Intuition Robotics: An AI Companion for Older Adults

Intuition Robotics, a startup that makes an AI companion robot to alleviate older adults’ loneliness, debates whether to pursue a B2C model or B2G route. If it opts for the government vertical, it must determine how to negotiate a favorable deal. Two weeks after launching ElliQ, Intuition Robotics leadership had to make a critical decision. Since its founding, the team believed that the most efficient path to widespread adoption of ElliQ was the business-to-consumer model, targeting older adults and their family members. However, soon after entering the U.S. consumer market, Intuition Robotics received significant interest from the New York State Office of the Aging. Company management considered whether a pivot to a limited business-to-government contract, fraught with complexities, would open the door for future contracts with government entities. As a start-up in the burgeoning AI health-tech space, the company lacked the staff or resources to maintain the B2C strategy it had planned for years and simultaneously pursue a B2G option, and it had to decide which vertical to pursue en route to achieving its long-term goal of integration into U.S. health plans.