Bossa Nova Robotics

Bossa Nova Robotics, founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, 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, emphasizing image-based analytics via 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, primarily from a $29M Series C in 2018.