A Bristol tech company that created a mechanical, fighting robot sold by Apple has gone into administration.
Reach Robotics appointed administrators on Monday, September 2, according to public records site The Gazette.
The business was founded in 2013 by Silas Adekunle, a former UWE student, with Chris Beck and John Rees, and was initially based at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory's tech incubator.
Reach Robotics released its MekaMon augmented reality gaming bot in 2017 after raising $7.1million of Series A funding. It later received further investment of £5.8million from South Korea and Singapore investors.
Adekunle has blamed the “challenging” consumer robotics sector, pointing out that is is “especially” difficult for start-ups .
He said in a statement on LinkedIn: "Over the past six years, we have taken on this challenge with consistent passion and ingenuity.
“From the first trials of development to accelerators and funding rounds, we have fought to bring MekaMon to life and into the hands of the next generation of tech pioneers.
"Unfortunately, for Reach Robotics, in its current form at least, marks the end of that journey.”
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But Adekunle says he is planning to continue in the non-consumer robotics space and education sector.
Co-founder Rees added: “I’m still taking stock of it all but the short version is that it is true what they say – that ‘hardware is hard’ and consumer hardware is even harder due to the reliance on the Christmas sales period."
Reach Robotics employed 30 people, according to the company's website, and its main trading address was in Stoke Gifford, Bristol.
Paul Ellison and David Taylor both of KRE Corporate Recovery LLP are managing the administration process.
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