based Promobot dialog system - in the future, indistinguishable from humans, and the development of cases for using the Promobot V.4 service robot - the company's "flagship" product.
The head of the Far Eastern office of Promobot will be Pyotr Chegodaev , a Russian sculptor and designer known for participating in the creation of special effects for Russian blockbusters such as Crew and Time of the First.
| | We have been preparing the deal for a long time, so we understand exactly what this money will go to. Now a significant part of business development is tied to the Fund's investments: the opening of a new representative office of the company (including the production part), R&D, the development of humanoid robots, - said the chairman of the board of directors of Promobot Alexey Yuzhakov, whose words are quoted in a press release. | |
According to him, the Promobot management and the Fund's partners have a common flexible view of the scope of service robotics, and they began to prepare a "large layer of solutions" based on current and future Promobot technologies.[3]
Lawsuit from Arnold Schwarzenegger for creating a robot double
In early March 2020, it became known that Arnold Schwarzenegger sued Promobot for creating a double robot. The Hollywood star wants to receive $10 million from the Russian company, compensation for legal costs and profit received from the sale of the robot with its appearance.
The lawsuit with reference to this document is reported by TMZ. According to him, when Schwarzenegger was in Russia in 2019, Promobot asked him to be photographed with a robot, but the actor refused. A model with Schwarzenegger's face was presented in 2019 in St. Petersburg.
Then the chairman of the board of directors of Promobot, Alexei Yuzhakov, noted that the Hollywood actor and his partners "really liked the robot: there were sincere emotions - surprise, delight and laughter"
The TMZ publication says that the actor's lawyer Marty Singer in January 2020 demanded that the Russian manufacturer stop using Schwarzenegger's appearance when demonstrating the robot. The developers promised not to do this again, but in 2020, Promobot introduced a robot with the actor's face at CES and New York Toy Fair in the United States.
Promobot public relations manager Daria Vakhteeva, in a conversation with RBC, said that the company had not received any lawsuits, and had been negotiating the use of appearance for several months.
| | We have not publicly stated this on any official resource, even within the company. The robot was not used for commercial purposes in any way - we did not sell this robot and did not use the binding to the actor's brand for commercial promotion, "she said. | |
Promobot also said that the company decided not to use Schwarzenegger's appearance to avoid misunderstanding, so the polymer model of the robot will be redone. [4]
Plans to open an office in New York
On January 20, 2020, Promobot announced plans to open an office in New York. The company made this decision after becoming a resident of the local VentureOut accelerator. Read more here.
2019: Grant of 20 million rubles
On September 17, 2019, it became known that Promobot won a grant of 20 million rubles for development in the logic of the Neuronet human-machine communications market of the National Technology Initiative. This was reported on the website of the governor and the government of the Perm Territory.
Promobot won the competitive selection under the Development-NTI program of the Innovation Assistance Fund along with another Perm company - Innfocus.
| | We offer an open software platform to developers - and our platform can be successfully used in educational activities both within the framework of direct training in robotics and in related areas related to neural network technologies, "said Oleg Kivokurtsev, Development Director and Co-Founder of Promobot. | |
According to him, the developments supported by the fund will significantly expand the scope of robotic systems.
Kivokurtsev noted that the presence of an open API opens up access to independent programming of the robot, the use of an open platform to solve research problems in the field of deep learning algorithms, image and voice recognition in conditions as close to reality as possible.
As for Innfocus, the company managed to attract 15 million rubles. These funds will be used to create equipment for processing complex-profile parts created using additive technologies. These parts will find application in many industries.
The National Technology Initiative (NTI) Development Program of the Innovation Assistance Fund has been in operation since 2016. It is aimed at supporting companies that already have experience in developing and selling their own science-intensive products and are planning to develop and master new types of product. In total, 530 applications were received for the competition.[5]
2018: VEB Innovations Investments
In July 2018, an agreement of intent was signed between the Vnesheconombank subsidiary VEB Innovations and Promobot. Under the terms of the agreement, VEB Innovations will invest 450 million rubles in a Russian manufacturer of service robots. Promobot plans to invest in modernizing the product line, developing production and scaling the business.
| | "Projects in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics are one of the key investment areas of VEB Innovation. We see great prospects for the development of the Promobot project. Already today, a queue of orders for the company's robots has been formed before the end of the year, for us this is another proof of the demand for the product. I am confident that the investments received will help the company gain a significant share in the world market and consolidate its position in the highly competitive segment, which is robotics. We plan to further invest in technological startups with great prospects for entering the international market, we are already considering more than ten projects in various industries, "said Oleg Teplov, CEO of VEB Innovation. | |
According to a study by Tractica, in 2017 the market for service robots in the world amounted to more than $50 million and may grow to $100 million by 2022, and the number of service robots sold during this period (2018-2022) will be about 20 thousand units. Promobot's medium-term plans include entering the top three largest manufacturers of service robots in the world. In the long term, Promobot is considering entering an IPO on one of the world's major platforms or selling to a strategic investor.
2016: IIDF Investments
The Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF) bought 15.5% in Promobot. The fund announced a deal worth 150 million rubles in October 2016, without disclosing the then purchased package.
According to the Contour-Focus database, the state fund received a share of 15.5%. This package consisted of the shares of the company's founders - Alexei Yuzhakov (his share decreased from 35% to 27.2%), Igor Eremeev (from 13% to 10.1%), Oleg Kivokurtsev and Maxim Utev (from 8.5% to 6.6% each), Maxim Chugunov (from 5% to 3.9%). Two more co-owners of the company did not participate in the deal with the IIDF: Grigory Bubnov (16.8%) and Evgeny Pluzhnik (13.2%).
The funding will go towards scaling up business and R&D.
| | The potential market, when replacing linear personnel in the field of sales and service with robots, is more than 613 billion rubles, - said Sergei Negodyaev, manager of the IIDF investment portfolio, when announcing the transaction. - Promobot has more prospects in the sales and consulting segment in banking, mobile and other customer service salons. In other markets, such robots make cold calls, collect applications for sales departments and generally contribute to revenue growth. | |
As TAdviser in the IIDF explained, the investments are divided into several tranches. The first tranche has already ended. "We will monitor the development of the company and its achievement of targets, subsequent investments depend on this," the fund explained.
This is not the first enterprise in the field of artificial intelligence in which IIDF invests. In 2016, the fund invested 15 million rubles in Stafory, which is developing a technological complex for finding linear personnel and robotic interviews. The robot automatically calls potential candidates, conducts audio and video conversations with them, and transmits the results to the customer.[6]
According to Promobot as of October 2016, it sold about 100 robots, each of which costs an average of $10 thousand to $18 thousand, depending on the configuration. According to the Contour-Focus database, in 2016 the Promobot company entered into contracts with state customers in the amount of 1.9 million rubles.
At the end of 2016, the company entered into contracts for the supply of robots with several new customers. One of them is the Museum of Modern History of Russia (the amount of two contracts is 1.45 million rubles). According to the company, from March 2017, museum visitors will be able to listen to a lecture from the guide Promobot v.3.
In addition, contracts were signed with two foreign companies - the Spanish Ger Shuler Global S.L. and the Chilean SMART SOLUTION Ingeneria Spa, which buy 5 robots each. In Chile, robots will be used primarily as concierges in buildings and consultants in stores.
As of December 2016, Promobot is in talks to supply robots with the Finnish airline Finair.
2015
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev spoke with a Perm robot
In May 2015, the MIPT Technopark (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) was officially opened in the north-east of Moscow. At its opening, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev talked with a Perm robot promoter. "How are you?" Dmitry Medvedev asked . "Dmitry Anatolyevich, why are you asking this?" - the robot answered the question, causing a friendly laugh from all those present.[7]
According to the developers, they pre-uploaded a photo of the prime minister in the memory of the robot, as a result he was able to recognize Medvedev at the event. The Prime Minister looked at the robot for two minutes.
Promobot became a resident of Skolkovo
In March 2015, the Promobot project (robot promoter) received approval of an application for the status of a resident of the Skolkovo Foundation. As a result, PromoBot joined the participants in the information technology cluster .
2013
Start of project
The development team began to create promobot in the "Small Innovation Enterprise" Intellect Perm "(). The main founders of this LLC are businessman Alexey Yuzhakov and Perm Polytechnic (). PNIPU One of the companies of the Intellect group of enterprises designs and creates " ("IntellectStroy"), the other grows roses and vegetables ("IntellectAgro"), while the microclimate in the rose garden is controlled Internet online.
Notes
- ↑ Perm robot developer increased revenue by 50%
- ↑ Promobot and Innovation Promotion Fund will invest 40 million rubles in the development of a robotic platform
- ↑ Far Eastern High Technology Fund invested 200 million rubles in Promobot
- ↑ [https://www.tmz.com/2020/03/04/arnold-schwarzenegger-company-sues-russian-Promobot-using-likeness/ ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER JUDGMENT DAY'S COMING FOR ROBOT COMPANY... Stop Stealing My Face And Voice!!!]
- ↑ The Federal Fund for Assistance to Innovation will support two companies in the Perm Territory
- ↑ IT start-up trends in 2017 - IIDF investment portfolio manager's forecast
- ↑ Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev spoke with a Perm robot
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