Boom or Bust? 11 Big Bets on the Future of Boston Tech

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Rethink Robotics (fka Heartland Robotics)
HQ: Boston, MA
Founded: 2008
CEO: Scott Eckert
Amount raised: $62M
Investors: Charles River Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Sigma Partners, Bezos Expeditions, Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
What it represents: The future of robots and manufacturing.
Why it wins: New robotics paradigm with potentially game-changing technology and economics—could revolutionize factories.
Why it loses: Manufacturing costs and technology risk; adoption could take a while. (Plus I liked the old name better.)
Photo courtesy of Rethink Robotics

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.