Rethink Robotics

What did it do?

Rethink Robotics made low-cost collaborative robots (cobots) that could work safely alongside people in factories and be programmed without specialist knowledge. Baxter and its smaller, faster sibling Sawyer communicated with workers through animated faces on a screen and learned new tasks when their arms were guided by hand.

Why did it shut down?

Thanks to their ease of use, the robots attracted interest in research labs, but sales to factories fell short of expectations. Denmark's Universal Robots emerged as a strong rival with a broader hardware ecosystem. Running low on cash, the company held talks to sell itself to another firm, but the deal fell through at the last minute. In October 2018 it abruptly ceased operations, laid off its 91 employees and put its intellectual property up for sale.

The story

In 2008 Rodney Brooks and Ann Whittaker founded a company in Boston, originally named Heartland Robotics. The aim was to replace the expensive industrial robots locked behind safety cages in factories with low-cost robots that could work right next to people and did not need specialist programmers.

The company's first product, Baxter, was the showcase for this idea. With a face animated on a screen, it showed its co-workers what it was about to do, and it learned a task once a worker took hold of its arm and demonstrated the movement. In 2015 came Sawyer, designed to be smaller and faster and to handle more precise work. Ease of use and safety features made the robots popular in research labs. The company was regarded as one of the pioneers of the collaborative robot category known as "cobots", won awards and was an Edison Awards finalist.

Interest in the lab, however, did not translate into sales to factories. According to The Verge, citing the Boston Globe, sales of Baxter and Sawyer were disappointing and the company's cash dwindled. In the market, Denmark's Universal Robots had emerged as a strong rival offering a broader hardware ecosystem, such as a variety of grippers. Rethink held talks to sell itself to another company, but the deal fell through at the last minute. CEO Scott Eckert told the Globe that the company had come out "a bit early" with a highly innovative product and had not achieved the commercial success it expected.

In October 2018 Rethink abruptly ceased operations, laid off its 91 employees and put its intellectual property up for sale. The German automation company HAHN Group bought all of the patents, trademarks and the Intera 5 software platform; around 100 Baxter robots and the rights to sell them in North America went to China's Hunan CoThink Robotics. The brand lived on in Germany for a while under HAHN, but Rethink Robotics GmbH closed in August 2024, and an attempted relaunch that followed also came to an end the next year.

Rethink's story shows that the company that first creates a category may not be the one that makes money from it. Pioneering also gives rivals a chance to learn; and cash that runs out before sales and an ecosystem are in place leaves even the most innovative product on the shelf.

Lessons for founders

• If you are creating a new category, make repeat orders on the production line your measure of success, not admiration in the lab.
• If your rival offers an ecosystem of complementary products, a good robot on its own will not win the purchasing decision; find integration partners.
• Do not pin everything on a single acquisition negotiation; prepare a scenario in your cash plan in which the deal falls through.

Sources

1. Rethink Robotics (Wikipedia)
2. Pioneering creator of collaborative ‘cobots’ Rethink Robotics shuts down (The Verge, 2018-10-04)
3. Rethink Robotics’ assets bought by Hahn, Universal Robots hires 20 employees from pioneering firm (VentureBeat, 2018-11-13)
4. One-armed factory robot Sawyer goes on sale (BBC News, 2015-09-24)

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