Startup Embodied is closing down, and its product, an $800 robotic for youths ages 5 to 10, will quickly be bricked.
Embodied blamed its closure on a failed “crucial funding spherical.” On its web site, it defined:
We had secured a lead investor who was ready to shut the spherical. However, on the final minute, they withdrew, leaving us with no viable choices to proceed operations. Despite our greatest efforts to safe different funding, we have been unable to discover a alternative in time to maintain operations.
The firm didn’t present additional particulars concerning the pulled funding. Embodied’s earlier backers have included Intel Capital, Toyota AI Ventures, Amazon Alexa Fund, Sony Innovation Fund, and Vulcan Capital, however we do not know who the lead investor talked about above is.
When it first introduced Moxie in April 2020, Embodied described the robotic as a “protected and fascinating animate companion for youngsters designed to assist promote social, emotional, and cognitive improvement.” It marketed play constructed round “finest practices in little one improvement and early childhood training”; altering weekly themes, like empathy, friendship, and respect; and actions like meditation, studying, and drawing with the bot.
But quickly, none of these options will likely be accessible, making the expensive youngsters’s toy nearly ineffective. According to Embodied, Moxie can’t carry out core performance with cloud connectivity. Worse, house owners apparently have an unsure and restricted period of time till the units are bricked. Per Embodied:
We don’t know the precise date when providers will stop. It is more likely to occur inside days. However, we’re exploring choices to maintain Moxie operational for so long as doable, though we can not present any ensures.
Since Embodied marketed Moxie as a companion and improvement toy for youngsters, there’s concern about youngsters doubtlessly struggling an emotional toll after the robotic abruptly turns into inoperable. Embodied has responded by promising to offer a information for telling youngsters about Moxie’s demise. Online, nonetheless, clients are already sharing movies of their unhappy youngsters studying that their robotic buddy will cease taking part in with them, as Axios identified.
