A Silicon Valley tech firm behind a robot that scans shelves for retailers like Walmart has announced the opening of its first international office in Sheffield.
San Francisco start-up Bossa Nova, which spun out from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute, is on an expansion drive after securing a total of $70million in funding.
Its robots, which work three times faster and can be twice as accurate as humans, roam supermarket aisles and work out what’s in stock, what needs to be replenished and which items are not selling well.
US supermarket giant Walmart already uses them in dozens of its stores across America.
Bossa Nova expects the new office to grow rapidly – it is launching with eight staff but is predicting 100-plus within three years – and says it chose Sheffield for its universities’ excellence in robotics and access to world-class talent. Additionally, the company will advance its partnerships with the UK robotics industry.
