RoboStore Spins Up a U.S. Manufacturer Called Robo Inc. to Build and Deploy Robots on American Soil
The company behind more than 1,500 robot sales in North America is opening a Long Island factory and promising to assemble, integrate and service robots locally, partly to get ahead of trade restrictions on Chinese hardware.
Key points
- RoboStore, based in Plainview, New York, publicly launched Robo Inc. On Tuesday after a year of quiet development.
- Robo Inc. Plans to open a 66,000-square-foot production facility on Long Island, fully operational by the first quarter of 2027.
- RoboStore has sold more than 1,500 robots and served 4,500 customers across North America, including Harvard, MIT and Amazon.
- Its primary supplier, Unitree Robotics, filed for a Shanghai stock listing last week at a valuation above $900 million.
- Robo Inc. Will be hardware-agnostic, picking robot parts from any supplier rather than locking customers into one brand.
RoboStore, the biggest U.S. Distributor of humanoid and four-legged robots from China, has launched a separate American manufacturing company called Robo Inc. The goal: assemble robots in the United States, keep data and software on domestic networks, and support customers without shipping hardware back overseas for repairs.
What problem is Robo Inc. Actually solving?
Most businesses that want robots today face the same wall. Hardware ships from abroad, the software may run on foreign servers, and getting a robot into an existing warehouse or hospital takes months of custom engineering. Robo Inc. Says it'll handle that engineering in-house, on Long Island.
Founder and CEO Teddy Haggerty put it plainly: customers want robots that solve a specific job now, not a far-off promise of a machine that does everything. Robo Inc. Won't build a do-it-all humanoid. It'll pick whichever components best fit each customer's task, a model the industry calls hardware-agnostic.
Cybersecurity is a deliberate part of the design. Before deploying any robot, Robo Inc. Says it will review data flows, network access, software controls and application-specific risks. That matters because some U.S. Lawmakers have raised concerns about Chinese-made robots collecting sensitive data inside American facilities.
Why is a Chinese robot distributor building an American factory?
Trade pressure is the short answer. RoboStore's main supplier, Unitree Robotics of Hangzhou, filed for a Shanghai IPO last week targeting a valuation above $900 million. Tariffs and potential restrictions on Chinese technology are making U.S. Buyers nervous about long-term supply.
By manufacturing locally, Robo Inc. Can keep selling and supporting robots even if import rules tighten. The Robot Report drew the parallel to Western companies that set up local subsidiaries in China decades ago to stay inside that market. Robo Inc. Looks like the mirror image of that move. It's a pattern worth watching: our 10 August report on Hadrian's $1.37 billion factory push showed a different flavour of the same bet, domestic production as a hedge against supply-chain risk.
What does this mean for businesses considering robots?
For a warehouse manager or hospital administrator curious about automation, Robo Inc. Is positioning itself as a one-stop shop: pick the robot, get it built and customised nearby, call a local team when something breaks.
The Long Island facility won't be running until early 2027, so buyers who need robots this year are still looking at existing imported inventory. RoboStore will keep selling and servicing its current stock in the meantime, and its Roboverse developer community, now above 4,000 members, will continue under the Robo Inc. Name.
Common questions
Will Robo Inc. Robots be more expensive than imported ones?
Robo Inc. Hasn't published pricing. U.S. Assembly typically adds cost, but the company argues that local servicing and integration work reduces the hidden expense of downtime and custom setup fees.
Are Chinese-made robots a cybersecurity risk?
No U.S. Regulator has banned them, but concerns exist. Robo Inc. Says it will audit data flows and network access on every deployment, which is worth asking any robotics vendor about regardless of where the hardware originated.
When will the Long Island factory open?
Robo Inc. Expects the 66,000-square-foot production facility to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2027.
