Numerous startups are dedicated to tackling complex challenges in the field of industrial robotics, with only a few considering bringing this technology into people’s homes. However, Matic, a relatively recent initiative led by Navneet Dalal, a former Google research scientist, is an exception to this trend. Matic, previously known as Matician, is working on the development of robots designed to navigate homes and clean in a manner more akin to human actions, as described by Dalal.
Matic recently announced that it has secured $29.5 million in funding, with a substantial $24 million Series A round led by prominent figures in the tech industry, including Nat Friedman, the co-founder of GitHub, John and Patrick Collison, co-founders of Stripe, Adam D’Angelo, the CEO of Quora, and Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Block.
Matic was co-founded by Dalal and Mehul Nariyawala in 2017. Dalal serves as the company’s CEO and previously worked as a lead product manager at Nest, where he oversaw the security camera portfolio. Dalal and Nariyawala crossed paths while working at Like.com, a computer vision startup acquired by Google in 2010. They later jointly launched the webcam-based gesture recognition platform, Flutter, which was also acquired by Google.
The inspiration for Matic’s venture into indoor robotics stemmed from the realization that the field lacked precise 3D maps for navigation, a necessity for fully autonomous indoor robots. Dalal explained that just as autonomous vehicles require GPS and Google Street View Maps, indoor robots need accurate 3D maps of ever-changing indoor environments for navigation. Matic set out to create on-device mapping capabilities to address issues of privacy, latency, and dynamic indoor settings.
Initially, Matic focused on building robot vacuums, not to compete with established brands like iRobot and Ecovacs, but because these robots offered a practical means to map indoor spaces comprehensively. The company recognized the value of indoor map data, as demonstrated by Amazon’s $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot. Matic aimed to create a fully autonomous robot that could efficiently clean different surfaces, adapt to stains, and continuously improve its cleaning routines.
After years of research and development, Matic introduced the Matic vacuum, which employs AI-driven cameras to map and navigate homes with high precision, recognize objects, and seamlessly switch between vacuuming and mopping based on visual cues. While Matic is not yet available for purchase, it has undergone testing with friends and family and entered customer field and beta trials.
Matic’s focus is on delivering a fully autonomous floor-cleaning robot that learns and adapts to users’ cleaning preferences while prioritizing areas based on factors like the time of day and room usage. Notably, Matic places a strong emphasis on user privacy, ensuring that data stays within the customer’s home, with all processing occurring on the robot itself.
The robot comes with a range of features, including voice commands, the ability to resume cleaning after interruptions, and customizable cleaning schedules. It boasts a unique approach to navigation, relying solely on cameras, while many other robot vacuums on the market use lasers or lidar for simultaneous localization and mapping.
Matic’s advanced technology, however, comes at a cost. The robot’s starting price is $1,795, with a limited-time discount to $1,495 during preorders. An optional $15-per-month membership covers hardware upgrades, repairs, maintenance, and a one-year extended warranty. While Matic offers additional incentives, such as a year’s supply of HEPA bags and consumables, the success of home robotics remains uncertain, as demonstrated by the challenges faced by other startups in the field.
Despite the risks, Dalal and Nariyawala are committed to their vision and have a modest team in place. They are optimistic about Matic’s potential success and are already planning future robotics products. According to Dalal, they aim to compete with the first generation of disc-robot makers and anyone developing fully autonomous indoor robots, resolving the challenges of precision SLAM and 3D perception to make indoor robots ubiquitous and adaptable to various indoor applications. The future will determine the validity of this optimism.
