Agility Robotics confirmed Thursday that it had laid off a “small number” of employees. The well-funded Oregon-based company says the job loss is part of a company-wide focus on marketing efforts.
“As part of Agility’s ongoing efforts to structure the company for success, we have parted ways with a small number of employees who were not essential to core product development and commercialization” , the company wrote in a statement provided to TechCrunch. “At the same time, we are working to meet the extraordinary demand for bipedal robots in industrial use cases. This means increasing Digit’s production while continuing to win top-tier global customers and adding new positions that meet these goals. We believe today’s actions will allow us to focus on areas that drive Digit’s productization, marketing and production.
Agility was ahead of the industrial humanoid curve with its bipedal robot, Digit. The company grew out of research at Oregon State University. Its impressive legged robots have not lacked interest over the years. Ford was an early champion, as Agility explored Digit’s last-mile delivery potential. But ultimately those efforts were shelved, with the company now focusing on understaffed warehouses.
There is no shortage of funding for Agility efforts, despite a general slowdown in investment and adoption of robotic systems, both of which can be seen as corrections following a massive pandemic-fueled boom.
Two years ago this month, the company announced a $150 million Series B round. Amazon notably participated in the funding round via its Industrial Innovation Fund. The retail giant later announced that it would pilot Digits as part of its distribution center workflow. The pilots have since ended, but neither company has announced next steps.
A number of other humanoid robotics companies have announced their own pilots in recent months, including Figure with BMW and Apptronik with Mercedes. Last month at Modex, Agility demonstrated updates to Digit’s end effectors designed specifically for automotive manufacturing workflows.
Agility has also made a number of high-profile hires over the past year, including Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson joining as Managing Director, Fetch CEO Melonee Wise, as CTO and former Apple and Ford executive Aindrea Campbell as COO.
The company’s jobs page currently lists five open positions, largely focused on engineering and manufacturing.
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