HaaS 100 (June 2024)

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 improving 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, facades cleaning, and autonomous construction equipment, to diagnostic sensors and piece-picking, 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 volume 1, volume 2, volume 3, volume 4, and volume 5.

Halter

• Company name: Halter
• Founded date: 2016
• Location: Auckland, New Zealand
• Employees: ~140
• What they do: Wearable devices for livestock
• Key customers: Hard Hill Country Genetics, Yolla Producers, Wairere
• Website: halterhq.com

Halter makes solar-powered, GPS-enabled collars that are worn by cattle, which are trained to follow the collars' guidance cues. Using the Halter app, farmers remotely shift their cows around the farm and set up virtual fences for grazing in paddocks. This reduces the need for physical fences, motorbikes, and dogs to move cows. The collar guides a cow using two primary cues: sound and vibration. With Halter’s “cowgorithms,” farmers can virtually monitor their cows' location and health (e.g., when a cow is in heat or showing behavioral signs of illness).

Halter’s model allows the company to lease its devices on a subscription basis. Packages start at $9.90 per collar per month (billed annually). The Core package includes fundamental Halter features such as virtual fencing, remote shifting, pasture management, and heat and health alerts, while Pro ($12.90) and Unlimited ($14.50) include various levels of more sophisticated pasture and shifting tools, and mating insights and integrations. Halter has partnered with Figured Lending so customers have options for financing their technology investment.

“With over 84,000 km of virtual fences set in 2023 alone, we’ve saved our customers millions of dollars in fencing costs,” says Craig Piggott, Halter’s founder and CEO. “We’ve also set our solution up for straightforward onboarding: Once we have a customer's farm map, we deliver easy-to-install towers (in flat pack form) and our ergonomic, lightweight collars. Farmers only need to put them on their cattle and download the app to start optimizing grazing and feed management. With the device-plus-subscription model, we secure ongoing revenue and deliver constant updates to our customers."

Bear Robotics

• Founded date: 2017
• Location: Redwood City, California
• Employees: ~230
• What they do: Self-driving indoor delivery robots
• Key customers: Pepsi, Denny's, Google, Marriott, Compass Group
• Website: bearrobotics.ai

Bear Robotics’ Servi is an indoor self-driving service robot used to run food, deliver drinks, and bus tables, automating employees’ repetitive work in industries like hospitality and healthcare. Bear’s Servi Plus model includes all the features of the original Servi, plus an expanded payload and dish capacity to support rush hours and larger restaurants. The company’s autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) allow human workers to maximize time with patients and focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences.

Bear offers rental subscriptions and outright purchase. Rental agreements come with comprehensive services, including installation and mapping, workflow consultation, technical support, software updates, daily email reporting, and warranties, with terms that may vary by contract and location.

"Our robots-as-a-service option not only provides access to Servi Plus' cutting-edge capabilities without the burden of upfront commitments," says CEO John Ha. "It also encompasses perks such as dedicated technical support, software updates, and other additional benefits. This comprehensive package exponentially elevates the inherent value of our offering."

InVia Robotics

• Company name: InVia Robotics
• Founded date: 2015
• Location: Westlake Village, CA
• Employees: ~60
• What they do: warehouse automation solutions
• Key customers: Scholastic Canada, Mohawk Industries, Stord
• Website: inviarobotics.com

InVia Robotics provides intelligent automation for warehouses. The company’s primary solutions are an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) for picking operations, and the PickerWall, a two-sided, dynamic pick/put wall. Guided by vision systems, InVia’s self-charging robots travel through the warehouse, grab the appropriate items and deliver them to the PickerWall, where associates take over to fulfill orders. The hardware is supported by InVia’s AI-powered warehouse execution system, which identifies task interdependencies, determines paths, and maps workflows. Warehouse workers are also guided by PickMate, a productivity tool that directs them to pick goods from the robots, a rack, or a pallet and move them through the order process.

The company offers its solutions through a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) model. The subscription includes hardware, software, and dedicated monitoring teams. InVia’s model also includes continual upgrades and enhancements to both the software and the hardware. Customers only pay for productivity rather than leasing the solution at a flat rate. Monthly fees may be based, for example, on the number of actions per hour (APH) the robots perform in order to meet throughput requirements, rather than the number of units deployed.

Occuspace

• Company name: Occuspace
• Founded date: 2107
• Location: Westlake Village, California
• Employees: ~30
• What they do: Occupancy management and crowd monitoring technology
• Key customers: UC San Diego, UCLA, Columbia University, Perkins & Will
• Website: occuspace.io

Occuspace is an occupancy platform that helps organizations understand, control, and improve their physical spaces. Powered by standard electrical outlets, the company’s IoT sensors scan for WiFi and bluetooth signal activity from cell phones, laptops, wearables, or other connected devices. By capturing the number of people in a space, the sensors allow organizations to make better decisions around allocation and planning to enhance visitor experiences, increase efficiencies, and reduce real estate costs. The solution features alerts that register when a space exceeds target capacity. Occuspace’s Waitz mobile app also lets customers and patrons monitor crowd levels in real time to better navigate busy times and seek out quieter floors or rooms in places such as university libraries.

Under Occuspace’s subscription model, sensors are loaned to institutions that are charged a fixed annual fee for their use. While customers also have ongoing access to Occuspace’s proprietary software, the company only charges based on the total number of devices a space requires, which is in turn determined by the size and layout of the space to be monitored. The approximate cost for spaces less than 5,000 square feet is $600/year, and adjusts based on the number of sensors needed and on square footage.

Built Robotics

• Company name: Built Robotics
• Founded date: 2016
• Location: San Francisco, California
• Employees: ~40
• What they do: Autonomous construction equipment, focused on the solar industry
• Key customers: Black & Veatch, MPC Kinetic, Mortenson, Sunstate
• Website: builtrobotics.com

Built Robotics manufactures autonomous construction equipment. The company has two primary offerings. The first is the RPD 35, an autonomous piling system that surveys sites, determines how to best distribute piles, drives them with a hammer, and inspects them—all at a rate of up to 300 piles per day. Built’s second offering is the Exosystem, an aftermarket upgrade that transforms heavy excavation equipment into fully autonomous robots. By automating repetitive tasks in the $300 billion solar industry, Built is bridging the workforce gap to accelerate the transition to clean energy.

The company’s robots-as-a-service (RaaS) package includes hardware, software, training, and 24/7 support. The Exosystem is run on Built’s proprietary software platform, Everest, which serves up live video and instant notifications, and tracks detailed production and utilization metrics. Pricing for the Exosystem is around $3,000 per machine per month, along with fluctuating per-hour usage fees, depending on the machine’s location.