This is a First Look: It’s the first time any news outlet or blog has covered this startup. You can read more First Looks here. (We do this a lot.)
Two iRobot veterans, including the company’s former lead roboticist, just disclosed that they have raised $5 million of a planned $6 million round for a video conferencing technology startup based in Somerville that says it’s about to launch its first product. Antonio Rodriguez, general partner at Matrix Partners and an early investor in Oculus, is an investor, alongside iRobot’s VC arm, iRobot Ventures.
The first plug-and-play smart video camera that automatically focuses on the speakers in order to provide an immersive telepresence experience
Owl Labs, which was founded by Max Makeev and Mark Schnittman in 2014, filed a Form D for the round on Wednesday, showing that it’s looking to raise a total of $6 million. The round’s first date of sale was Aug. 4, and the filing lists Makeev and Schnittman as executive officers and Rodriguez as a director. A job listing confirms Matrix Partners, iRobot Ventures and Android co-founder Andy Rubin’s West Coast accelerator, Playground Global, are investors in Owl Labs.
A website for Owl Labs describes its video conferencing product, called Owl, as “the first plug-and-play smart video camera that automatically focuses on the speakers in order to provide an immersive telepresence experience.” It “works seamlessly with Google Hangouts, Skype, GoToMeeting and other widely used video conferencing software,” the website adds, noting that it aims to provide a hassle-free setup that doesn’t require dedicated meeting rooms.
Owl’s features include 360-degree vision, a microphone system that “targets and focuses on active speakers wherever they are,” a way to spotlight individual speakers on video and embedded software that “automatically blends video and audio to create an immersive experience,” according to the website.
The website says the “Owl is almost ready for public debut,” and it’s currently accepting sign-ups for a beta test.
Video conferencing technology should be familiar to Owl Labs’ founders. While iRobot is in the middle of a big push to become a consumer robotics and smart home company, it still sells its own video collaboration robot, called the Ava 500.
Makeev worked at iRobot from 2004 to 2014, starting as an intern and working his way up to become product manager of the company’s home business unit before he left for Owl Labs, according to his LinkedIn. Schnittman started the same year at iRobot as Makeev and finished his time there in 2012 as the company’s lead roboticist.
Rodriguez did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Contact information for Makeev, Schnittman or the company wasn’t immediately apparent.
