Tag: boston

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Amazon’s Joe Quinlivan discusses how building a robot army fueled its e-commerce dominance at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022

There’s an 800-pound gorilla in the warehouse, and its name is Amazon. 

Back in 2012, the company bought Kiva Systems for $775 million and renamed it Amazon Robotics. The deal, in hindsight, was a prescient indicator of the outsized role robotics would take in the warehouse automation and fulfillment industry.

In just one decade, Amazon has dominated the warehouse automation market, grown its fleet of autonomous robots to more than 350,000 and, as a result, completely redefined consumer expectations for fast, free delivery.

That’s an achievement worthy of exploration and why we’re thrilled to  announce that Joe Quinlivan, VP of Global Robotics, Fulfillment and Information Technology at Amazon, will join us on stage at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 on July 22 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Continuing labor shortages and increased e-commerce demand, both factors driven by the ongoing effects of COVID-19, mean the need for automated solutions isn’t going anywhere but up. And Amazon continues to invest heavily. In 2021, the company opened its new, $40 million, 350,000 square foot Robotics Innovation Hub in Westborough, MA — a sister site to its nearby North Reading facility.

Automation is Amazon’s not-so-secret weapon for dominating e-commerce, and we can’t wait to hear Quinlivan talk about what it took to build its vast robot army. And we’re curious to learn what innovations might come next.

Some of the autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) the company currently “employs” shuttle containers across giant warehouses, which are 800,000 square feet on average, that workers then fill or unpack. These robots can shave literal miles off the amount of walking required of many warehouse workers during a given shift.

We’ll also check in with Quinlivan about how long it might be before we see the ultimate, yet still elusive, automation tool: a robot with human hand-like dexterity that can grip, lift and move merchandise of varying shapes and sizes.

Quinlivan, who holds multiple degrees in engineering and computer science, should be the man with the answers. After all, he’s responsible for driving Amazon’s robotics organization forward by turning complex problems into elegant solutions.

Don’t miss a fascinating conversation with Joe Quinlivan, the general of Amazon’s robot army, about what it took to build it and what we can expect from the next wave of automated warehouse robots.

TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 takes place in person on July 22 in Boston, Massachusetts. Buy your pass before June 25 at 11:59 pm (PT) and save $200. Then get ready to join the robotics community’s top technologists, makers, thinkers, researchers and investors.

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CMU’s Matt Johnson-Roberson and MIT’s Daniela Rus will talk higher-education at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022

Robotics technology, currently a $45.5 billion global market, has had an enormous impact on countless industries, including agtech, automotive, healthcare, labor, warehousing and logistics. Thanks to advances in AI, IoT and mobility tech — especially lidar sensors and computer vision — autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) open the door to a wider range of use cases and a market projection of $120.3 billion by 2026.

While the future of robotics looks bright, the direction it takes will ultimately be determined by the next generation of roboticists — and the academics who nurture and inspire their research and ideas. 

That’s why we’re absolutely thrilled that Matthew Johnson-Roberson, the director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute and a professor in the School of Computer Science, and Daniela Rus, the director of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will be joining us on stage at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 on July 22 in Boston, Massachusetts.

We’ll touch on their respective areas of on-going research, robotics breakthroughs and the role that colleges and universities play in accelerating the next generation of robotics startups. Both guests come to the stage with deep knowledge, experience and passion for robots and their ability to unlock human potential. 

At Carnegie Mellon, Johnson-Roberson focuses on developing robotic systems capable of operating in complex, dynamic environments. He believes that robotic perception can potentially lead to the development of new robotic task domains.

Prior to assuming his current role, Johnson-Roberson was an Associate Professor of Engineering in the Department of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. He co-directed the university’s Ford Center for Autonomous Vehicles (FCAV), and he founded and led the DROP (Deep Robot Optical Perception) Lab, which researches 3D reconstruction, segmentation, data mining and visualization. He also brings startup experience as a cofounder of Refraction AI. 

Daniela Rus is the Director of CSAIL at MIT where she also serves as the Deputy Dean of Research at the Schwarzman College of Computing and as Director of the Toyota-CSAIL Joint Research Center. Rus’ research interests include robotics, artificial intelligence and data science. 

She envisions that the next sixty years will see robots shift from industrial to more human-centric environments to assist them with physical tasks — to the point where robots become as much a part of human life as smartphones are today.

Prior to her roles at MIT, Rus — a 2002 MacArthur Fellow, a fellow of ACM, AAAI and IEEE and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences — was a professor in the Computer Science Department at Dartmouth College.

Don’t miss this fascinating conversation with two of robotics’ leading research academics to learn about the next generation of roboticists and where they might take us.

TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 takes place in person on July 22 in Boston, Massachusetts. Buy your pass before Friday, April 29 at 11:59 pm (PT) and get a second pass for free. Then get ready to join the robotics community’s top technologists, makers, thinkers, researchers and investors.

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Ack! 2-for-1 passes for TC Sessions: Robotics disappear tomorrow

It’s the last call for you and a friend to attend — for the price of one ticket — TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 on July 22 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts, followed by an online event on July 26.

We can’t wait to see you in Boston, and we hope you’ll take advantage of a significant savings opportunity to spend a full day with the best and brightest visionaries, founders, builders, scientists and investors — and robots! — in the robotics and AI industries.

Deadline alert: Buy your TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 pass by 11:59 p.m. (PT) tomorrow, Friday April 29, pay $165, and you’ll receive a second pass for free. 

What can you expect at TC Sessions: Robotics? TechCrunch editors conduct 1:1 interviews and moderate panel discussions from the main stage; plenty of interactive, expert-led breakout sessions with Q&As and smaller roundtables for deeper conversations on specific topics. And with more than 2,000 influential robotics movers, shakers and makers in attendance, be prepared to engage in some world-class networking. 

Of course, everyone wants to see robots in action — and see them you shall. You’ll find them on the main stage and, for hands-on demos, head over to the expo area. That’s where you’ll find dozens of exciting early-stage startups displaying their latest robotics tech.

Here are  just a few of the brilliant people we’ll have on stage, and we’ll be announcing specific speakers in the coming weeks and months. Want to speak at our event or recommend someone? Fill out this application by May 22. TechCrunch will notify people by June 10.

TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 takes place on July 22 in Boston, Massachusetts. You get twice as much opportunity and fun with our 2-for-1, but that pass price disappears tomorrow, April 29 at 11:59 p.m. (PT). Beat the deadline, buy your pass, pick a pal and go spend the day with robots. We can’t wait to see you there!

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

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Food Rocket blasts off after securing funding, grocery delivery deal with Circle K parent

Many grocery delivery startups begin small, in one city, building up locations to cater to a certain neighborhood. Food Rocket has taken an unconventional route, striking a funding deal with Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. that puts its 15-minute grocery delivery service in more than 14,000 Circle K convenience stores and Couche-Tard locations.

We first met the Chicago-based company and its founder and CEO Vitaly Alexandrov last year when we reported that Food Rocket launched in the Bay Area, going up against the likes of Amazon Fresh, DoorDash, Instacart and Gopuff, which is no easy feat given each of the company’s footprint.

At the time, the company raised $2 million, and Alexandrov said about the perceived competition, “The level of competition in this market in the U.S. is still manageable, which is why we have the opportunity to become leaders in the sphere of fast delivery of basic products and household goods. We aim to replace brick-and-mortar supermarkets and to change consumers’ current habits in regards to grocery shopping.”

Food Rocket uses AI-enabled technologies to manage warehouse stocks, forecast demand and optimize delivery time by predicting the closest store that offers the fastest delivery time and the lowest costs of putting together and delivering the order.

On-demand grocery startup Food Rocket launches in the Bay Area, goes up against delivery giants

“We understand the business model is not about delivering just groceries,” Alexandrov told TechCrunch. “We are creating new habits of customers. From day one, we’ve had the idea of eventually converting all of our dark stores to micro fulfillment centers that will have local marketplaces to deliver their items.”

The new $25 million in Series A investment, led by Alimentation Couche-Tard via its Circle K Venture Fund, will enable Food Rocket to deliver in 26 countries and territories, including more than 7,000 U.S. locations. In all, the company has raised $30 million to date.

Discussing the plan for Circle K, Alexandrov revealed that it was a partnership that enabled the company to grow faster and more efficient and be able to reach profitability faster than others. It will also be able to leverage Circle K’s size and scale, consumer insights, marketing expertise, procurement network and supply chain, while Circle K can tap into Food Rocket’s proprietary software for forecasting stock levels and employee workloads.

Alexandrov also said the funding will be invested into expanding its service in both Chicago — to open around 15 stores there — and San Francisco, and into other cities, including Boston, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Food Rocket plans to create over 2,000 jobs in new areas and continues to be one of the few startups offering full-time employment to all of its riders, he added.

In addition, he plans to launch a dark kitchen aspect of the business that will deliver foods that can be prepared in minutes — think coffee, bagels and pizza, that could still be delivered within 15 minutes. He also wants to take a step further eventually and deliver other items like phones.

The company typically carries around 3,500 products, and since launching in California in 2021, it sees 60% of customers order a second time after their first purchase, while the cart size averages $30 per order. Revenue-wise, Food Rocket has steadily grown about 40% month over month.

“We aim to provide grocery delivery in a different way,” Alexandrov said. “Gopuff is mostly focused on snacks and beverages, but we want ours to be more like perishables, fresh food and ready-to-eat meals, and we want to support local suppliers and brands.”

Are rivals snacking on Instacart’s core grocery delivery market?

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Dean Kamen is coming to TC Sessions: Robotics July 22 in Boston

After a year away, TC Sessions: Robotics returns July 22. We’ve spent the last several in-person shows at U.C. Berkeley, and we’re excited to be returning to Boston, where everything started. We’ve been planning the show for a few months now and have terrific guests lined up. Seriously, I’ve been involved with the event since the beginning, and this is easily our best yet.

We’ll reveal more about the show in the coming weeks and months, but right now, I’m extremely excited to announce our first guest. You may well know Dean Kamen as an inventor, first and foremost. He holds 1,000 patents and has introduced several groundbreaking technologies, including the Segway, the iBOT mobility device and the AutoSyringe, a range of portable insulin pumps that first put him on the map.

In 1989, Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a youth organization dedicated to finding new and exciting ways to get kids interested in STEM. The group hosts a number of events, including the FIRST Robotics Competition. During the event, which first took place in 1992, teams of high school students construct robots to compete in select challenges. It was the subject of the recent documentary, “More Than Robots,” which premiered at SXSW in March.

Kamen has been awarded many honors over the course of his decades-long career, including the 2000 National Medal of Technology, presented by President Clinton. He’ll join us for a fireside interview on July 22 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston to discuss innovation, automation and education.

We’re still building out the event agenda, but you can bet the day’s programming will cover a wide range of crucial issues focused on robotics and the AI that powers them. TC editors conduct in-depth interviews and moderate panel discussions and Q&As with the industries’ leading voices and influencers.

Speakers at past TC Robotics events have included iRobot’s Colin Angle, Zetta Venture Partners’ Jocelyn Goldfein, Boston Dynamics’ Marc Raibert and Zebra Technologies’ Melonee Wise.

TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 takes place on July 22 in Boston, Massachusetts. Buy your Startup Demo Package now to save $200, and then get ready to impress the robotics community’s top technologists, makers, thinkers, researchers and investors. Show us your robots!

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

 

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Show us your robots at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022

It’s time to gather your robots and get ready for a high-tech show-and-tell at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 on July 22 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Join more than 2,000 other brilliant, robot-obsessed early-stage startups, founders, builders, engineers and investors for a day dedicated to the future of — what else — robotics!

This is a prime opportunity to connect 1:1 with this influential community of industry veterans and unicorn makers or — in other words — show us your robots! Join dozens of other up-and-coming early-stage startups and exhibit your robotics tech and demo your robot on our expo floor. 

Here’s How: All you need to do is buy a Startup Demo Package.

Hot Tip: Jump on this opportunity now, and you’ll save $200. Prices go up May 1.

Your demo package includes exhibit space plus four event passes. Bring your team for exponential opportunities — expand your network as you showcase your robotics startup on the show floor and access all the day’s presentations, main stage demos, breakouts and roundtable discussions.

In a classic “but wait, there’s more” moment, all exhibiting startups can take part in the live pitch feedback session with TechCrunch staff during our online event on July 26. Get great feedback and extend your reach to a global audience.

We’re still building out the event agenda, but you can bet the day’s programming will cover a wide range of crucial issues focused on robotics and the AI that powers them. TC editors conduct in-depth interviews and moderate panel discussions and Q&As with the industries’ leading voices and influencers. 

Speakers at past TC Robotics events have included iRobot’s Colin Angle, Zetta Venture Partners’ Jocelyn Goldfein, Boston Dynamics’ Marc Raibert and Zebra Technologies’ Melonee Wise.

TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 takes place on July 22 in Boston, Massachusetts. Buy your Startup Demo Package now to save $200, and then get ready to impress the robotics community’s top technologists, makers, thinkers, researchers and investors. Show us your robots!

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

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Salsify secures $200M as the boom in e-commerce catapults its valuation to $2B

E-commerce is booming, but it’s become increasingly apparent over the years that the businesses that are able to capitalize on that trend — and contribute to that growth — are those able to grasp the right technology to navigate the space. Today, Salsify, one of the startups building e-commerce solutions to that end, is announcing a big round of $200 million, a sum that speaks both to the demand in the market, and its success to date.

“It’s been very busy,” CEO and co-founder Jason Purcell told TechCrunch in an interview. “The thing that catalyzed us in first place was the idea that multichannel commerce would become big, and in the last two years Covid has made that trend abundantly clear. We have doubled in size.”

Salsify’s platform is aimed at retailers, brands, and the various partners they work with to tap into centralised inventory and product information, data that can in turn be used to power more unified experiences wherever those products are sold. (Its favored term to describe this is the “digital shelf”, a reference point I think to the many companies it works with and their huge legacy businesses selling CPG goods on physical shelves.)

In 2021, ARR went up to $110 million and the company now has 1,200 customers, up from 800 when I last spoke with it in 2020. The list includes huge names like Coca-Cola, Libbey, KraftHeinz, Columbia and Mars.

This is a Series F and it values Salsify (named after the widely spreading wildflower) at $2 billion. That is a notable jump since the company didn’t disclose a number when it raised its Series E, a $155 million round in 2020 (PitchBook however puts it at $805 million, and before at $308 million in 2018). This latest round is being led by TPG, with Permira’s Growth Opportunities Fund, Neuberger Berman Funds, and Cap Table Coalition also participating. It has now raised more than $450 million.

In a venture market that is very active for e-commerce tech — just earlier today, another startup startup, UK’s Moot, that is building tech to help brands manage commerce across multiple platforms — announced $18 million in funding; last week another company in a similar space, Productsup, announced $70 million in funding — this round and valuation make Salsify one of the biggest contenders in this space.

And likely it is one attracting some attention from even bigger companies eyeing consolidation, although for now Salsify is focused on being the consolidator itself. Last year, US-based (HQ in Boston) Salsify acquired SKUvantage and Alkemics respectively to expand into Australia and France.

“Big brands want to operate at scale and this allows us to go into new geographies,” said Purcell. It also has operations in Portugal and the U.K. Some of the funding will be used, Purcell said, to continue breaking into more markets.

The challenge that Salsify is addressing is a pretty big one that has only gotten bigger with the growth of e-commerce. Starting from the basic building blocks of retail such as inventory management through to payments and logistics, there is still too much fragmentation and complexity in how e-commerce works. On the other side, the most savvy companies are using technology that gives them a leg up in managing all of this, Amazon being perhaps the most shining example of that. 

There have been dozens, probably hundreds, of tech companies built on the concept of arming the non-Amazons of this world with tools that help them compete with, and leverage, Amazon better. Salsify’s approach has been to tackle the problem as “experience management” (which it abbreviates to XM and attaches to each of its different product lines), and to look at it in the big picture, in terms of how it applies not just to brands but also retailers and the different companies that work in that complex supply chain, which all need information to do their jobs, but also potentially can provide critical insights (eg around inventory) to improve how the bigger process works.

That platform and wider integration functionality is also something that speaks to how bigger brands have seen that they need to work in modern times — gone are the days where their legacy supplier relationships and physical sales channels are enough in competition with newly emerging D2C competitors that leverage new platforms like social media apps and influencers to connect with new consumers.

It’s also why investors have come running to the company. Purcell described this latest round as “opportunistic,” in that the company still had capital from its last round in the bank but had been getting approached by investors looking to work with the company.

“As consumer behavior shifts increasingly towards digital and omnichannel, there has been an evolution in the way that brands think about their technology strategy and how they evolve their tech stack,” said Arun Agarwal, MD at TPG, in a statement. “Through its integrated platform, Salsify is optimizing the shopping experience for brands, retailers, and distributors, powering consumer interactions and enabling consistency, simplicity, and agility. TPG has a long track record of backing leading SaaS companies, and we look forward to partnering with Jason and his team to drive Salsify’s growth and market leadership further.”

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Daily Crunch: Peloton Guide with body-tracking camera now on sale for $295

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important stories delivered to your inbox every day at 3 p.m. PT, subscribe here.

Welcome to the Daily Crunch for Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Today was one of those days reporters love — frenzied writing, source-gathering — all the trappings of a good newsletter! Join us as our fingers dance joyous Lindy Hop routines across our keyboards.

While we have you here: Do you love robots? We sure do! Join us in Boston on July 22 to nerd out about arms, assembly, articulation, actuators and Asimovian legal discourse. Come to think of it, we are 12% sure we’ll cover the rest of the robotics alphabet, too. — Christine and Haje

The TechCrunch Top 3

  • Fast slows to a halt: Despite raising quite a bit of cash last year, it seems one-click checkout company Fast found itself having to slow down. It all happened very quickly, though. Last Friday came reports that Fast was looking for a buyer, and then the company surprised us all today by announcing it will close its doors, with us reporting “that its 2021 revenue growth was modest, its cash burn high and its fundraising options limited.”
  • Venture capital market still in motion: When funding deals in 2021 were that good, it was always going to be difficult to match. So it’s not much of a surprise that when The Exchange examined Crunchbase data on venture capital deals in the first quarter, it saw some slowdown. Given the current macroeconomic conditions, that is to be expected: inflation, higher interest rates, bigger check sizes, higher valuations. The Exchange’s recommendation? Be proactive in this environment.
  • Peloton lowers price point for Guide: Peloton’s set-top system Guide is now available for sale at the sliced-and-diced lower price of $295 after earlier announcing it would be $495. This is not the first product where the fitness giant reduced the price — in the name of affordability perhaps?

Startups and VC

Hellooooo startup nerds. We’re back with another round of news from the world of startups, starting with an op-ed from Marc Schröder, managing partner at MGV, about how VCs don’t need to worry about a financial slowdown. A propos of VC — the biggest VC firms have a lot more assets under management than you might be aware of, as Connie explores in her article.

News I choose for you to peruse:

Q1 crypto losses spike 695% on year following massive hacks

Image of a grenade made from computer keys against a neon yellow background.

Image Credits: Peter Dazeley (opens in a new window) / Getty Images

The total value of cryptocurrencies reached nearly $2.3 trillion last year, but as that number soared, so did interest from malign actors looking to exploit bugs, poor code and social engineering hacks.

The web3 ecosystem “lost” $1.23 billion to exploits in just the first quarter of 2022, a nearly eight-fold increase compared to a year earlier, and that number is likely to continue increasing as the space expands, reports Jacquelyn Melinek.

(TechCrunch+ is our membership program, which helps founders and startup teams get ahead. You can sign up here.)

Q1 crypto losses spike 695% on year following massive hacks

Big Tech Inc.

  • Instacart makes it harder to remove tips: Tipping has been a constant Instacart issue for years, so it’s good to see the grocery delivery giant doing something about it. Users will now have to report an issue in order to zero out the tip, and Instacart will cover up to $10. It’s a good start, and we’ll reserve our comments about users who do this with no cause.
  • Twitter’s edit button debacle: We have triple the Elon Musk/Twitter news for you today. First, Amanda Silberling opines about why an edit button would not solve much, then she joins Alex Wilhelm and Kyle Wiggers to discuss what Musk’s motives might be in buying all that Twitter stock, and finally, Wilhelm discusses Musk joining the Twitter board.
  • Flutterwave CEO in the hot seat: A former employee is accusing Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola of alleged bullying after the two parties could not come to a settlement as part of a lawsuit. TechCrunch reached out for comment addressing these claims, and among the responses, the company stated, “We confirm that at the point of resignation, all monies due to our former employee at the time were promptly disbursed and we have records to confirm this. We however sincerely regret the circumstances that led to the dispute and wish it had been addressed in a more timely manner.” Stay tuned.
  • Gogoro drives into the public market: Taiwan’s two-wheeler battery-swapping company closed its SPAC and expects to be $335 million in cash proceeds richer. That’s a lot of batteries it can swap. We report that “backed by more favorable market conditions and much better timing, Gogoro has been able to unlock the recipe needed for scaling its battery swapping system.” It just now needs to catch on over on this side of the pond.
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Registration opens with 2-4-1 passes to TC Sessions: Robotics 2022

We’re beyond thrilled to tell you that the fifth TC Sessions: Robotics returns this year as a live and in-person event! It’s been far too long, and we can’t wait to see you — and plenty of robots — on July 22 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

Artificial intelligence has driven the rapid advancement in robotics technology, and robots are not only changing the way people work, they’re accelerating business competition across nearly every industry, from agtech, delivery and food service to warehouse fulfillment, construction and healthcare.

Robotics technology will continue to revolutionize the way humans live, work and play, and TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 is where you’ll learn about what’s coming next — from the experts who know — and to explore potential opportunities.

What better way to celebrate such an auspicious occasion than by offering a hefty discount? We’re kicking off ticket sales with a 2-for-1 limited-time offer. Buy your TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 pass for $165 and get a second pass for free. Who doesn’t love free?

During this day-long summit, the TechCrunch editorial team will go in-depth with the world’s leading founders, technologists, engineers, researchers and investors in robotics and AI. You’ll learn about new technologies, emerging trends and hear where investors think they’ll find the next generation of robotic unicorns.

Expect a full roster of 1:1 interviews, panel discussions, interactive breakout sessions with Q&As and smaller roundtables for deeper conversations on specific topics. And with more than 2,000 robotics movers, shakers and makers in attendance, be prepared to engage in some world-class networking. 

Now for the really fun stuff — robot demos. You’ll find them on the main stage and, for hands-on demos, head on over to the expo area. That’s where you’ll find dozens of exciting early-stage startups displaying their latest robotics tech. 

Whether you’re looking for technology and product insights, investment, engineering talent, new partners or all of the above, make it a priority to attend TC Sessions: Robotics 2022 in Boston on July 22. And take advantage of serious savings — buy your 2-for-1 pass now before they sell out.

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TC Sessions: Robotics 2022? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

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Starry’s SPAC part of Chet Kanojia’s mission to shake up broadband

Eight years after starting Starry to change the way the home internet is delivered, CEO Chaitanya “Chet” Kanojia announced this week that the company completed its special purpose acquisition with FirstMark Horizon Acquisition Corp. and is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Boston-based internet service provider’s approach involves beaming broadband-speed internet through the air using millimeter waves. Starry’s novel technology beams the internet to your home, but because naturally most people live near others, the company deploys “active phased arrays” that essentially group multiple antennas together so it can beam the internet to a bunch of places at the same time.

It touts its internet plan, which runs at about $50 a month, as one that doesn’t involve a long-term contract or hidden fees, a free WiFi router and unlimited data. You can read more about Starry’s origins in a 2016 interview with Kanojia.

Though there has been some speculation about the company’s technology and if it could work, given its ability to beam long distances and what might happen in inclement weather, Starry’s unique technique attracted a lot of investor attention from the likes of FirstMark, Tiger Global Management and KKR, ultimately raising $400 million before going public, Kanojia told TechCrunch.

He explained that in going public, Starry was “looking for a long-term partnership that was going to be supportive,” and it found that in FirstMark. Kanojia leads the new entity, and the transaction gives Starry a pro forma enterprise value of $1.76 billion, with gross proceeds of $176 million, according to the company.

“There are few firms you see going into a seed-stage company and nursing it to IPO,” Kanojia added. “We really wanted someone who had seen that movie because the long-term nature of partnerships is critical in public markets. This relationship already spans 20 years for a lot of us.”

If you are asking yourself why Kanojia’s name is familiar, that’s because he had previously founded the Aereo network television streaming service — which FirstMark also invested in — to pull content from free over-the-air signals, essentially with a goal of disrupting the way we watch television. When TV broadcasters didn’t like that, they took Aereo to court, where ultimately Aereo’s business was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court.

Kanojia has since shaken that off, saying that “the court’s history is littered with unfortunate decisions, and we were one of them.” Despite that, Aereo had a product that was well received by customers and a business model that grew rapidly, he says.

What he took away from the experience was that there was “pent-up demand for serving customers in the way they think is fair.” So when he started Starry, he wanted to provide a customer-focused experience that would add value for customers versus competitors that he says are company-focused and instead extract value from customers.

Meanwhile, the closing of the SPAC deals seems to be a happy ending beginning for Kanojia. Today, Starry has both a loyal customer base and one that is also rapidly growing, Kanojia said.

“Going public was a capital event for us, not a liquidity event, so we are not going to screw around with the recipe, but get on a regular capital cycle,” he added. “The company is on a great trajectory for growth and the unit economics are fantastic.”