Kitchener’s Clearpath Robotics gets cash boost to meet high demand
SHANE DINGMAN
The Globe and Mail
One of Canada’s best-regarded robotics firms, Kitchener-based Clearpath Robotics, has received a $14-million cash injection led by U.S. venture capital firms RRE Ventures and iNovia Capital.
The money will be used to expand the company’s work force by as many as 50 people, primarily engineers, to meet the demand for contracts it has signed in the resource and mining industry. ...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technolog...e23512224/
Edit: The Record also has the story, with more detail about the company's growth.
http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5512...or-growth/
Hopefully not the start of flight of jobs. One of the few non-exclusively tech startups in the area, and we could use more, not fewer, jobs for the largest engineering specialization at the University of Waterloo.
(07-30-2015, 06:44 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]Hopefully not the start of flight of jobs. One of the few non-exclusively tech startups in the area, and we could use more, not fewer, jobs for the largest engineering specialization at the University of Waterloo.
As long as they can find talent here, I don't think they would do that. Costs are at least 50% higher in silicon valley.
The Record article notes that they will use the California office to recruit employees and are looking to add 40 jobs to the Kitchener operation by the end of the year.
They also note that they want to do product design in the valley, so that's the whole gamut of positions required down there. It's what you want from the market, too. We may be as cheap as a Costco cashier here, but if they want even more experience, or to co-locate to an area with a more developed software and military ecosystem, it doesn't matter as much.
(07-30-2015, 11:24 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]They also note that they want to do product design in the valley, so that's the whole gamut of positions required down there. It's what you want from the market, too. We may be as cheap as a Costco cashier here, but if they want even more experience, or to co-locate to an area with a more developed software and military ecosystem, it doesn't matter as much.
For software, whether an ecosystem is local or around the world really doesn't matter much. For hardware products, supplier networks are much more important.
But I don't think the SF Bay area has much in terms of an actual manufacturing cluster. Or am I wrong?
(07-30-2015, 02:58 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ]For software, whether an ecosystem is local or around the world really doesn't matter much. For hardware products, supplier networks are much more important.
But I don't think the SF Bay area has much in terms of an actual manufacturing cluster. Or am I wrong?
It has companies that are involved in electronics and hardware, like Apple. And it has shorter flights to China.
(07-30-2015, 06:39 PM)mpd618 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-30-2015, 02:58 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ]For software, whether an ecosystem is local or around the world really doesn't matter much. For hardware products, supplier networks are much more important.
But I don't think the SF Bay area has much in terms of an actual manufacturing cluster. Or am I wrong?
It has companies that are involved in electronics and hardware, like Apple. And it has shorter flights to China.
While Apple is "involved in" hardware, I believe they don't actually manufacture anything: they are basically just a marketing and distribution company. Their supplier network is entirely in China.
(07-30-2015, 10:58 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ]While Apple is "involved in" hardware, I believe they don't actually manufacture anything: they are basically just a marketing and distribution company. Their supplier network is entirely in China.
Once there is a product to be manufactured, it is manufactured in China. However, designing and developing a product to manufacture requires a lot of engineering and hardware work - and that work generally takes place in-house.
(07-30-2015, 11:46 PM)mpd618 Wrote: [ -> ] (07-30-2015, 10:58 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ]While Apple is "involved in" hardware, I believe they don't actually manufacture anything: they are basically just a marketing and distribution company. Their supplier network is entirely in China.
Once there is a product to be manufactured, it is manufactured in China. However, designing and developing a product to manufacture requires a lot of engineering and hardware work - and that work generally takes place in-house.
Whether in-house or in China, in either case it does not need a supplier network in Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley definitely has the people for the programming side, but they also have a strong link in the area to the military. Even with the no-killer-robots pledge, the military is still a big target customer, and there are many funds and opportunities to be had in developing robots with that potential bankroll next door.
(07-31-2015, 06:41 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]Silicon Valley definitely has the people for the programming side, but they also have a strong link in the area to the military. Even with the no-killer-robots pledge, the military is still a big target customer, and there are many funds and opportunities to be had in developing robots with that potential bankroll next door.
Military or not, I can see many advantages for having a US presence even if HQ stays in Canada and manufacturing is done partly or entirely elsewhere:
1. Selling to US government agencies, federal, state and even local, may require a US presence.
2. Anything that might require security clearance needs US citizens.
3. Many procurement protocols require or at least favour US content.
4. Politicians push "Buy in America" so you need a US presence if you want them on your side.
5. Some US federal procurement subsidies, e.g. for small business, require US presence.