Owl Labs

Owl Labs is a company that makes 360° video conferencing devices called the "Meeting Owl"[1][2] and the "Meeting Owl Pro".[3] It was founded in 2014 by robotics experts Max Makeev and Mark Schnittman.[4] It raised a total of $7.3M in venture capital from seed and Series A rounds led by serial entrepreneur Andy Rubin (via his Playground Global fund), Antonio Rodriguez (general partner at Matrix Partners) and iRobot Ventures.[5][6][7][8][9][10] In June 2017, it announced its Meeting Owl device.[11][12] VentureBeat noted that unlike others Meeting Owl has "...a single 360-degree camera that can recognize and highlight the person speaking..."[13] The device contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon.[14]

Owl Labs
IndustryVideo conferencing devices
Founded2014
Founders
  • Max Makeev
    • Mark Schnittman
HeadquartersSomerville, Massachusetts, United States
Key people
  • Frank Weishaupt (CEO)
    • John Stevens (CFO)
    • Max Makeev (Cofounder)
    • Mark Schnittman (Cofounder)
    • Lauren Vingiano (VP Business Development & Partnerships)
ProductsMeeting Owl, Meeting Owl Pro
Number of employees
50+ (2020)
Websitewww.owllabs.com
The Meeting Owl is a 360 degree video conferencing device.

With the launch of the "Meeting Owl Pro", the second generation Meeting Owl that brings teams together for better work, Owl Labs produced a solution with 2X louder speaker volume, 2X sharper 1080p video, and a wider microphone pickup radius with built-in equalizer.[15] The "Meeting Owl Pro" was named a CES 2020 Innovation Awards Winner, 2020 Red Dot Design Award Winner, and 2020 SXSW Innovation Awards Finalist.[16] Additionally, Owl Labs introduced its "Smart Meeting Room" allowing meeting spaces to become increasingly intelligent over time with new smart integrations and capabilities.[15]

History

Frank Weishaupt joined Owl Labs as CEO in January 2019 following a year of significant revenue and customer growth in 2018.[17] In April 2019, Owl Labs announced it had closed its Series B investment round led by Spark Capital with continued participation from existing investors Matrix Partners and Playground Global.[18] Owl Labs was recognized by the New England Venture Capital Association with a NEVY Award for "Hottest Tech Startup".[19]

John Stevens and other key executives were hired in 2019 to accelerate expansion of the growing technology company. Owl Labs' products are used by 35,000+ companies globally across a wide array of categories.[15]

References
  1. Rosen, Andy (June 21, 2017). "Owl Labs unveils a new conferencing device". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  2. "Owl Labs Unveils the First Intelligent All-In-One 360° Video Conferencing Device". PR Newswire (Press release). June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  3. "Owl Labs' Meeting Owl Pro is a smart speaker specially designed for video conferences". AFP Relax News. November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. Martin, Dylan (August 17, 2016). "Two iRobot Vets Have Raised $5M for Their Video Conferencing Startup, Owl Labs". BostInno. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  5. "Owl Labs". Crunchbase. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  6. Maffei, Lucia (May 9, 2017). "iRobot and HubSpot Alumni Launch Owl Labs with a $6M Series A". BostInno. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  7. Engel, Jeff (May 9, 2017). "Owl Labs Grabs $6M Led by Matrix, Teases Video Conferencing Device". Xconomy. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  8. Briodagh, Ken (May 9, 2017). "Alumni from iRobot and HubSpot Launch Owl Labs with $6 Million Series A". IoT Evolution. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  9. Hofherr, Justine. "Somerville's Owl Labs busts out of stealth mode with $6M in funding". Built In Boston. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  10. O'Brien, Kelly J. (May 9, 2017). "Andy Rubin-backed Owl Labs launches, but tech is still a mystery". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  11. Davis, Cindy (June 21, 2017). "The Coolest Product Cloaked in Secrecy at InfoComm17". AV Network. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  12. Goode, Lauren (June 21, 2017). "Andy Rubin-backed Owl Labs just launched a robotic video conference camera". The Verge. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  13. Johnson, Khari (June 21, 2017). "Meeting Owl is a 360-degree camera backed by Andy Rubin's Playground Ventures". VentureBeat. Retrieved June 22, 2017. Meeting Owl looks like a lot of smart speakers that have come to market but, unlike others, a single 360-degree camera that can recognize and highlight the person speaking sits atop the device.
  14. "Video conferencing gets wiser with the Snapdragon powered Meeting Owl". Qualcomm OnQ Blog. June 22, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  15. "Owl Labs Launches Meeting Owl Pro & Smart Meeting Room Ecosystem". Owl Labs. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  16. "Owl Labs Named As CES 2020 Innovation Awards Winner". Owl Labs. November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  17. "Owl Labs Announces Former CarGurus Executive Frank Weishaupt as Chief Executive Officer". Owl Labs. January 15, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  18. "Owl Labs Raises $15M in Series B Funding". Owl Labs. April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  19. "Owl Labs Wins 'Hottest Tech Startup' at the New England Venture Capital Association's 2019 NEVY Awards". Markets Insider. May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.


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