Apparel Robotics

For those of you curious about robotics market trends and what occurred at the ARM Institute's annual meeting last week, I've written a blog post with some key insights and takeaways. Thanks to Ira Moskowitz, Jay Douglass, Amanda Danzuso, Livia Rice, Matt Rosenberger, and the rest of the ARM team for putting on an informative event! Also a big shout out to Alex Shikany from A3 - Association for Advancing Automation for the market intelligence report (I shared one of his slides in my post). There were too many great companies to list them all, but keep an eye on HaptX Inc., Seamly, Apparel Robotics, ThoughtForge AI, and Altitude AI to see the innovations they're creating.

Graham Page, co-CEO of iAtelier Corporation Inc., covers “Robotics & Automation in Clothing Manufacturing: State of the Art,” at today’s IMI & Alchemie Technology Ltd Digital Textile Manufacturing Technologies Conference at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton SouthPark in #Charlotte, N.C. Page cofounded the company with Dr. Demitri Balabanov, a former fellow colleague at VF Corp., in April. Page presented a fascinated look at the history of apparel automation projects since 1980. He also pointed out that no country wants to rely on others for critical manufacturing supplies, including clothing, and robotics and automation are keys to shortening supply chains and reshoring/nearshoring. “There forces moving toward automation are technological, economic and increasingly geopolitical,” he said. Page noted that materials handling is the “holy grail” of apparel automation, adding that numerous challenges to materials handling efforts have prevented much success. He posited that the gripper / end effector for handling textiles is key remaining the technical gap in the automation of the apparel manufacturing process. Robotics handling of apparel textiles is “within reach,” he said, pointing out that the economics of automation are more favorable with each passing year. eTextileCommunications.com and the Southern Textile Association are partners of this inaugural event. #ILoveThisIndustry #AmericanTextiles #WeMakeAmazing #Yarns #Fibers #Fabric #Fashion #Knitting #Weaving #Nonwovens #Apparel #Sustainability #Sourcing #SupplyChain #CutAndSew #Textiles #FashionDesign #TechnicalFabrics #IndustrialFabrics #Digitalization #DigitalTextiles #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Automation #Workforce #Circularity #DTG #DirectToGarment #DigitalTextilePrinting #Robotics #Automation

Applications for the 2025 MassRobotics Accelerator open today! This is a unique program with a refined focus on hardware robotics, allowing us to deeply support our startups. Our mentors, speakers, and programming are specifically tailored to help technical founders build their business skills. This accelerator is an equity-free program. Thanks to our forward-thinking partnership with Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, we provide each company with $100,000 in non-dilutive capital. Eligibility requirements: - Early-stage, pre-seed to seed-stage robotics companies with a hardware focus, component, or application (any industry) - Companies must demonstrate strong leadership with a proven track record - Companies must be incorporated, with the founding team working on this full-time - Founders must be ready and willing to learn from an engaged robotics community and expert mentors - Preference will be given to Massachusetts-based companies. Companies from outside Massachusetts must demonstrate a willingness and ability to keep all or part of their operations in Massachusetts for at least 1 year post-accelerator graduation. Startups are encouraged to apply by October 25, 2024 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ewA3uxgD #Robotics #accelerator #startups #hardware #nondilutive #ma Peter Haas, Raagini Rameshwar, Ph.D Marita McGinn, Tom Ryden, Joyce Sidopoulos

Apparel Robotics is happy to collaborate with such a strong team on the "Automated T-Shirt Assembly System" project. Thank you to the ARM Institute for selecting this project as 1 of only 6 funded projects. We are looking forward to advancing our mission of automating the apparel industry alongside Hanesbrands Inc.,Henderson Sewing Machine, Southwest Research Institute,Interface Technologies and MassRobotics. #innovation #apparelmanufacturing #apparel #fashion #robotics #startup #manufacturing #MassRobotics #apparelrobotics

❗Apparel Robotics was named 1 of 5 Top Innovative Clothing Startups of 2024 out of 6000+ globally by StartUs Insights. Our mission is to change the way apparel manufacturing is done to be more sustainable, autonomous, and local. We are tackling this difficult problem by starting where most have failed, at material handling. Thank you to StartUs Insights for recognizing our hard work. ❗ Link to the full article https://lnkd.in/erDmfbiz ❗ If you would like to learn more about us, please visit out website www.apparelrobotics.com #innovation #apparelmanufacturing #apparel #fashion #robotics #startup #Massachusetts #manufacturing #MassRobotics #apparelrobotics

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth last week at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston. We enjoyed speaking to each of you on how robotics is changing the way we handle fabric and fabric-like materials. Last week also marked the conclusion of Apparel Robotic's participation in the MassRobotics Accelerator. A lot of great relationships were formed during this program and we wish every start up from the cohort success going forward. Special thanks to Marita McGinn for a fantastic accelerator program and thank you to both MassRobotics and Massachusetts Technology Collaborative for making this possible. #MassRobotics #roboticssummit #robotics #startup #Massachusetts Joyce Sidopoulos, Colleen Cronin Anderson, Tom Ryden, Sayo Tirrell, Juan Necochea, Peter Haas, Raagini Rameshwar, Ph.D, Megan Marszalek

There's an insane amount of energy around robotics startups right now and I've felt it first hand. Here are 3 robotics startups that caught my eye last week... The best session at the Robotics Summit & Expo IMO was the MassRobotics Accelerator Showcase. For those that don't know, MassRobotics is the largest independent robotics hub dedicated to accelerating innovation and adoption in the field of robotics. They have startup residencies, an accelerator, and more. Located in heart of Boston's Seaport district. Every founder/CEO had 3 minutes to pitch their startup (I love a good, tight message in a world where executives love to ramble), discuss the problem they're solving, and briefly discuss their solution. Every founder was high energy and delivered a memorable pitch. Truly. But here were my personal favorites, and why: Robotics 88 Erin Linebarger, Ph.D. and her team are building "drones that know"...these drones think and learn like humans to solve humanitarian problems, most specifically wildfires. When I think of a need in this day and age, I think of wildfires, especially something that was close to home when I was in San Francisco. Robotics 88 has already received federal funding, and they have pilot programs in 4 states. brd BOT I was a big fan of Syed Saquib's enthusiastic pitch and mission against soggy tater tots. I agree. Soggy tots SUCK!! That's why Syed and the brd BOT team are building vending machines for fried foods. I would have loved one of these vending machines on campus in college, specifically in the engineering building where I was forced to have 2 Snickers for dinner on occasion because my workload was so unmanageable. Apparel Robotics When it comes to clothing, folding/handling is a challenge. That’s why clothing manufacturing is often very manual. But it’s more than just gripping, and Demitri Balabanov and his team are automating sewing, cutting, and more. If a company like Apparel Robotics can make strides in automating the apparel industry, that's a W. - - - - - Feel free to share your thoughts below. Ask questions, etc. If you have your own robotic applications you're excited about, please share. #robotics #startups

Last night, we hosted our biannual private demo day for our resident startups and the inaugural cohort of our accelerator! It was a great evening with over 35 of our startups from more than 10 countries and states showcasing their robotics technologies to 50+ VCs and partners. A huge thank you to everyone for contributing to an awesome turnout 🙌 Startups: Apparel Robotics | ATDev | Black-I Robotics, Inc. | Boundless Robotics | Bridge Appliances | CRABI Robotics | Gaia AI | Glidance Inc | Gopher Motion | Haystack Ag | Hominid X | HyperVend | Luminous | MagLev Aero | Mapless AI | Nextera Robotics (MIT, Y-Combinator) | Opteran | Peyk | Cogniteam | RealBotics, Inc. | Revolute Robotics | Robotics 88 | rStream | Scalable Robotics | SIMPL Automation | Southie Autonomy | Super Robotics 🎗️ | Ubiros Inc. | untill | Urbx | US Positronix | Vision Cycle | Yard Robotics. Learn more about MassRobotics residents here: https://lnkd.in/gBytJS5B Learn more about MassRobotics Accelerator here: https://lnkd.in/ewA3uxgD #demo #robotics #startup #tech #vc #investment

Nothing has been the same in fashion since TikTok… But this week's news is one for the books! VF Corporation has lost over 80% of its value since 2019 Target’s sales fell for the first time in 7 years adidas posted its first loss in more than 30 years in 2023 last week Macy's is closing 150 doors thinking that will make people want really bad and expensive product Nordstrom’s profits declined 45% in 2023 Outdoor Voices bankruptcy is imminent Shares of lululemon tanked more than 16% LW after issuing light current-quarter and full-year guidance And Nike is experiencing its worst slump in a decade All their issues are in the U.S.... Bloomberg says Nike can take marketshare from Lululemon But I think that is just plain wrong Make no mistake about it Nike is still selling but it doesn't have the same brand heat Gen Z doesn’t care about logos No one wants your 15X marked-up basic leggings They're operating off of legacy and it’s showing This is the era of C2M commerce, they’ve been chipping away at our gatekeepers for years Last year ALL of the top 10 apps here in America were C2M (data.ai) Jim Cramer on CNBC is the ONLY one in paid media to FINALLY wonder whether the big athletic apparel makers are ceding ground to lower-priced competitors Ya think?? “Nike, Lulu — are these companies that are just charging too much when others are coming underneath them with good product? That’s what I question…. They don’t address the competition in any of these. They still act as if they’re kings. I don’t think they’re kings anymore.” You know who the kings are? Their suppliers Look at these Lululemon dupes TikTok Shop isn’t slowing down for all the naysayers who says it's too much about commerce now….. The dupes are seeing the biggest spike since launch And they're not alone It’s a badge of honor for Gen Z to find their favorite dupes - they find them through their favorite creators connected directly to America's top product makers We're failing because we've never had to deeply understand the consumer, we were the only choice in the market And we certainly don't understand the art of speed Brands should aspire to use every means possible to understand the needs of consumers, obtain feedback as quickly as possible, and make updates and improvements at the earliest opportunity Because the crowd wants what the crowd wants and they make the demand happen and now more and more go directly to the manufacturers who can make high quality durable versions And now that consumers see it works, that demand increasingly comes out of nowhere!!! I just can't anymore with medieval leadership The job in the era of creator direct to manufacture commerce is to understand culture – where and why it happens and respond on time to each individual the way they want it #thegreatfashionreset #creatoreconomy #C2M #communitycommerce #contentistheproduct #tiktokisthestore