Miko Robotics acquires majority stake in AI chess startup, Square Off

Square Off charmed us at CES 2019, when the startup confirmed off its robotic chess board at our Hardware Battlefield occasion. Watching the items transfer on their very own, courtesy of underlying AI, grabbed the eye of a jaded crowd of showgoers.

This morning, it takes the subsequent step within the startup lifecycle, as Bay Area-based children robotics agency Miko broadcasts that it has acquired a majority stake of 70% of the agency. “We’re thrilled to join forces with Miko on this journey to revolutionize edutainment for kids,” Square Off’s co-founder and CEO, Bhavya Gohil, says in a brief press launch tied to the information.

Miko, in the meantime, is a Disney Accelerator grad finest identified for its eponymous toy robotic. In addition to its plans to speculate $12 million into the board sport startup, the corporate plans to tie the product choices collectively, with the Miko robotic, “taking on the role of instructors that teach children to play chess and other board games,” per the corporate.

Toy robots have, admittedly, been hit and miss (principally miss) through the years, and as firms like Sphero and littleBits have proven, even its entry to Disney content material from Toy Story, The Lion King and the like aren’t a surefire predicter of success. Square Off’s merchandise, nonetheless, ought to show a pleasant little bit of diversification to the corporate’s portfolio — it’s a intelligent and shocking tackle the 400-year-old sport.

Miko notes that each companies, which launched their first merchandise in 2017, noticed an uptick in curiosity over the previous couple of years, as extra households had been caught at dwelling because of the pandemic.