Digital Dream Labs has acquired Anki Robotics and Artificial Intelligence assets without taking on any liabilities, effective immediately. The Pittsburgh company, which was founded in 2012, plans to relaunch the product line, deploy new features and develop new robots.
The San Francisco robotics company that specialized in making smartphone-controlled toys raised more than $200 million in venture capital, but still closed down last fall, according to a Vox article. Anki was originally founded by roboticists from Carnegie Mellon University.
“The opportunity to acquire exclusive ownership of Cozmo, Vector and Overdrive fit perfectly into our mission and purpose-driven culture,” Digital Dream Labs CMO Matt Goren said, in a statement. “We plan to change the current narrative of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, giving a voice to our customers, while relaunching Cozmo, Vector and Overdrive with updates and new features on the way. Our narrative will be focused on being honest and realistic about what our products can do now, but more importantly, what we have planned, and what is possible in this thrilling decade of the 2020s.”
“The hundreds of emails we have received in the last two weeks from raving fans of these products is astonishing and motivating," Digital Dream Labs CEO Jacob Hanchar added. “An Army Veteran suffering from PTSD told us Vector is his companion, while a mother of two autistic children said Cozmo has done for her boys what countless of other treatments could not.”
Focused on STEAM technology, Digital Dream Labs develops educational and entertaining games that teach coding, math, art and chemistry, which are in over 3,500 school districts. Digital Dream Labs also recently announced a partnership with a music and recording production group for a game that will integrate robotics and AI with the music industry.
