What the business is
Oregon State University spinout making Digit, a bipedal robot for industrial and warehouse work
The bet
Focusing the company on ramping production of the Digit biped and winning top-tier customers matters more than non-core work
Starting capital
$150 million Series B announced in April 2022, with Amazon's Industrial Innovation Fund participating
How it started
Agility, spun out of Oregon State University research, built Digit, a bipedal robot. Ford was an early champion for last-mile delivery, but that was put on the back burner as the company shifted to understaffed warehouses. In April 2022 it announced a $150M Series B with Amazon's participation, and Amazon piloted Digits in fulfillment centers.
What happened
Over the past year Agility hired Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson as chief executive, Fetch CEO Melonee Wise as CTO and former Apple and Ford executive Aindrea Campbell as COO. The Amazon pilots ended, with no next steps announced, while rivals such as Figure with BMW and Apptronik with Mercedes announced pilots.
How it ended up
On 4 April 2024 Agility confirmed it had parted with a small number of employees not central to core product development and commercialization, while ramping up Digit production, winning customers and adding roles. It showed Digit's end effectors designed for automotive manufacturing at Modex and listed five open roles, mostly in engineering and manufacturing.
What has to be true
Agility said it needed to focus on productization, commercialization and production of Digit
Amazon's pilots had ended without announced next steps
Early last-mile delivery work with Ford had been put on the back burner for warehouses
New executives joined to run the company and meet industrial demand
What can be applied
After an early pilot with a big customer, a robotics company narrows its team to the work that gets the product into production; a layoff and new hiring can happen together.
Aftermath
As of 2024-04-04, Agility had laid off a small number of staff, with the number undisclosed, and was hiring for engineering and manufacturing roles as it ramped Digit production.
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