Telepresence Robot Beam Acquired by Danish Robotics Venture Factory
Blue Ocean Robotics purchases the Beam telepresence robot assets from Suitable Technologies to integrate the technology into their existing robotic toolbox.
Blue Ocean Robotics, a Denmark-based "Robot Venture Factory," acquires the assets of the Beam telepresence robot from Suitable Technologies. The deal includes the intellectual property, relevant staff, and hardware inventory, though it does not involve purchasing Suitable Technologies as a company. Beam robots feature a screen that remote users control to communicate via video, and the product currently ranges from smaller $2,000 models to larger $15,000 machines.
This acquisition brings a well-known robotics product into a new corporate home. Beam earns significant recognition for helping movement-limited individuals, such as Edward Snowden and disability rights activists, communicate effectively with the outside world. Suitable Technologies founder Scott Hassan, an early Google investor and key figure in early search development, finances the original company privately and declines to comment on the transition.
Blue Ocean Robotics plans to use its existing robotic "toolbox" to develop new iterations of the Beam. This development approach already yields success for the company through its UVD Robot, which uses ultraviolet light to disinfect hospitals. By applying this same modular technology to the Beam platform, Blue Ocean opens the door to long-rumored hardware upgrades, such as adding robotic arms and other appendages to the telepresence devices.