FoldiMate
Company typePrivately owned
IndustryHome automation
Founded2012
FoundersGal Rozov
HeadquartersSilicon Valley, California, US
ProductsLaundry folding robot
Websitehttps://foldimate.com

FoldiMate was a California-based company developing a robotic laundry-folding machine founded in 2012. Their clothes folding machine was aimed to enter the market by the end of 2019. In 2021, the company folded.[citation needed]

History

Foldimate was founded by Gal Rozov, an Israeli software engineer who decided that folding laundry was a tedious chore that could be done effectively by a robot.[1] In 2010, Rozov quit his job as a software developer and product manager and spent two years developing his laundry-folding device. In 2012, he moved to the United States to work with a robotic team in Silicon Valley. By 2013, he had a patented technology. In 2016, after an initial round of investment, he produced the first prototype.[2] The prototype presented at CES 2017 generated much interest.[3]

The company exhibited an updated prototype of Foldimate at CES 2018.[4]

In January 2018, BSH Hausgeräte expressed an interest in partnering with Foldimate.[5]

On August 30, 2021, the company sent an email to customers who submitted the $85 deposit informing them that the company has gone bankrupt and is requiring customers to submit a form to get the $85 deposit back.[citation needed] The email was titled "Cessation of Business - Deposit claim NOTICE" and began with the line "I hereby inform you that FoldiMate, inc. (“FOLDIMATE”) ceased its business operations". Customers were required to submit the form by February 1, 2022, with disbursements beginning after February 1, 2022. The customer was asked to supply the deposit amount and date. Payments were offered via PayPal or credit card.

Overview

FoldiMate prototype

The FoldiMate is slightly larger than a standard washing machine. According to the developers, it can fold a full wash in less than 4 minutes.[6]

The user clips the piece of clothing on two hooks and the item is pulled into the machine. Then a series of rollers and arms moves in all directions to straighten and fold it.[7] The machine can fold shirts, tops, trousers and dresses, but not small pieces of clothing like underwear or large items like sheets.[8][9] The folded items are returned in a stack through a window at the bottom of the machine.[10]

Previous versions included anti-wrinkling technology and fragrance features, but the product was redesigned and simplified with the aim of readying it for the market by the end of 2019.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Robot That Can Fold Your Laundry In Less Than Three Minutes - Google Search". www.google.co.il. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  2. ^ "The robot that can fold your laundry in less than three minutes". Archived from the original on 2018-09-29. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  3. ^ It's 2018 and robots still won't do our laundry Archived 2019-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Popular Science
  4. ^ "The 9 weirdest gadgets" Archived 2019-02-03 at the Wayback Machine, Time.com
  5. ^ Shieber, Jonathan (January 2, 2018). "It's the New Year and you're getting laundry-folding robots, because the 1960s thought of everything". Archived from the original on July 15, 2019. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  6. ^ Laundry folding machine neatly stacks full wash in 4 minutes Archived 2018-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, Business Insider
  7. ^ The $800 laundry-folding robot for those who don't have a housekeeper Archived 2019-02-28 at the Wayback Machine, ExtremeTech
  8. ^ Garun, Natt (2 June 2016). "There are many reasons not to buy this laundry folding machine, but you only need one". The Next Web. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  9. ^ Titcomb, James (11 October 2017). "This £600 laundry robot will fold your clothes in seconds". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b Clemens, Danny (January 12, 2018). "Sick of folding laundry? This machine will do it for you". ABC13 Houston. Retrieved 2023-03-25.
  11. ^ "Helpful for Homes". Archived from the original on 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
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