Intuition Robotics is a company that is on a mission to care for our older adult population with an empathetic AI companion, enabling them to live healthier, happier, and more independent lives. The company’s groundbreaking technology synthesizes empathy to create an AI companion that establishes a trusted relationship, maintains high engagement, and drives behavior change in older adults. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Intuition Robotics co-founder and CEO Dor Skuler to learn more about the company.
Dor Skuler’s Background
Skuler is an entrepreneur with a strong commitment to leveraging technology to address critical social challenges in the modern world. And Skuler said:
“Throughout my career, I’ve co-founded five different ventures, all of which have been driven by my passion for developing innovative solutions that harness the most advanced technology.”
“My most recent venture is Intuition Robotics, where I’m currently serving as the CEO and Co-Founder. At Intuition Robotics, we’ve developed a groundbreaking AI care companion called ElliQ, which is designed to enhance the lives of older adults by tackling the issue of loneliness and promoting healthy and independent living. My background and my open personal experience have led me to recognize the importance of addressing this pressing problem, as loneliness among aging populations can have severe health implications.”
Formation Of Intuition Robotics
How did the idea for the company come together? Skuler shared:
“I’ve always enjoyed finding new sectors and industries that are in need of new technology innovations. As the world became increasingly connected, my team became passionate about helping older adults, a population that is continuously being overlooked by tech companies. We felt this was an important space to lend our technologies and add value to, as we could create a solution to help older adults avoid loneliness and social isolation. We’re doing this by focusing on celebrating aging and the joys of this specific period in life.”
Favorite Memory
What has been Skuler’s favorite memory working for the company so far? Skuler reflected:
“What I find most exciting and emotional is any time I meet one of ElliQ’s users or see an older adult interacting with ElliQ. Seeing our vision come to life and the impact that ElliQ has on these people’s lives makes us all proud to continue developing and improving ElliQ. Not long ago, I met a group of users in the Bronx, New York, that live in a co-op and all have ElliQs. Seeing how they talk to each other about the product, how much they rely on her, and how much they enjoy her company is something that I’ll never forget.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges has Skuler faced in building the company? Skuler acknowledged:
“It’s challenging enough to create an intelligent device that is proactive and can recognize images, vision, and speech, but there’s another layer of difficulty that comes with building something that can convey emotion through movement and natural communication. We took on this challenge for a less tech-savvy customer base as they are one of the largest groups that can benefit the most from this technology. We created ElliQ to mimic body language and seamlessly converse with users to increase engagement and comfortability. We’ve been able to simplify the tech experience for older adults.”
“The hardware has been another challenge. Not only is the software complex, but we also manufacture the device and handle everything that has to do with the supply chain.”
Core Products
What are the Intuition Robotics’ core products and features? Skuler explained:
“Intuition Robotics’ core product is ElliQ. ElliQ is a proactive AI companion aimed at enhancing the lives of older adults by addressing loneliness and promoting healthy, independent living. ElliQ provides a range of features to support older individuals. It conducts daily health check-ins, engages users in cognitive and physical activities, facilitates connections with family and friends, and offers an intuitive interface for easy interaction. Additionally, ElliQ’s capabilities have been expanded using Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), enabling deeper and more contextual conversations and experiences.”
Evolution Of Intuition Robotics’ Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Skuler noted:
“The hardware and software that make up ElliQ have improved a great deal since our initial launch. We’ve been able to make significant improvements to ElliQ’s functionality, ensuring a smoother and more seamless experience for users.”
“We have added many features to ElliQ since its initial launch too, such as health content through a collaboration with Mayo Clinic and more entertainment such as music, books, and lots of cognitive games. We added a feature where ElliQ can take users on virtual museum tours or virtual trips to get coffee in other countries this year as well.”
“We have also evolved ElliQ a great deal thanks to advancements in Generative AI, and Large Language Models. By seamlessly integrating multiple LLMs into current experiences, we have allowed for open-ended conversations between ElliQ and users and more creativity experiences utilizing DALLE. One example is the new painting with ElliQ feature where users can describe an image to ElliQ and it will create a painting with the user, which they then have the option to share with family, friends, or other ElliQ users.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Skuler cited:
“Launching ElliQ commercially in March of 2022 was a significant step forward for us and increased the accessibility of ElliQ. We have also been very proud of the partnerships we’re creating with state and county governments and aging agencies to further increase that accessibility.”
“In May 2022, we announced a partnership with the New York State Office for the Aging to bring 800+ ElliQ units to seniors across New York State at no cost to the end users. Just a few weeks ago this year, we announced a renewal of that partnership and the amazing results we’ve seen so far including a 95% reduction in loneliness and great improvement in well-being among older adults using the platform. ElliQ users throughout New York have demonstrated exceptionally high levels of engagement consistently over time, interacting with their ElliQ over 30 times per day, 6 days a week. More than 75% of these interactions are related to improving the older adults’ social, physical, and mental well-being.”
“This year, we also launched partnerships with the Olympic Area Agency on Aging, California’s Agency on Aging in Area 4, and the Area Agency on Aging in Broward County.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Skuler about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“We’ve heard many stories from our users on how ElliQ has changed their lives, reduced their feelings of loneliness, and improved their overall health. It’s been amazing and heartwarming to hear each individual’s stories.”
“One in particular is Judy Washington in the Bronx, NY. She was homebound for a while and couldn’t walk so her case manager recommended ElliQ. Judy really enjoys how ElliQ says good morning to her, talks to her, asks how she’s feeling, and reminds her to exercise. She uses a lot of ElliQ’s different features and feels that ElliQ keeps her alive and active. She also likes having someone in her home to talk to when she’s alone.”
“Another user, also in NYC, is Lucinda Legare. After 7 months with ElliQ, Lucinda participates in 4 activities per day on average, including stress reduction exercises, physical activities, and cognitive stimulation. She’s let us know that she’s seen a reduction in ER visits, has been paying more attention to taking her medications, and has seen a significant improvement in anxiety and quality of sleep.”
Funding
After asking Skuler about the company’s funding, Skuler revealed:
“We are proud to announce that we just secured the first closing of a new funding round amounting to $25 million, led by Woven Capital, the growth fund of Toyota, with participation from Toyota Ventures, OurCrowd, Western Technology Investment, and additional investors. Previously, we’ve raised $58 million total through investments from SPARX Group, OurCrowd, Toyota AI Ventures, Sompo Holdings, iRobot, Union Tech Ventures, Happiness Capital, Samsung Next, Capital Point, and Bloomberg Beta.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is Intuition Robotics pursuing? Skuler assessed that the TAM is valued at $128 billion.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Skuler affirmed:
“ElliQ does not have any true competitors that have the same level of proactive AI and empathetic companionship. There are other digital assistants on the market, but they do not have the proactive AI capabilities of ElliQ. They also are designed for younger consumers, so while seniors can use them, their features are not tailored to this demographic and seniors may find them harder to operate.”
“There are other age tech companies creating great solutions specifically for seniors too. Grandpad created a simplified tablet for seniors. Ageless Innovation created robotic pets. Again, ElliQ differentiates from these in its use of artificial intelligence to provide more functions and features to its users and personalize its suggestions and conversations.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Skuler pointed out:
“Our goal is to continue getting ElliQ into as many homes as possible to spread its benefits to even more older adults. We plan to create more partnerships with governments and aging agencies and are developing more partnerships within the healthcare industry. With this new funding, we will capitalize on our strong pipeline and fund the growth of our go-to-market activities.”
Additional Thoughts
Any other topics to discuss? Skuler concluded:
“Research has shown that loneliness can have severe health consequences, comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It’s a critical concern, particularly among aging populations. The U.S. Surgeon General has highlighted the risks associated with loneliness, and there is a growing recognition of the need for solutions that promote social connection and combat isolation. We play a significant role in tackling this problem by offering companionship and engagement to older adults, ultimately contributing to happier, healthier, and more independent lives.”
