‘We’re ready to grow’: Las Vegas robotics company makes public trading debut
Las Vegas based hospitality and restaurant robotics manufacturer Richtech Robotics made its public stock market debut Friday and hopes the accomplishment can help propel it to became an industry leader.
Richtech Robotics listed its initial public offering of about 2.1 million shares of stock for $5 to start under the stock ticker symbol RR on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Around 2 p.m. Friday, the stock was trading for $5.25.
Being able to offer stock on a public market is seen as a big step forward for Richtech Robotics, which was founded in 2016 and makes robots that focus on providing services for the restaurant, hospitality and service industries, according to the company’s president, Matt Casella.
“By tapping into the capital markets, it really is a signpost for a company of our size to say that we’re here and we’re ready to grow,” Casella said.
The public disclosure requirements of Richtech Robotics operations that goes along with an IPO can be a way to show the company is a leader in the emerging market of providing automation in restaurants, hotels and even senior care facilities, according to Casella.
Richtech Robotics has robots in over 80 cities in the U.S. and wants to have over 1,000 locations with its robot nationwide in the next five years. There are also plans to add more robots to Richtech Robotics offerings. but Casella wouldn’t disclose what other functions new robots would take on.
“I’ll just say that we’re going to continue to invest in R&D and continue to invest in our inventory pipeline,” Casella said.
It’s estimated the sale of stock will net Richtech Robotics about $10.5 million, according to a news release from the company. It’s expected that Richtech will use the capital earned from this IPO to invest in marketing, inventory, research and development as well as improving its working capital level.
Richtech Robotics also is pursuing three different business models to grow itself. One is selling its robots directly to businesses, another is to create partnerships with other businesses over their use of Richtech’s robots and another is creating a boba tea franchise called Cloutea that features Richtech’s barista and bar tending robot Adam as its lead employee.
Utilizing a franchise model and partnering with other established businesses to feature Richtech’s robots is a way to boost sales and reputation in order to be a leader in the field of automation for the hospitality and service industry.
“It really is kind of penetrating and then growing, and then continuing to build this network,” Casella said.
Moving forward Richtech Robotics will continue to make Las Vegas its headquarters due to the city’s connections to the hospitality and service industry, Casella said.
“It’s kind of like the premier test round for what we’re trying to talk about,” he said. “I mean, the opportunities within Vegas are limitless.”
Casella said that the company could make more stock in the company available through the public markets in the future when the time is right.
Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com or follow @seanhemmers34 on X.
