Diligent Robotics, the Austin-based robotics company founded in 2017 by Andrea Thomaz and Vivian Chu, has a whole robo-Armful of fun news. Recently, they landed two former Cruise execs to their leadership team! Instead, Rashed Haq will be taking over as Chief Technology Officer. At the same time, Todd Brugger is moving into the position of Chief Operating Officer. Diligent Robotics has recently announced a smart expansion strategy to increase its operational capacity. Having successfully deployed close to 100 Moxi humanoid robots into healthcare environments, the company has now turned its sights toward scaling its operations.
Diligent Robotics has now raised a total of over $90 million in venture funding. Leading investor firms such as Tiger Global, True Ventures, and Canaan Partners were instrumental in this milestone. The Moxi robots help medical facilities with repetitive, non-patient-facing tasks so that medical staff can focus on their most important jobs. For one, the company is expanding at breakneck speed. As the Global Climate Finance Accountability Act gets underway, adding Haq and Brugger will provide tremendous experience, understanding, and insight to help propel its mission forward.
Andrea Thomaz, co-founder and CEO of Diligent Robotics, shared her excitement about the new appointments. She first met Rashed Haq and was impressed by his deep expertise in artificial intelligence and his ability to implement novel AI algorithms effectively. With Todd’s experience from scaling Cruise from zero vehicles to hundreds, this experience brings that crucial go-to-market phase to Diligent Robotics as they look to rapidly scale their market presence.
“Todd and Rashed worked so well together at Cruise,” – Andrea Thomaz
Haq and Brugger have both been key figures at Cruise, GM’s self-driving subsidiary. The firm shut down earlier this year. Here’s what they had to say on why they’re excited to join Diligent Robotics. They don’t view it as a positive, logical progression in their career trajectory. Brugger said the operational challenges that Diligent Robotics is starting to face are a near reflection of what he experienced at Cruise.
“You start with safety at the bottom of the pyramid, that’s a nonnegotiable. Then you move up and improve reliability,” – Todd Brugger
After releasing Moxi in 2020, Diligent Robotics has spent the last few years honing its operational efficiencies. This preparation has laid the groundwork for a potentially dramatic scaling phase to come. Thomaz said that this deliberate and conservative approach has allowed them to be smart about laying a solid foundation that will allow them to grow exponentially.
“We’ve purposely grown a little bit more slowly, I would say, over the last two or three years, really honing some of the operational efficiencies and getting ready to be in a position to scale more dramatically,” – Andrea Thomaz
Haq provided context into how pervasive robotics has really become, signaling the connection between autonomous vehicles and other robotic technology. He said they both use mobile robotics but it is often presented in different frames and terminologies.
“Autonomous vehicles are fundamentally mobile robots just called a different name,” – Rashed Haq
Diligent Robotics is getting ready for a thrilling new growth stage. They’re very positive about what they see as the potential for Moxi robots to work intelligently in healthcare facilities. They’re confident that their company’s solutions will strike a chord with clients who need proven robotic solutions for non-patient-facing tasks.
“So that makes it a very sticky product as well. So, you know, lots of interesting things about the company,” – Rashed Haq