Swedish robotics startup recruits Tobii heavyweight

Earlier this year Swedish Furhat Robotics declared it will be ramping up production – aiming to build up towards 100 robots every month. Now the company has hired Tobii veteran Roger Nimbratt as Head of Supply Chain to help make that goal a reality.

Roger Nimbratt was one of the first employees at Tobii, which today has more than 1,000 employees and offices on three continents. During his 14 years at the state-of-the-art eye-tracking company, Roger was instrumental in building and managing the supply chain from scratch.

“When I started at Tobii we were shipping around 1 device per month. Now Tobii has a world-class global network of both customers and suppliers around the world – a complex supply chain with both high and low volumes.”

Joining Furhat, Roger comes with an incredibly unique experience in turning a high-tech research product into a world-leading product, something that is great for the journey with Furhat.

“I’ve been through the journey of taking a cutting-edge and very early-stage product from low volumes to mass production, while maintaining the quality and innovative spark. And that is what I will do at Furhat. I will ensure the whole supply chain runs smoothly, get processes into place, and make sure the product meets the increasing market demand. Furhat has managed to put social robots on the global map, and have developed a product that’s ahead of the industry, I’m joining the company at an exciting time.”

Roger Nimbratt first encountered a Furhat robot six months ago, and says it instantly made a strong impression.

“When the robot turned to look at me, I realized I felt shy,” Roger recalls. “And that was stunning. Of course I knew it was a robot, and yet it still gave me such a strong reaction. And I just thought: ‘Wow.’ What a company, what a product. I wanted to be part of this journey.”

Furhat Robotics CEO Samer Al Moubayed says that Roger Nimbratt’s experience with eye-tracking hardware makes him a perfect fit for a new challenge in robotics. In addition to his role as Head of Supply Chain, he will also join Furhat Robotics’ management team.

“Roger is an extremely strategic addition to our team,” says Samer Al Moubayed.

“With his unique experience scaling a hardware organization with sophisticated and state-of-the-art products, he will help us build a world-class production line and support processes. This will guarantee that as we scale, the quality of Furhat’s hardware and our ability to deliver a great customer experience are maintained and enhanced. Roger also comes with very senior leadership and management experience, to help us build a competitive and world-leading team.”