Acquires Savioke R&D, Relay® Product Line
Names Michael O’Donnell Chairman & CEO
Relay Robotics, Inc. — a new corporation formed by the acquisition of leading robotics developer Savioke — announced the completion of a $10,000,000 Series A Financing and the appointment of veteran technology executive, Michael O’Donnell, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Savioke Co-Founder, Steve Cousins, will become Chief Technology Officer of Relay Robotics and lead the company’s product strategy and innovation efforts.
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“We continue to expand the capabilities of Relay robots, enabling them to be quickly deployed to help people in service industries.”
Relay delivery robots are currently deployed at major hotels in the United States such as Marriott, Hilton, Westin, Mandarin Oriental, Holiday Inn, and Radisson, nationally recognized hospitals such as Georgetown and Dartmouth, and commercial real estate properties. Relay’s Rapid-Install™ trains and activates a robot within hours of arrival at a location. Customers can name their robot and create a customized “wrap” to give it a unique character and harmonize it with their brand.
“Our ownership’s crystal ball saw, before most hotel operators, what service robot technology could add from a marketing and operations perspective,” says Bob Combie, Senior Vice President of Technology at Seaview Investors, a leading hotel operator. “The Relay robots are integrated into our daily guest experience, and we use them at all eight of our hotels.”
The Relay product line consists of:
- Relay® – The original service robot, globally installed in hotels, hospitals, and commercial real estate.
- Relay+® – The newest autonomous robot with flexible configurations including a larger capacity top bin, a 4-drawer model, and independent elevator operations.
With COVID-19 retreating, the markets Relay Robotics serves (hospitality, healthcare, and real estate), are poised for a robust recovery. The global hospitality market is expected to grow from $3.9 trillion in 2021 to $4.5 trillion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.1% and is expected to reach $6.7 trillion in 2026 at a CAGR of 10.2%1.
“I’m excited to join Steve and the incredibly talented team at Relay Robotics to address this huge market opportunity for autonomous robots that help businesses serve their customers, patients, and employees,” said Michael O’Donnell. “The market is quickly embracing these AI & autonomous technologies to address the worldwide labor shortage and meet their clients’ needs. Relay Robotics has the intellectual property, a product line of working robots making deliveries across hospitality, healthcare and offices, and a pipeline of marquee customers.”
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“There is a multibillion-dollar market for service robots and Relay Robotics has the team, technology and real-world experience in applying service robots to solve business problems,” noted Mark Koulogeorge, Managing Partner at MK Capital which led the Series A Financing. “Michael will lead Relay on an aggressive growth path as we partner with customers to develop more innovative uses of service robots to enhance the customer experience and improve operating efficiency.”
“Our collective experience and expertise in AI, autonomous vehicles, and building the Relay software technology platform is paying huge dividends in driving use cases and the reliability of our robots,” said Steve Cousins, Chief Technology Officer. “We continue to expand the capabilities of Relay robots, enabling them to be quickly deployed to help people in service industries.”
O’Donnell, a 25-year veteran of the consumer technology industry, brings a track record of growth and success at early-stage technology companies. Prior to Relay Robotics, he was CEO of HealthiNation, a digital healthcare media company that he and his team grew over 280% and was acquired by GoodRx (NASDAQ: GDRX) in April 2021. Before HealthiNation, O’Donnell was CEO of four successful VC-backed technology companies, including Playcast, an Israel-based videogame streaming company acquired by GameFly, Inc. in 2015; Skytide, a video analytics company acquired by Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTXS) in 2013; Five Across, a social media platform company acquired by Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) in 2007; and Salon Media Group (NASDAQ IPO, 2001).