Robots with Purpose
We believe mobile manipulators can enhance life for everyone, including children, older adults, and people with disabilities.
To realize this potential, we are empowering a growing community of innovators to create the future. Our award-winning Stretch mobile manipulator is a friendly and capable platform for innovation that is inspiring new technologies, applications, and businesses.
Our priority is the success of our community. We’re here to help.
Company Background
Dr. Aaron Edsinger and Dr. Charlie Kemp founded Hello Robot in 2017. Aaron was a Director of Robotics at Google and Charlie was a tenured professor at Georgia Tech. Both were looking to have a greater impact through their work. They saw an opportunity to build off of the research in Charlie’s lab, and Hello Robot was born.
The founders’ world class expertise, combined with an iterative and pragmatic approach, uniquely positions Hello Robot to help the future arrive sooner.
Hello Robot has offices in Atlanta, GA and Martinez, CA. Its robots are manufactured in-house at their Martinez, CA facility.
Founders
Aaron Edsinger, CEO and Cofounder
Aaron has a passion for building robots and robot companies. He has founded four companies focused on commercializing human collaborative robots. Two of these companies, Meka Robotics and Redwood Robotics, were acquired by Google in 2013.
As Robotics Director at Google, Aaron led the business, product, and technical development of two of Google’s central investments in robotics.
Aaron received his Ph.D. from MIT CSAIL in 2007.
Charlie Kemp, CTO and Cofounder
Charlie is a recognized expert on mobile manipulation. In 2007, he founded the Healthcare Robotics Lab at Georgia Tech, where he was an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His lab has conducted extensive research on mobile manipulators to assist older adults and people with disabilities. He left Georgia Tech in 2023 to join Hello Robot full-time as CTO.
Charlie earned a B.S., M.Eng., and Ph.D. from MIT. He first met Aaron while conducting research in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).
Advisors
J Cheng, Gen 1 Capital
J Cheng is the managing director at Gen 1 Capital investing in the future of health, work, education, connectivity, computing, and human flourishing. He became an early advisor and first investor after meeting Hello Robot’s team and hearing their vision for a robotic platform for health and automation. He has managed multiple VC funds, investing in 70+ startups with 3 IPOs and several $300M+ and $500M acquisitions. Before becoming a professional investor, he was an engineer, founder, and entrepreneur.
Henry and Jane Evans, Robots for Humanity
Henry and Jane Evans are experts and influencers in the area of robots for people with disabilities. In 2002, Henry suffered a stroke, rendering him mute and quadriplegic. Through Robots for Humanity, Henry and Jane have pioneered adaptive robotic technology for people with disabilities. Henry and Jane frequently inspire and educate through invited talks, including Henry’s TEDx talk.
Vincent Dureau, Google
Vincent Dureau is a Senior Technical Director at Google. Vincent has been at Google for 13 years, spearheading video streaming efforts including Android TV and Chromecast. Vincent went on to develop social robots at Google X. Vincent is currently working on Google Assistant. Prior to Google, Vincent co-founded OpenTV, one of the largest providers of middleware for PayTV set-top boxes. Vincent holds a Masters in Economics from INA-PG (Paris, France) and a Masters in Computer Science from ENST (Paris, France).
Wendy Rogers, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Wendy A. Rogers, Ph.D. is Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is a recognized expert on design for aging, technology acceptance, aging-in-place, human-robot interaction, aging with disabilities, and cognitive aging. Prof. Rogers is also Co-PI on Phase 1 and Phase 2 SBIRs awarded to Hello Robot by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging to support work to enable robots to benefit older adults.