HaaS 100 (July 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 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, 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 posts from January, February, March, April, May, and June.

Canvas

• Founded date: 2017
• Location: San Francisco, California
• Employees: ~25
• Industry: Digital drywall robots for the construction industry
• Key customers: Daley’s Drywall, Bouma Corp., Nevell Group Inc.
• Website: canvas.build

Canvas is a construction robotics company that manufactures a drywall finishing robot by merging hardware, AI, lidar/3D technologies, and machine learning. The machine’s robotic arm applies finely-calibrated layers of joint compound to a wall; another end-effector on the arm allows it to sand the wall while a vacuum captures 99.9% of the dust produced by the sanding. Thanks to a telescoping mast, the robot can work at heights of up to 15.5 feet. Canvas’ robots collaborate with workers through visual sensors and laser-scanning systems, which allow them to understand the geometry of a space.

Workers communicate with the Canvas robot through a tablet, which is integral to the subscription Canvas offers. Customers get access to the hardware itself—a mobile base and robot arm, various end-effectors, and AI-enabled sensing modalities, all leased at a monthly fixed rate—as well as the devices through which to communicate with them.

“The leasing model allows us to partner with construction firms and deliver them return on their investment immediately,” says Kevin Albert, founder and CEO. “And it allows us to continuously update their system with the latest software and features, ensuring our customers are producing consistent high-quality Level 4 and Level 5 finish.”

GlacierGrid

• Company name: GlacierGrid
• Founded date: 2020
• Location: San Francisco, California
• Employees: ~70
• Industry: Cooling intelligence platform
• Key customers: Domino’s, Dutch Bros Coffee, McDonald’s, Wyndham Grand
• Website: glaciergrid.com

GlacierGrid is a cooling intelligence platform that reduces energy use, food waste, and equipment downtime. The platform uses IoT sensors, artificial intelligence, and equipment controls for real-time temperature monitoring and humidity tracking. With its user-friendly dashboard, customers get actionable insights into energy patterns that help them spot equipment breakdowns and move electricity usage to off-peak hours. This helps businesses both save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

The company operates on a subscription model, with pricing at $12.50 per sensor per month. Its accompanying software subscription alerts customers via phone call, text, email, and push notifications when refrigeration temperatures exceed approved thresholds. The company’s sensors are plug-and-play, so the solution takes only 2 minutes to set up.

“As a hardware-enabled climate tech startup, we know that you can’t make meaningful change without metrics,” says Manik Suri, founder and CEO. “Our hardware-plus-software solution processes and delivers vital real-time information to optimize energy consumption, and our subscription model makes it easy for customers to scale up when they need it.”

Berkshire Grey

• Company name: Berkshire Grey
• Founded date: 2013
• Location: Bedford, Massachusetts
• Employees: ~315
• What they do: robotic picking and parcel sortation for omni-channel fulfillment
• Key customers: Walmart, FedEx, Target, Maersk
• Website: berkshiregrey.com

Berkshire Grey offers a variety of robotic solutions to streamline fulfillment operations. The company’s products include an AI-enabled robotic picker, a fully-automated package sortation solution, and a robotic shuttle put wall that can sort up to 240 orders at a time. With their combination of computer vision, machine learning, advanced sensing, and novel gripping technology, the company’s solutions can accommodate even the most challenging items, such as unbagged items, oversized items, and cylinders/tubes. Berkshire Grey specializes in serving the 3PL, grocery, e-commerce, and retail industries.

The company provides traditional capex pricing, hybrid pricing, and robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) models to accommodate customers’ business needs and preferences. Under the RaaS model, the pricing structure is a single flat recurring fee. Berkshire Grey owns and manages the equipment; and software enhancements and updates, hardware audits and maintenance, on-site support, and spares and non-consumables are included in the flat-fee cost. (These things incur additional costs under Berkshire Grey’s capex pricing model.)

Knightscope

• Company name: Knightscope
• Founded date: 2013
• Location: Mountain View, California
• Employees: ~85
• Industry: autonomous security robots 
• Key customers: PG&E, Allied Universal, Huntington Park Police Department
• Website: knightscope.com

Knightscope manufactures autonomous security robots (ASRs) equipped with sensors and cameras. The robots serve a range of locations such as airports, hospitals, campuses, casinos, and public parks. Knightscope’s fleet—with models like the K1, K3, and K5—is designed to patrol defined areas, detect anomalies, and provide a constant vigilant presence. These robots serve as force multipliers for security teams and offer a proactive approach to identifying potential security threats.

Knightscope offers its ASRs via machine-as-a-service (MaaS) subscription contracts, with maintenance, support, and analytics included. Subscriptions include both full-time and part-time coverage built to fit an organization’s specific needs; Knightscope also offers Knightscope+, a virtual monitoring and response solution for customers that don’t have the resources to respond to alerts. Contracts are typically one year long and can be paid either up-front in full, or monthly. The cost per robot is around $7/hour.

Monarch Tractor

• Founded date: 2018
• Location: Livermore, California
• Employees: ~285
• Industry: 100% electric smart tractors for agriculture
• Key customers: Constellation Brands, AgriMACS, Progressive Dairy Solutions
• Website: monarchtractor.com

Monarch Tractor manufactures the MK-V, a 100% electric, driver-optional, and data-driven tractor for use in vineyards, orchards, dairy farms, blueberry farms, and elsewhere. The tractors are equipped with computer vision and 360° camera coverage that allow for situational awareness and a continuous stream of images that farmers can access from a central database. Farmers can also manage multiple tractors at once—for seeding, hauling, tilling, spraying, plowing, weeding, and harvest—through the Monarch app on their phones.

Monarch offers a hybrid hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) model. The company sells its tractors outright and then charges monthly subscriptions for its proprietary software. The MK-V is priced between $75,000 and $99,000 depending on the model (Standard, Dairy, or Utility). Add-ons include Monarch Connect, with real-time alerts, operational insights, and custom map visualizations, starting at $199/month; and Monarch Automate, with autodrive operations and remote supervision of multiple tractors, starting at $699/month.