Buddy the Social Robot is Somehow Not Dead Yet

Nearly four years ago (September of 2015), over a thousand Indiegogo backers pledged a total of $657,000 for Buddy, “the first social robot that connects, protects, and interacts with each member of your family.” This was only about a year after Jibo raised more than $3 million—a time when social robots (especially crowdfunded social robots) seemed like the they would absolutely, positively, definitely be the next big thing.

Buddy was supposed to ship one year later, in September of 2016. It didn’t. And despite making appearances at shows and events over the next several years, the last actual public status update on Indiegogo is from 25 July, 2016. That statement didn’t say much. 

But this past weekend, out of the blue, Rodolphe Hasselvander, the creator of Buddy and CEO of Blue Frog Robotics, sent a message to backers that opened with the picture at the top of this article (which is theirs, not something that we put together). They are very sorry, and if you forgive them and contribute just a little more money, they have a plan.