Romo the smartphone robot raises $1.5M, seeks world domination

Romo, a quirky smartphone robot with big ambitions

Here's a novel way to pitch potential investors: "Do you realize how young we are? Do you realize that we're going to f**k up big time?!"

And yet, that's exactly how Keller Rinaudo, the 24-year-old co-founder and CEO of robot maker Romotive, began his meetings with investors last fall. The upshot: Success way beyond what he had ever imagined.

Rinaudo recently closed a $ 1.5 million first round of funding, three times what the company set out to raise when it began looking for backers. Among the investors are Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, the Stanford University endowment, Lerer Ventures, David Cohen of TechStars, and a number of prominent angel investors. Some investors were turned away.

Romotive CEO Keller Rinaudo

That's a lot of excitement for a smartphone toy robot. But, hey, this is a toy with big ambitions, and Rinaudo and his crew--though admittedly unsure about where this all might lead--are convinced they're onto something.

"We think that as people let their imaginations loose with Romo, they will discover unbelievably cool applications for him," said Rinaudo, a 2009 Harvard graduate whose resume includes stints as a consulta... [Read more]

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Crave: gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff. - CNET

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