RoboStore ends Unitree distribution and bets on US robot assembly

Why it matters

Robo Inc. is testing whether the US can build a robotics industry through local assembly, software and service before its component supply chain can match China's scale.

Teddy Haggerty is turning RoboStore from a seller of Chinese humanoids and robot dogs into a US robotics manufacturer, using years of customer deployments to pursue a more practical business: assembling, adapting and supporting machines for specific jobs.

RoboStore launched Robo Inc. on August 10, according to the company announcement, 13 days after the Federal Communications Commission added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to its Covered List. The new restrictions generally prevent new covered models from receiving the equipment authorization required for importation and sale in the US.

The rule accelerated a plan Haggerty told Ars Technica had already been forming for roughly a year. RoboStore's customers were buying relatively affordable platforms from Unitree Robotics, then asking Haggerty's team to make the machines useful in laboratories, warehouses and other operating environments. Distribution brought RoboStore the sale. Integration, repairs, software and application work showed Haggerty where a larger business could sit.

Haggerty arrived in robotics through an unusually commercial route. He started selling drone photography to real-estate agents while still in high school, moved into Bitcoin mining and later used roughly $100,000 of his crypto earnings to start Defender Safety, according to Inc.. Defender sold construction safety equipment and ranked 43rd on the 2023 Inc. 5000 after reporting three-year revenue growth of 8,983%.

That history helps explain Robo Inc.'s approach. Haggerty is building around procurement, customer support and repeatable deployment rather than claiming a new breakthrough in humanoid intelligence.

The distributor becomes the integrator

RoboStore had served as Unitree's US distributor, selling developer-oriented humanoids and quadrupeds alongside demonstrations, training, repairs and technical support. RoboStore's sales page describes the Unitree G1 as a developer-oriented platform rather than a fully capable household assistant. RoboStore says it sold and deployed over 1,500 robots and worked with Cisco, OpenAI, Nvidia and over 150 universities. A separate Robo Inc. announcement put the customer or organization count at approximately 4,500 and named Harvard, MIT, Amazon and Nvidia.

Those figures come from Haggerty and Robo Inc.; independently reported sales data is unavailable. The customer list still illustrates RoboStore's role in the market. Unitree's lower-cost machines gave universities and technology companies access to physical platforms without waiting for a US humanoid startup to reach broad commercial availability.

RoboStore has stopped its Unitree distribution operation, Ars reported, while continuing to provide parts, repairs and upgrades for machines already in customers' hands. The change protects an installed-base service business while moving future growth toward Robo Inc.

Robo Inc. plans to open a 66,000-square-foot facility on Long Island, with localized robot production scheduled to begin in January 2027. The site is expected to combine engineering, software work, assembly, security reviews, testing, service and customer support.

The distinction between manufacturing and integration matters. Robo Inc. describes itself as hardware-agnostic and intends to source platforms and components globally. Haggerty has acknowledged that cutting Chinese suppliers entirely out of the bill of materials is impractical. Batteries, aluminum structures and other parts already benefit from China's scale in electric vehicles and industrial manufacturing.

"There are some pieces that are already dialed in," Haggerty told a report carried by The Star. His plan is to import components where the economics demand it, then perform assembly, software integration, data localization and application work in the US.

That model gives Robo Inc. a plausible starting point. It also makes the company's regulatory status depend on the origin and value of the components inside each machine. Under an analysis of the FCC action by Sidley Austin, whether a device is considered foreign-produced can turn on the share of component cost attributable to foreign parts.

Build for the job, then choose the body

Robo Inc.'s early concepts reflect what RoboStore learned from customers struggling to deploy general-purpose machines. One design uses a wheeled base with a humanoid torso for healthcare and concierge work, including sensors intended to measure temperature and blood oxygen. Other projects include a quadruped adapted for security and a humanoid platform aimed at educators and researchers. Ars reported that engineers are using 3D-printed parts for prototypes being tested with customers.

Wheels instead of legs are an instructive choice. Walking produces compelling demonstrations, yet it also adds cost, power consumption and mechanical complexity. A wheeled robot can carry a humanoid upper body into hospitals, hotels or offices without solving every problem involved in reliable bipedal movement.

The strategy places Robo Inc. in a different lane from well-capitalized developers such as Figure AI, Apptronik, Agility Robotics and 1X. Robo Inc. wants to select available hardware, localize it and make it function inside a customer's existing workflow.

Haggerty's near-term challenge is execution inside the factory. Robo Inc. still has to turn prototypes and distribution experience into products that can be produced, serviced and sold with reliable margins. The January target leaves only a few months to prepare the Long Island operation.

Capital will shape how quickly that can happen. Ars reported that RoboStore had operated without outside investor money and that Haggerty is seeking the business's first major funding round. A 66,000-square-foot facility, domestic engineering staff, inventory and hardware testing create a heavier financing burden than distribution.

The FCC action has given Haggerty a timely opening. US customers still want access to affordable robotics hardware, while security rules make direct dependence on foreign finished products harder. Robo Inc. is betting that the valuable layer will be the one closest to the customer: choosing the machine, securing its data, adapting it to a narrow task and keeping it running after the demonstration ends.