24-year-old mechatronics engineer Grace Brown has been building robots since she was just 15. But her hobby became a business in 2022 when she launched Andromeda Robotics with a view to deploying the first empathetic robotic throughout nursing homes in Australia: Abi.
Forbes Australia’s inaugural 30 Under 30 list is out now. Tap here to see the full list.
Two years later, Andromeda secured more than $3 million in funding after its seed round in June 2024, led by Purpose Ventures.
A success story today, companion robot Abi was initially a passion project Brown herself worked on to withstand the emotional impact of the COVID pandemic.
“I found myself in a situation for over five months where I had no face-to-face contact: I had no in-person classes, my family were in Brisbane, I didn’t have a partner, so I wasn’t allowed to leave and see anyone. It was the first time in my life I experienced true isolation,” Brown says.
“Reflecting on those feelings, I wanted to build something for myself that could at least alleviate some of the loneliness I was experiencing at the time.”
Brown began building a prototype for Abi, with a personality inspired by the Disney characters she knew and loved. The activity kept her busy throughout the pandemic, but Brown soon realised Abi could solve a different pandemic: loneliness. Over the next year, Brown reached out to 40 nursing homes around Melbourne to validate her theory and, after receiving positive feedback, applied for Startmate’s 2022 intake.
As part of that, Andromeda Robotics banked $120,000 in funding and then a further $500,000 from Galileo Ventures. Brown then applied for an accelerator program in the United States hosted by Amazon and Mass Robotics – and in came another $500,000 from an angel investor.
All the while, Brown’s parents assumed she was finishing her master’s degree in mechatronics engineering at Melbourne University.
“I didn’t tell them I’d deferred my studies for a whole year,” Brown says. “They were asking me about graduation and how I was balancing my time in the US with my studies. My mum’s Chinese and Asian culture is very traditional. They wanted me to get a real job.”
They’re in the know now and support Brown’s career – especially since Andromeda has a warehouse, an office, a team of 15 and just ticked over $100,000 in revenue. And crucially, a pipeline of customers for Abi, the friendly, purple-and-orange, 5-foot-tall robot.
Brown is satisfied with how much she’s been able to do in little time – and with little resources. The company’s first engineer joined in 2023, and within a year, there’s a robot in the market and paying customers. Looking ahead, Brown expects to continue this rate of growth.
Her next mission – and a milestone she’s promised investors and shareholders – is to have 100 Abis deployed into nursing homes over the next 18 months. Longer-term, she expects humanoid robots will be more ubiquitous than cats and dogs.
“The next wave of robotics will inevitably be social humanoid robots,” she says. “I always knew I wanted to be a part of that wave, and I want Abi to be the product that leads that change. The main thing I want in my life – more than anything – is to build Andromeda into a billion-dollar company. That is unequivocal.”
Look back on the week that was with hand-picked articles from Australia and around the world. Sign up to the Forbes Australia newsletter here.
Buy a copy of Forbes 30 under 30 Magazine or tap here to become a Forbes member.
