Rob Cochrane and Sprout.
Courtesy: Fauna Robotics
Amazon has acquired Jeev RoboticsA startup that creates “accessible” humanoid robots for consumers and businesses, the company confirmed Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are excited by Fauna’s vision of building capable, safe, and fun robots for everyone,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement. “With Amazon’s robotics expertise and decades of experience earning customer trust in the home through our retail and device businesses, we look forward to inventing new ways to make our customers’ lives better and easier.”
bloomberg were the first to report on the acquisition.
Fauna Robotics was founded in 2024 by former meta And Google Engineer. Earlier this year, the New York-based company launched Sprout, a $50,000 bipedal robot that stands 3.5 feet tall, weighs 50 pounds, and is designed to be “accessible and human-friendly” as well as “genuinely accessible” to software developers.
The company said at the time that it had signed up disney and Hyundai’s Boston Dynamics were early customers.
About 50 Fauna employees will join Amazon in NYC, the company said. In a linkedin postFauna co-founder and CEO Rob Cochrane said he was “incredibly excited” for Fauna to join Amazon.
“We are thrilled with what joining the Amazon team means for our future,” Cochran wrote. “Going forward, we will proudly operate as Fauna Robotics, an Amazon company.”
Amazon has spent more than a decade investing in robotics, primarily for applications in its warehouse operations. it acquired Kiva Systems For $775 million in 2012, which served as the foundation of Amazon Robotics, its division focused on warehouse automation.
The company has again turned to M&A to strengthen its robotics expertise. Amazon said last week it acquired River, a Swiss robotics company that develops machines for “doorstep delivery.”
Amazon said it hopes to leverage its robotics knowledge as well as its long history in retail and devices to better understand the potential of personal robots to make its customers’ lives better and easier.
The company has already experimented with home robots. Amazon launched a squat, roving personal robot called Astro in 2021, priced at $1,600, though the device can be purchased through invitation only.
By acquiring Fauna, Amazon is entering the increasingly crowded humanoid robot market. Tesla is developing a humanoid robot, called Optimus, and plans to build it in its Fremont, California, factory.
In January, CEO Elon Musk said the company would convert former production lines for the company’s flagship Model S and
Other humanoid competitors include California-based 1X, Figure AI, Aptronic, Agility Robotics and China-based Unitri.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
