Standard Bots RO1: Specs, Price, and Founders

What Is Standard Bots?

Standard Bots is a New York-based robotics manufacturer that designs and assembles industrial robot arms in Glen Cove, New York. The company was founded by Evan Beard, David Golden, and James Cordle, with Beard serving as CEO and chief engineer.

Standard Bots positions itself as an American manufacturer of AI-native industrial robots, built to be taught through demonstration rather than traditional line-by-line programming. Its flagship product is the RO1, a six-axis collaborative robot arm (cobot) aimed at machine tending, palletizing, pick-and-place, and CNC tending in small and mid-size manufacturing shops.

For the broader category RO1 competes in, see our cobots hub and our explainer on how a cobot differs from a traditional industrial robot.

RO1 Cobot Specs

RO1 is a six-axis collaborative robot arm rated for an 18kg payload and a 1.3-meter reach, with a repeatability of ±0.025mm and linear speeds up to 3 m/s. Those figures put it in the same mid-payload cobot class as arms from Universal Robots and Fanuc, with Standard Bots marketing RO1's accuracy and speed as ahead of typical competitors in its weight class.

The arm runs on a touchscreen-based, no-code interface and supports task programming by physical demonstration through Standard Bots' own software stack, plus an optional wrist-mounted camera for vision-guided pick-and-place and machine monitoring. That no-code focus is aimed squarely at shops that don't have a dedicated robotics programmer on staff.

RO1's target jobs — machine tending, palletizing, and CNC tending — are the same core use cases covered in our industrial robot vs. cobot comparison, which is a useful read before deciding whether a collaborative arm or a traditional caged robot fits a given line.

• Axes: 6-axis articulated arm
• Payload: 18 kg
• Reach: 1.3 m
• Repeatability: ±0.025 mm
• Max linear speed: up to 3 m/s
• Programming: no-code touchscreen + demonstration-based AI

RO1 Price And RaaS Options

Standard Bots lists RO1 at $37,000, which the company markets as roughly half the cost of comparable six-axis arms from legacy industrial robot brands. That list price is for the base arm; end-of-arm tooling, safety fencing or vision add-ons, and integration work are typically extra on any cobot deployment.

For shops that don't want to commit capital upfront, Standard Bots also offers a Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) leasing path, letting a buyer trial RO1 with a lower up-front commitment before purchasing outright. Free virtual training and support are included with either path.

If you're comparing RO1's price against the rest of the cobot market, our cobot price guide breaks down what typically drives the total cost beyond the sticker price of the arm itself.

Funding And Company Milestones

Standard Bots raised a $63 million Series B led by General Catalyst, with participation from the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Samsung Next. The company followed that with a $200 million Series C led by RoboStrategy and General Catalyst, joined by Amazon, Samsung Next, Box Group, and GiantLeap Capital, valuing Standard Bots at $1 billion.

That valuation and investor list — including a strategic Amazon stake — signal serious institutional bets on US-built industrial robotics at a moment when reshoring manufacturing and labor shortages are pushing more small and mid-size manufacturers toward automation.

Standard Bots has framed itself explicitly as an American manufacturing story: designing and assembling RO1 domestically in Glen Cove rather than importing arms built overseas, which is a differentiator against most of the established cobot brands.

How RO1 Fits Among Cobots

RO1 sits in the mid-payload six-axis cobot class alongside arms from Universal Robots and other established brands. The key differentiators Standard Bots emphasizes are its stated accuracy and speed advantages, its no-code demonstration-based programming, and a lower list price paired with a RaaS leasing option.

For a shop weighing RO1 against the broader field, our roundup of the top collaborative robots on the market is a useful next stop, and our cobot-vs-robot explainer clarifies when a caged industrial arm still makes more sense than a collaborative one.

See our top cobots buying guide for a side-by-side view of RO1 against other leading collaborative arms.