MegaBots Inc.

MegaBots Inc. was an American startup company headquartered in Hayward, California that created giant robots and real-world mecha for robotic sports competitions.[1][2][3][4][5]

MegaBots Inc.
Private limited company
IndustryRetail
Genregiant robots
Founded2014 (2014)
FoundersGui Cavalcanti
Matt Oehrlein
Andrew Stroup
HeadquartersHayward, California
Number of locations
1
Key people
Founders:
Gui Cavalcanti
Matt Oehrlein
Andrew Stroup
Productsgiant robots
Websitewww.megabots.com

In June 2015, MegaBots challenged Japan-based Suidobashi Heavy Industry to the world's first giant robot duel.[6][7] Suidobashi accepted the challenge on the condition that the fight include melee combat.[8] In 2017, the company premiered a scripted version of the duel on Twitch TV, which ended in victory for the MegaBots team.[9][10]

In 2019 Matt Oehrlein declared MegaBots had run out of money[11] The same year, the company liquidated its assets, selling off its giant robot Eagle Prime on eBay.

History

MegaBots was co-founded in 2014 by Gui Cavalcanti, Matt Oehrlein, and Andrew Stroup (and follow-on co-founder Brinkley Warren in 2015) with the vision to start an international robot fighting sports league.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]

The company premiered the Mark II ("Iron Glory") robot at Maker Faire in 2015.[28] The company then went on to raise a seed round of $3.85M dollars from investors including Autodesk, DCM, Maveron, Azure Capital, and AME Cloud Ventures.[29][30] In August 2015, MegaBots announced plans to upgrade its Mark II robot with melee capabilities by raising funds through a Kickstarter campaign and partnering with Howe and Howe Technologies, NASA, and IHMC.[31][32][33] MegaBots launched a YouTube web series at Techcrunch Disrupt 2016.[34][35] The series followed the progress of the team as they upgraded the Mark II robot to take on the Kuratas. The company won Best in Show at the 2017 LAUNCH Startup Festival and announced a total subscriber base of more than 250k, 20M+ video views, 29 billion press mentions, and an advertising equivalency value of $270M, which is one third of the brand value of the Transformers franchise during the period since MegaBots was founded.[36] The company also announced its plans to launch spin-offs of the MegaBots entertainment brand in verticals such live events, sponsorship, TV/Digital, and merchandising.[37] The company premiered the Mk.III ("Eagle Prime") robot at Maker Faire Bay Area in 2017 and the robot was featured on Jay Leno's Garage.[38][39]

After the company encountered complications while producing the world's first giant robot duel in Japan, at the request of Suidobashi Heavy Industries; a scripted version of the duel was filmed and was premiered on Amazon's Twitch TV in October 2017, with MegaBots winning in two rounds over Suidobashi.[40][41][42][43][44][45] The match has since been viewed over 8M times and received a Guinness World Record in the category of "Largest Robots to Fight".[46][47]

In September 2019, the company had run out of money.[48] Their assets were liquidated, including their Eagle Prime robot, which was sold on eBay.

References
  1. "US to take on Japan in battle of giant robots". BT.com. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  2. Press, Associated. "Megabots v Kuratas: US and Japan battle it out for robot supremacy". the Guardian. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  3. Somerville-born fighting robot to battle Japanese machine
  4. Megabots Linkedin Profile
  5. NASA And MegaBots Team Up To Build Giant Fighting Robots
  6. "Fighting Robots! U.S. MegaBot Challenges Japan : DNews". DNews. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  7. "Team USA launches Kickstarter to fund its giant robot duel with Japan". The Verge. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  8. UTC, Lance Ulanoff2015-07-06 20:43:34. "Challenge accepted: America's giant robot will battle Japan's giant robot". Mashable. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  9. Choudhury, Saheli Roy (2017-10-18). "Giant robots from Japan and the US just battled — and a new champion reigns". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  10. "Much-Anticipated Giant Robot Fight Was Staged, Took 3 Days to Film - ExtremeTech". www.extremetech.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  11. Brian, Heater (September 24, 2019). "MegaBots calls it a day, puts fighting robot up for sale on eBay". TC.
  12. "MegaBots wants to make your giant battle mech dreams come true". Engadget. Retrieved 2014-10-10.
  13. "10 Best Things We Saw and Heard at New York Comic Con". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2014-10-14.
  14. "The Next Billion Dollar Sports League Could Be Giant Robots That Fight To The Death". Business Insider. Retrieved 2014-10-15.
  15. "With Your Help, Giant Fighting Humanoid Robots Could Become a Reality". Vice. Retrieved 2014-11-05.
  16. "Megabots: 5-metre robots destroy each other with cannonballs in new spectator sport". Mirror. Retrieved 2014-11-14.
  17. "Rise of the MegaBots". Popular Science. Retrieved 2015-01-21.
  18. "In this photo taken Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, MegaBots founders from left, Brinkley Warren, Matt Oehrlein and Gui Cavalcanti stand below their 15-foot tall, piloted Mk.II robot at the Pioneer Summit in Redwood City, Calif. Let the giant robot wars begin. A team of American engineers challenged a group in Japan to a battle for robot supremacy, and the Japanese said bring it on. So Oakland-based MegaBots has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to turn the Mk.II, into a real fighting machine, ready for hand-to-hand combat. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  19. "Calif. startup Megabots challenges Japan firm to giant robot battle". CTVNews. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  20. "U.S. startup challenges Japan to giant robot battle". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  21. "'Smash hit': U.S. challenges Japan to giant robot battle". KOMO News. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  22. Press, TERENCE CHEAThe Associated (2015-11-16). "Americans challenge Japanese to giant fighting robot duel - Portland Press Herald". Press Herald. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  23. "MegaBot is Making the Giant Mech Combat Robot of Your Dreams". Playboy. 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  24. Times, Tech (2016-01-13). "MegaBots Giant Robot Battle At CES 2016 Was A Bust". Tech Times. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  25. Russon, Mary-Ann (2017-04-05). "MegaBots confirms giant robot mecha duel with Japan's Kuratas will take place in August". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  26. The guys behind MegaBots say their giant fighting robot will pioneer an entirely new, worldwide sport
  27. "Giant robot fighting: Next billion-dollar sport?". CNBC. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  28. MegaBots at Maker Faire 2015: World Debut of the Mk. II Mech, retrieved 2019-08-21
  29. "MegaBots, Inc. | crunchbase". www.crunchbase.com. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  30. Kolodny, Lora. "MegaBots raises $2.4 million to create league of human-piloted, giant fighting robots". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  31. USA vs. Japan Part II: Giant robots set to duel
  32. A Team of Americans Is Building a Giant Robot to Challenge Japan In Hand to Hand Combat
  33. MegaBots Kickstarter Campaign
  34. Heater, Brian. "The first episode of the MegaBots webseries takes a wrecking ball to its six-ton robot". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  35. Heater, Brian. "MegaBots debuts a trailer for its new web series, outlines its giant fighting robot kit". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  36. MegaBots Inc (2017-04-10), MegaBots Wins LAUNCH Festival 2017!, retrieved 2017-04-15
  37. "MegaBots". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  38. Blumberg, Yoni (2018-04-26). "What happens when Jay Leno pilots a $2.5 million giant fighting robot". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  39. "MegaBots Mk.III Debut". Maker Faire. Retrieved 2017-04-15.
  40. Choudhury, Saheli Roy (2017-10-18). "Giant robots from Japan and the US just battled — and a new champion reigns". CNBC. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  41. Barylick, Chris. "Attack, Pulverize, Destroy, Fundraise". East Bay Express. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  42. EDT, Sofia Lotto Persio On 10/18/17 at 9:12 AM (2017-10-18). "We now know who's got the most powerful giant robot in the world". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  43. "Much-Anticipated Giant Robot Fight Was Staged, Took 3 Days to Film - ExtremeTech". www.extremetech.com. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  44. "Want to Watch Giant Robots Fight to the Death? Here's How". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  45. Vincent, James (2017-10-12). "The USA is taking on Japan in a giant robot duel you can watch next Tuesday". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
  46. THE GIANT ROBOT DUEL, retrieved 2019-08-21
  47. . ISBN 347355460X. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  48. Brian, Heater (September 24, 2019). "MegaBots calls it a day, puts fighting robot up for sale on eBay". TC.
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