BUDDY, the world’s first affordable companion robot, has already reached a crowdfunding milestone. With just hours to go on the BUDDY crowdfunding project on Indiegogo, backers have contributed over $501,638 – that’s 502% of the initial goal!

BUDDY has something to smile about.  The new open source companion robot by Blue Frog Robotics, launched an Indiegogo campaign on July 7th and sailed past its $100K crowdfunding goal in under 24 hours. And just a few hours ago it unlocked its fourth stretch goal when it achieved $200K in funding. BUDDY is designed to be a friendly companion that entertains and educates, makes video calls and sends messages to family and friends, acts as your calendar and alarm clock, and monitors your home.