Jibo

Jibo Inc. was a robotics company that developed and marketed a social robot for the home, aiming to create a companion that could interact with families on a personal level. The company was founded in 2012 by Dr. Cynthia Breazeal, a professor at the MIT Media Lab and a pioneer in the field of social robotics, along with Jerilyn Asher. Breazeal's extensive research into human-robot interaction formed the foundation of Jibo's design and personality.

The company's journey began with a highly successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in 2014, which sought $100,000 but raised over $3.7 million in pre-orders, demonstrating significant public interest. This initial momentum helped Jibo Inc. secure substantial venture capital, ultimately raising a total of $73.7 million over eight funding rounds from investors including RRE Ventures, CRV, and Samsung Ventures. The business model was based on the direct sale of the Jibo robot, initially priced at $499 for pre-orders and later retailing for $899. The strategy also included an open platform, allowing third-party developers to create and sell new skills and applications in a "Jibo Store," theoretically creating an ongoing revenue stream and expanding the robot's capabilities.

The Jibo robot was a stationary, 11-inch tall device designed to be an interactive family member. Its core features included facial and voice recognition to identify different users, allowing for personalized interactions. It could proactively greet people, tell jokes, read stories with expressive voices, and act as a hands-free photographer. The robot's physical design featured a three-axis motor system, enabling it to swivel 360 degrees and use expressive, life-like movements to convey emotion and engage with users. However, by the time Jibo started shipping in late 2017 after several delays, many of its promised functionalities were either missing or could be performed by much cheaper smart speakers like Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Despite its charming personality, the high price point and limited utility led to lackluster reviews. The company laid off most of its staff in 2018 and sold its intellectual property to investment firm SQN Venture Partners. In early 2019, a final software update had the robot deliver a farewell message to its owners, announcing its servers would be shutting down. In March 2020, some of Jibo's patents were acquired by NTT Corporation.

Keywords: social robotics, personal robot, consumer robotics, artificial intelligence, human-robot interaction, crowdfunding, venture capital, hardware startup, voice recognition, facial recognition