Bossa Nova Robotics

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, Bossa Nova Robotics developed autonomous mobile robots for retail inventory management. Spun out from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute, it initially focused on robotic toys before pivoting to retail automation. Its Auto-S robots, deployed in 600 Walmart stores by 2020, used 2D/3D cameras and LIDAR to scan shelves for out-of-stocks and pricing errors. After Walmart ended its contract in November 2020, Bossa Nova shifted to a Retail AI platform, emphasising image-based analytics through mobile apps and fixed cameras. The company shut down its European unit in 2021 and ceased operations by May 2024, with its website now offering startup strategy insights. ISO 9001:2015-certified, it raised $70M, mainly from a $29M Series C in 2018.