Agility Robotics has reported that a “small number” of its employees have been let go in order to focus on the commercialization of their products. The well-funded Oregon-based company claims that these layoffs are part of a larger effort to streamline operations and prioritize their push into the commercial market.
“As part of Agility’s ongoing efforts to structure the company for success, we have parted ways with a small number of employees that were not central to core product development and commercialization,” the company stated in a recent press release to TechCrunch.
“At the same time, we are focused on meeting the extraordinary demand for bipedal robots across industrial use cases. That means ramping up production of Digit while continuing to win top-tier global customers, and adding new roles that meet these goals. We believe today’s actions will allow us to focus on the areas that drive productization, commercialization, and production of Digit.”
Agility Robotics has been at the forefront of industrial humanoid robotics with its impressive bipedal robot, Digit. The company originally spun out of research conducted at Oregon State University and has since garnered significant interest in its legged robots. Early on, Ford showed interest in Agility’s potential for last-mile delivery while the company explored other applications for Digit.
However, as the boom in robotic technology has slowed down, Agility shifted its focus to understaffed warehouses. Despite this shift, the company has continued to receive substantial funding for its efforts.
Just two years ago, Agility announced its Series B funding round, raising $150 million. Notable participants in the round included Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund. Amazon later announced plans to pilot Digits in their fulfillment centers, though no further developments have been announced.
Other humanoid robotics firms have also announced their own pilots in recent months, such as Figure with BMW and Apptronik with Mercedes. Agility has also been steadily adding high-profile hires, including Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson as their new chief executive and Fetch CEO Melonee Wise as CTO.
Despite the recent layoffs, Agility currently has five open positions listed on their website, mainly focused on engineering and manufacturing roles.
