Henrik Christensen on “What funding scheme is the most conducive to creating a robotics industry?”

The public should in most cases not subsidize companies. Tax payers should not be venture capitalists. The new wave of Lean Startup going around the world is a great model to ensure that companies are building products that truly match real market needs. Too many companies are launched without a clear understanding of what the required market demands are in terms of price, performance, and market size. There is a lack of market analysts who are experts in robotics applications. Trying to fund R&D without a clear understanding of what can be sold at what prices is typically a poor investment.

There is still a major need for new methods and companies for systems integration. Still 75% of the system cost is integration, which is a surprise to most companies. We need to bring down the cost of deployment. Too little support has been provided for a new generation of systems integrators.

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Henrik Christensen is a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.

Henrik Christensen is a panel member for Robohub's Robotics by Invitation series.