First Fully Customized Robotics-as-a-Service Offering Lets Manufacturers ‘Hire’ Popular Robots at Low Hourly Rate

By handling every aspect of financing and deployment, Formic empowers manufacturers to save money from day one and boost production

CHICAGO, IL—August 31, 2021—Robotics-as-a-service company Formic Technologies launched today with a simple value proposition: hire fully customized robots from top vendors at a low hourly rate and no upfront cost. To help small and medium-size manufacturers benefit from automation, Formic handles every aspect of a financing and deployment—from scoping, engineering, purchasing, implementation, and maintenance. The company also guarantees uptime, with customers paying nothing for system downtime.


Traditionally, manufacturers buy robots, which is a lengthy, complex, inflexible, and expensive process. These barriers to entry are so high for smaller manufacturers that they often refrain from deploying automation altogether.

"We started Formic because we saw all that automation can do, and we wanted to provide a way for any manufacturer to easily adopt automation in a simple, risk-free, and on-demand way," said Saman Farid, CEO and co-founder. "With Formic's fundamentally different approach to financing and deployment, manufacturers can do more with automation without high costs or a lengthy and complicated purchasing and deployment process."

Formic's model was designed to systematically remove every barrier to entry, allowing manufacturers to deploy automation efficiently and cost effectively. Testing shows that Formic's deployments are 50% faster than traditional approaches and save customers 42% on their operating expenses from the first day.

According to Farid, an engineer and robotics start-up investor who founded Formic with former Universal Robots salesperson Misa Ikhechi, a unique combination of products and services make Formic's model possible:

• Systematized deployment processes
• In-house equipment financing
• Formic-designed solutions featuring products from leading robotic vendors such as Universal Robots, Fanuc and ABB

"We came to the conclusion that what manufacturers needed was not any specific new technology, but a better way to access the technology that would best meet their needs," Farid said. "Formic offers that access at a fraction of the cost or energy, as Formic takes on the heavy lifting."

About Formic
Founded in September of 2020, Formic is a one-stop-shop for automation. The Chicago-based "Robotics-as-a-Service" company delivers customized robots at a low hourly rate with no money upfront and guaranteed uptime. Its full service includes everything from planning, deployment, to maintenance, all in an easy, no-risk fashion. For more information, visit http://www.formic.co

Featured Product

FAULHABER Drive Systems at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston from April 30 to May 1 in Hall C at Booth 534

FAULHABER Drive Systems at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston from April 30 to May 1 in Hall C at Booth 534

Faulhaber will be presenting their drive systems for robotics and smart technology. Robots are versatile and can be found in many areas, for example, transporting goods, operating on patients or supporting the agriculture industry. With the help of robots, processes can be automated, the flow of materials optimized and employees relieved. Equipped with FAULHABER drive systems, these robots can take on tasks where the demands on function and applications are high.