HaaS 100 (early June 2025)

Hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) is gaining momentum across a variety of industries. Many of the early adopters of HaaS are in robotics, offering robots-as-a-service (RaaS) to decrease barriers to entry and improve overall value to customers. Others offer machine-as-a-service (MaaS), device-as-a-service (DaaS), or equipment-as-a-service (EaaS).

Some companies pitch outcomes more than assets, offering data-as-a-service or platform-as-a-service models. From network-as-a-service to facades cleaning; managed service providers (MSPs) to managed security service providers (MSSPs); and autonomous construction equipment to diagnostic sensors and 3D printers, these companies are on the cutting-edge of their fields.

This post is part of a series about modern hardware companies, their business models, and the future of HaaS. For more, see posts from early and late February, early and late March, early and late April, and early and late May.

Corvus Robotics

• Founded date: 2017
• Location: Mountain View, California
• Employees: ~25
• What they do: Autonomous inventory management systems
• Key customers: GNC, MSI Surfaces, Staci Americas
• Website: corvus-robotics.com

Corvus Robotics provides a hardware-plus-software solution for warehouse inventory management through its drone system, Corvus One. Designed for fully autonomous operation, Corvus One drones are equipped with omnidirectional smart collision avoidance, and leverage embodied AI and computer vision to scan pallet labels, count cases, analyze cubic slot occupancy and track inventory in real time. They also navigate complex warehouse environments without the need for localization infrastructure like beacons, reflectors, stickers, or WiFi. The system integrates directly with existing warehouse management systems; drones collect data during each flight and automatically update the WMS upon completion. By training on an AI model of each facility, Corvus One enhances historical traceability and visibility, allowing users to access time-stamped pictures and videos of every storage location for auditing and tracking down misplaced pallets. 

The company operates on a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model, offering subscription-based services for the Corvus One autonomous inventory management system. The model includes drone installation and the ability to schedule automated flights. Corvus offers a quick and easy deployment process, with installations completed in less than a week. Clients benefit from ongoing hardware and software upgrades, ensuring that their systems stay up-to-date without additional costs. The pricing model allows customers to achieve a rapid return on investment—often within six months or less.

“Most warehouses rely on employees to manually scan barcodes,” says Jackie Wu, co-founder and CEO. “It’s a tedious and repetitive process that often requires lifts to reach high shelves and yields only 65% to 75% accuracy. Our RaaS model is a strategic choice to provide businesses with the latest scalable and flexible solutions that future-proof inventory management without extra costs. This approach enables our customers to achieve and maintain operational efficiency while realizing significant labor and material handling equipment (MHE) cost savings.”

Luminace

• Founded date: 2021
• Location: New York, New York
• Employees: ~115
• What they do: A full suite of sustainable energy solutions
• Key customers: Home Depot, Owens Corning, Dunbar High School, City of Palmdale, San Diego County
• Website: luminace.com

Luminace is one of North America’s largest decarbonization-as-a-service providers, helping facilitate a zero-emissions future through renewable energy infrastructure. Serving customers across sectors like education, commercial, industrial, municipal, and utilities, Luminace operates 1,500 megawatts of distributed energy resources across 29 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Canada. Their solutions include on-site and off-site solar installations, energy storage systems, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, and energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits. Each service is designed as a turnkey solution seamlessly integrated into clients’ operations. Partners have included CS Energy, with whom Luminace completed two landfill community solar projects in New Jersey, transforming closed landfills into sources of affordable clean energy for 1,800 homes.

The company’s as-a-service business and pricing model allows it to offer clean energy solutions with zero upfront investment required from its customers. By financing, developing, owning, operating, and maintaining renewable energy facilities, Luminace eliminates the financial and logistical barriers typically associated with adopting renewable energy. This model ensures predictable energy procurement costs and simplifies the transition to sustainable practices. Customers benefit from enhanced energy reliability, reduced operational expenses, and the ability to meet ambitious sustainability targets, all while avoiding the complexities of managing renewable energy assets.

Pickle Robot Company

• Founded date: 2018
• Location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Employees: ~80
• What they do: Autonomous robots for unloading trucks and containers
• Key customers: UPS, Puma, Yusen Logistics, RYOBI
• Website: picklerobot.com

Pickle Robot leverages generative AI, machine learning, computer vision, and advanced robotics to automate the unloading of trailers and containers in the warehousing and logistics sectors. The robots’ sophisticated gripping technology enables them to lift and position heavy packages regardless of location or freight arrangement, and unload non-palletized goods from import containers in just 90 minutes. Equipped with a suite of cameras, the robot navigates the challenging terrain of warehouse loading docks, charts its course, senses freight inside of trailers, skillfully handles packages in limited spaces, and places them with precision. As they work, the robots capture data such as picks-per-hour and container unload times, serving it up on dashboards so warehouse operators can improve efficiency in real-time. 

Pickle offers its solution as a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) package, allowing logistics providers to access the robots and accompanying software without significant capital investment. This subscription-based approach provides flexibility and scalability for businesses. Pickle's proprietary software, referred to as "Physical AI," integrates generative AI, machine vision, and autonomy to enable robots to perform physical tasks at or beyond human capabilities.

Flytrex

• Founded date: 2013
• Location: Tel Aviv, Israel
• Employees: ~80
• What they do: Drone-based food delivery service
• Key customers: Walmart, Chili’s, Jersey Mike’s, Little Caesars
• Website: flytrex.com

Flytrex provides a drone-powered delivery service for suburban areas, with operations currently available in Texas and North Carolina. Restaurant orders are autonomously transported and delivered directly to customers’ backyards. Upon arrival, the drone uses a wire to lower the package from an 80-foot height, ensuring a smooth and secure drop-off, even for fragile items like eggs. Flytrex’s drones can carry up to 5.5 pounds, fly 5 miles round-trip, and cruise at 32 mph, unaffected by traffic. Average delivery time is less than five minutes. The company works closely with the FAA, which has certified its drones as commercial general aviation aircraft, and with state departments of transportation. Although the fleet operates fully autonomously and features multiple redundancies to manage 99% of potential malfunctions, FAA-certified operators oversee the drones’ missions to guarantee smooth deliveries.

The company’s business model is drone-delivery-as-a-service. The company establishes hubs in restaurant-packed shopping centers near suburban areas, where “runners” collect orders and dispatch them to the drones. Flytrex employs a pricing model designed to minimize costs for both restaurants and customers. The company charges restaurants a fixed fee for each delivery, which is significantly lower than the typical 30% commission charged by human-driven services like DoorDash or Uber Eats. Customers aren’t burdened with additional delivery fees, service charges, or inflated prices—they pay only the standard menu cost. This model alleviates financial strain on restaurants while offering an innovative alternative to traditional delivery methods.

Nuro

• Founded date: 2016
• Location: Mountain View, California
• Employees: ~930
• What they do: Autonomous delivery technology for last-mile logistics
• Key partners: Kroger, Domino’s Pizza, CVS Pharmacy, 7-Eleven, Uber
• Website: nuro.ai

Nuro develops advanced autonomous driving technology designed to power self-driving delivery vehicles, robotaxis, and advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) for automakers. Originally focused on building its own autonomous delivery vehicles, the company has shifted to a technology licensing model, offering its Nuro Driver platform to automotive manufacturers, mobility service providers, and delivery companies. The Nuro Driver integrates AI-driven autonomy with automotive-grade hardware, using high-precision mapping, sensor fusion (camera, radar, and lidar), and AI-based decision-making to enable Level 4 self-driving capabilities. Nuro’s system is built to be platform-agnostic, allowing seamless integration into a wide range of vehicle types, from passenger cars to last-mile delivery solutions.

Nuro’s licensing-based pricing model allows companies to integrate Nuro Driver as a turnkey solution for autonomous vehicle development. Instead of selling physical vehicles, the company provides a complete autonomy stack through a flexible licensing structure. This hybrid recurring sales model enables automakers and mobility providers to access cutting-edge self-driving technology without incurring the massive costs of in-house R&D. Nuro’s licensing packages also include software updates, system maintenance, and teleoperations support, ensuring that companies deploying the technology benefit from continual advancements and real-world validation from Nuro’s 1+ million miles of autonomous driving experience.