Labrador Systems announced it received the first reservations of its assistive robots from several organizations in home care and senior living. The organizations getting the first deliveries include On Lok PACE, Nationwide Insurance, Masonic Homes of California, Western Homes Communities, Eskaton, The Perfect Companion, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan, University Michigan Flint and Graceworks Lutheran Services.
Retriever Pro, the commercial-ready version of Labrador Systems’ mobile robot unveiled earlier this year, is a home robot that can lighten the load of daily activities for people whose pain, injury or other health conditions by physically bringing essential items within reach. Retriever is large enough to carry bigger items like a laundry basket, but can still navigate tight spaces of homes.
“The burden on caregivers is growing at a rate that is simply not sustainable. Organizations are already experiencing major caregiver shortages, and in the coming years there will be significantly more people in my parents’ age group (85+) with fewer people to help take care of them,” Mike Dooley, CEO of Labrador Systems, said. “Our mission is to provide relief on both sides of that equation, empowering individuals who need care to do more on their own while extending the impact of each caregiver’s visit well beyond the time they are physically present.”
The Retriever Pro will be available as a service, so that care providers can deploy fleets of robots to support individuals in a variety of settings.
Labrador began a series of pilot studies in early 2021, where the company puts its robots into the homes of people with a diverse mix of needs and conditions.
“Our partnership with Labrador during the pilot enabled Nationwide to observe firsthand the impact the Retriever can have on individuals’ daily lives,” said Bobbi Jo Allan, Nationwide’s Vice President of Innovation. “As champions for helping people live as independently as possible, we’re excited at the prospect of continuing to learn alongside Labrador Systems about how best to support independent living. We look forward to deploying our own small number of robots to focus even more deeply on innovative ways we can provide value to our customers.”
Labrador was founded in 2017 by robotics veterans Mike Dooley and Nikolai Romanov. In January, it announced $3.1 million in Seed funding, with Amazon’s Alexa fund and iRobot Ventures co-leading the round.
