When Oakland startup MegaBots needed cash to give its 15-foot-tall, 12,000-pound combat robot more firepower, the company put out a call for help online.
The founders set up a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.com last summer, explaining that their giant robot needed modifications to prepare for a duel with another robot built by a team in Japan. A month later, MegaBots had raised more than $550,000 from almost 8,000 supporters.
Image: MegaBots Chief Executive Officer Gui Cavalcanti, left, and Chief Operating Officer Matt Oehrlein pose with a giant robot at American Steel Studios in West Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. The Oakland startup, previously located in Somerville, Massachusetts, launched a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, raising more than $550,000. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
