Engadget
Can an open-source AI take on Amazon and Google?
The current public awareness of privacy as an issue is really a symptom of a lack of control. Because people are not really in control of their data, they can't have privacy. AI is the ‘operating system’ of the future – do you want that AI to work for you, or for someone else?
By taking control of your data, you open the way for truly personal AI technology.
Mycroft has a long-term roadmap to reverse the trend of ever more intrusive third-party ownership and control over people's digital lives. We start with privacy-respecting products. Then we expand our support systems to enable rapid third-party device and service integration. Next, we focus on the infrastructure that enables people to make the best use of their personal data and truly escape surveillance capitalism. This path from devices, to services, to infrastructure, offers an exponential growth curve for decades to come.
In the three years since our last crowdfunding campaign, Mycroft has designed, tested, and entered production with its 2nd generation smart speaker. Developer Kits for these speakers began shipping in early 2021 and the company is working to start mass production.
*This image illustrates a Pre-production Mark II, the Mark II is not yet in production.
The company has re-architected its back-end systems with an eye to scaling beyond its 60,000 early adopter customer base. The revised back-end system, branded Selene, is both scalable and robust, and creates multiple avenues for commercial partnerships.
Mycroft has also expanded its team by attracting highly experienced and successful serial entrepreneur Michael Lewis to join as CEO. Prior to joining Mycroft, Michael founded Stellar Semiconductor (sold to Broadcom for $140M) and Cryptic Studios (sold to Atari for $50M). He joined the team in 2020 to help grow Mycroft from a small early-stage startup to a profitable global brand.
*Prior past performance by Mycroft AI Executives is not indicative of future performance. This information is used to share the executives expertise. Investing in start-ups in highly speculative, please review all offering terms and risk factors in our offering.
In addition to providing more than $1M in funding through his foundation, Michael has brought his experience in hardware and software to the company. This has dramatically increased the reliability and quality of the company’s products and positioned it for growth.
Mycroft has also engaged with several enterprise and government customers over the past three years in industries ranging from healthcare to aerospace where its voice technology is being evaluated for use in hospitals, eldercare facilities, and NASA mission planning.
THE PROBLEM
Big Tech has built empires by spying on customers. And they are no longer just spying online. Without much thought about privacy, customers have installed thermostats with hidden microphones, televisions that watch viewers, and always-listening smart speakers.
These always-listening devices are not under the control of customers. They are being controlled by tech companies eager to invade every corner of their customers’ lives. The Public, however, is growing wise to Big Tech’s game and are hoping for technologies that give them the same features, but without the surveillance.
THE SOLUTION
Mycroft is a voice assistant that provides customers with all of the features they’ve come to expect from Big Tech while preserving their privacy. Our community of more than 60,000 developers and early adopters has built a full-stack voice solution that is the leading open source alternative to Alexa, Siri, and Assistant.
Mycroft’s software enables individuals to power smart speakers, robots, desktops, televisions, and IoT devices. It is also in use by businesses around the world. This includes healthcare providers, eldercare facilities, educational institutions, and companies in the hospitality industry. Mycroft has also engaged with organizations like banks, automakers, and even NASA to develop and evaluate voice applications for their products.
*This image illustrates a Pre-production Mark II, the Mark II is not yet in production.
Mycroft ships a reference smart speaker for customers, developers, and partners to extend and deploy its voice assistant. The company has more than $1M in pre-orders for its second-generation speaker and strong demand for additional speakers once mass production begins. Our solution is designed to run anywhere and once the stack is complete, the company plans to implement packages for all major IoT, mobile, and desktop ecosystems.
THE MARKET
According to Markets and Markets Research, the global voice assistant market is $25B and growing annually. It is the fastest adopted technology, ever. A sizable percentage of global consumers want the convenience and features of a smart speaker but privacy concerns have kept them from buying Big Tech speakers.
This has created a huge opportunity for Mycroft, as the acknowledged open source leader. Big Tech’s missteps make it impossible for them to address this market segment which Mycroft expertly fills, with its full-feature voice assistant that protects customer privacy.
The voice assistant market continues to grow rapidly while a sizable percentage of the public is sitting on the sidelines because of privacy concerns. This opportunity represents nearly 20% of a $25B annual market.
Mycroft has demonstrated market demand by shipping a first-generation prototype to more than 56 countries and developer kits for its second-generation product to dozens of others. The company currently has more than $1M in pre-orders on the books including large orders from channel partners looking to install Mycroft in healthcare settings.
OUR TRACTION
Mycroft has successfully completed two perks-based crowdfunding campaigns. The first shipped a prototype to backers in 2017 and the second has now more than $1M in pre-orders awaiting fulfillment. The company also has several channel partners who are working on large engagements with healthcare providers and educational institutions.
Mycroft’s online community of early adopters and developers crossed 60,000 this year and continues to grow organically on a daily basis with new customers joining the community from more than 60 countries around the world.
Mycroft has benefited from prestigious accelerator programs including Techstars, 500 Startups, and MassChallenge. The company has successfully raised more than $6M in private equity including investments from institutional investors like Social Starts, TechNexus Venture Partners, T2M Capital, Torra Capital, MTC, and Deep Space Ventures.
Mycroft has also made significant progress on its product and has developed, tested, and shipped a full-stack assistant that includes modules for wake-word spotting, natural language understanding, skills management, and speech synthesis. On the hardware side, the company has designed, manufactured, and shipped two separate architectures and is preparing to go into mass production with its second-generation smart speaker.
THE BUSINESS MODEL
Mycroft operates a consumer-facing freemium service and plans to expand this service for at least two more years. The company’s focus is on recruiting developers and early adopters to significantly expand the 60,000-strong Mycroft community.
Customers who purchase Mycroft-powered devices are required to create an account on the company’s Selene back-end which is then used to manage credentials for services like music streaming, email, social media, etc. The company offers a paid subscription to this back-end which will, when fully deployed, include premium features like custom wake-words and voices.
The company’s back-end is also offered as a service or a license to enterprise customers who want to deploy the company’s technology either internally or for customers. As Mycroft makes more devices available under its white label plan, these enterprise engagements are expected to be the primary source of revenue for the company.
ROADMAP
*Prior past performance by Mycroft AI is not indicative of future performance. This information is to show future goals based on Mycroft's previous successes, these results cannot be guaranteed. Investing in start-ups in highly speculative, please review all offering terms and risk factors in our offering.
Intellectual Property Claim. For purposes of this Agreement, “Intellectual Property Claim” means any actual or threatened claim, action or proceeding relating to Intellectual Property Waiver of Intellectual Property Claims. The Investor agrees that any and all ideas, concepts, processes, discoveries, improvements and inventions conceived, discovered, made, designed, researched or developed by the Company, its employees, directors or founders, either solely or jointly with others, are the Intellectual Property of the Company. The Investor, in consideration for the right to be an investor in the Company, hereby irrevocably waives the right to assert an Intellectual Property Claim against this property including property of the Company protectable by patent, copyright or trade secret law, developed in whole or in part by the employees, directors, or founders of the Company in connection with the performance of services to the Company as an employee, director or founder.
The Company is involved in four lawsuits with a patent assertion entity, (“PAE”), regarding alleged patent infringement by the Company. Case 1: The Company is the defendant in a patent infringement suit filed by the PAE, in Kansas City, Missouri. The Company believes the “license fees” demanded by this PAE are unjustified and the allegations are spurious. The Company has refused to pay these “license fees”, instead choosing to fight the allegations in court to protect its reputation and the entire open-source software development community. This case is currently stayed pending the outcome of two Inter Partes Reviews (“IPRs”) filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). Case 2: The Company is the plaintiff in a bad faith patent case filed against the patent abuser. Case 3: The Company is the petitioner in one of the two IPR filings that is seeking to invalidate the claims of the asserted patents. The Company believes that the asserted patents are not infringed by the Company’s products, and that the claims will thus be declared invalid by the PTAB. As of May 2021, both IPR filings have been admitted by the PTAB, supporting the Company’s belief that they are likely invalid. Case 4: A fourth case was brought in 2021 against the Company, Michael Lewis, the Company’s CEO (“Lewis”), and Joshua Montgomery, the Company’s President (“Montgomery”), by the PAE with a variety of claims. The Company, Lewis and Montgomery believe these claims have no merit and deny any and all wrongdoing. The Company considers this lawsuit to be an attempt to unlawfully restrict the Company’s ability to publicly discuss the other lawsuits.
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Company | : | Mycroft AI Inc. |
Corporate Address | : | 300 E 39th, Kansas City, MO 64111 |
Offering Minimum | : | $9,999.23 |
Offering Maximum | : | $4,999,999.20 |
Minimum Investment Amount(per investor) | : | $499.80 |
Offering Type | : | Equity |
Security Name | : | Series Seed-2 Non-Voting Preferred Stock |
Minimum Number of Shares Offered | : | 7,633 |
Maximum Number of Shares Offered | : | 3,816,793 |
Price per Share | : | $1.31 |
Pre-Money Valuation | : | $38,002,983.20 |
*Maximum Number of Shares Offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See Bonus info below.
Investment Incentives and Bonuses
Previous Backer Bonus:
For any previous backers or investors in Mycroft AI, when you invest in this live offering you will receive an additional 3% bonus shares.
Time-Based:
Friends and Family Early Birds:
Invest within the first 72 hours and receive an additional 7% bonus shares.
Super Early Bird Bonus:
Invest within the next 72 hours and receive an additional 5% bonus shares.
Early Bird Bonus:
Invest within the next 7 days and receive an additional 3% bonus shares.
Amount-Based:
Each investor who invests at the minimum investment level or above will be receiving a copy of Joshua Montgomery's first children's book: Mycroft and the Patent Trolls.
Tier 1- Open Source Enthusiast - $500+
Receive a printed copy of Mycroft and the Patent Trolls
Tier 2 - Privacy Ally - $1000+
Receive a printed copy of Mycroft and the Patent Trolls, plus Privacy devices
Tier 3 - Investment Leader - $5000+
Receive a printed copy of Mycroft and the Patent Trolls, plus Privacy devices and a Travel Bag
Tier 4 - Development Supporter - 7000+
Receive a printed copy of Mycroft and the Patent Trolls plus a Challenge Coin
Tier 5 - Inside Partner - $10,000+
Receive a printed copy of Mycroft and the Patent Trolls, Privacy devices, Travel Bag, Challenge Coin, Notebook, plus a call with Joshua and Michael
Tier 6 - Team Member - $25,000+
Receive a printed copy of Mycroft and the Patent Trolls, Privacy devices, Travel Bag, Challenge Coin, Notebook, plus a dinner with Joshua and Michael in LA
*All perks occur when the offering is completed.
* Note these perks do stack with the other live offering perks. All perks occur when the offering is completed.
* All perks occur when the offering is completed which will be the highest bonus rate they are eligible for.
Description of Perks
Mycroft and the Patent Trolls: A harrowing tale of knights and heroes fighting for truth and justice. Mycroft and the Patent Trolls addresses a complex topic in an accessible and fanciful way.
Challenge Coin: Military challenge coins date back to World War I when a young airman was saved from execution as a saboteur when he was able to produce a bronze coin with his unit’s insignia. Our challenge coins are unique and tell a story about who we are, where we came from and where we are going.
Privacy Devices: Protect yourself and your computer with these video and audio security devices. Cover your webcam and audio port for absolute privacy.
Moleskin notebook: Take notes in style while showing your support privacy and open source.
Travel bag: Keep all of your electronic cables and small peripherals neatly contained while showing your Mycroft support.
30 Minute call with Michael Lewis, CEO and Joshua Montgomery, Founder
Dinner in LA with Michael Lewis, CEO and Joshua Montgomery, Founder.
A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. In making an investment decision, investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. Furthermore, these authorities have not passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this document. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not pass upon the merits of any securities offered or the terms of the offering, nor does it pass upon the accuracy or completeness of any offering document or literature. These securities are offered under an exemption from registration; however, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not made an independent determination that these securities are exempt from registration.
FINAL DAY TO INVEST ON START ENGINE
If Mycroft sales don't make you want to invest, nothing will
Last week, we opened the Mycroft Store to pre-order for the Mark II private voice assistant. With over $1M in reservations, we are not surprised to announce that orders came streaming in and we are approaching $100,000 in units sold after one week.
Mycroft blasted through $500,000 in new investments on Start Engine yesterday. We know the world needs a private voice assistant. Voice Technology is the future and the market is ripe for an alternative to the Big Tech offerings currently out there.
Today is the FINAL day to invest in Mycroft at a pre-production valuation
Mycroft is changing the trajectory of the ever-diminishing right to privacy, right to repair, and user agency. This is a rare opportunity where an interested investor has the ability to peak at the projections of a company’s success. If you were able to see Amazon future revenue before their IPO, would you have invested in them early on? Who wouldn’t?
Thank you for sticking with us throughout our crowdfunding campaign on Start Engine. We appreciate your continued support.
CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS
Tomorrow is the last day to invest in Mycroft at a pre-production valuation
We’ve hit various milestones over the last 6 months of this campaign and we’re more excited than ever about the future of Mycroft.
"Neon chooses Mycroft above other options because they are the major voice technology player in the open source community. Open Source is important to us because it provides for community, transparency and ubiquity. When we share code we all gain. We know that Mycroft shares these values and we look forward to a long business relationship with Mycroft and their well-established developer community."
-Richard Leeds, CEO, Neon AI
There’s so much more on the horizon and we just want to get to work. Next up: getting a privacy-focused, open source, customizable voice assistant out to the masses. If you'd like to receive our weekly newsletters which contain hardware, software, and business development updates, sign up at https://mycroft.ai/newsletters/
If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll join our community by investing in THE private voice assistant.
Have you seen the videos of hackers accessing baby monitors? We don’t want to lose your attention, but you should look it up. It’s weird. All right, here’s one.
In a demo presented by Mycroft developer, Mike Hansen, he shows how the Mark II can be used as a secure baby monitor using a minion - a very thoughtful symbol for a child we thought.
Invest in your peace of mind. We don’t mean to rush you but you have 2 days so… hurry up.
You can now pre-order the Mark II/baby monitor at the Mycroft store.
You can now make your Mycroft more secure by setting it up to work offline. In our senior developer’s recent video, Mike Hansen demonstrates Mycroft’s functionality with the Home Assistant software.
In the video, Mike’s speech to text (his speaking to Mycroft) is being translated offline. This means that what the user is doing and how they’re acting in their home is not being made available over the internet. All interactions are happening on-device and staying within the home.
This makes Mycroft more secure and the interaction with your digital assistant more private.
Think about the plethora of cameras and microphones that we’ve invited into our homes which can be accessed by any hacker, government, or peeping tom who chooses to snoop. Mycroft just wants to be voice assistance - THAT’S ALL.
No marketing, no tracking, no weirdos.
There’s only 3 days left to invest in the leading privacy-focused voice assistant…
Mycroft is more than a company, we are a collection of dedicated employees. Those employees bring their expertise for not only a private and open-source voice assistant, but also their personal passions. Here is a collection of our series, “Who are you and what are you doing here?” In each video, Mycroft employees explain what drives them to make Mycroft a success.
Kris Gesling, Director of Developer Relations, explains how Mycroft addresses indigenous populations and invites them to the global party.
Mike Hansen, Senior Software Developer, talks about how Mycroft offers users the chance to maintain their privacy rather than handing it off to trackers and marketers - which is then used to sell them more.
Leanna Pohevitz, Mycroft Paralegal, explains how customization and the ability to use voice technology in the user’s native language is more than an operational issue, it’s a social justice issue.
Companies who do good, do well. We’re trying to do our part.
If you'd like to receive our weekly newsletters which contain hardware, software, and business development updates, sign up at https://mycroft.ai/newsletters/
We are proud and excited to announce that as of today, we have a date for the beginning of Mark II mass-production.
Here is a letter from our CEO, Michael Lewis:
I promised I wouldn’t announce the Mark II for sale until I was sure about the ship date. Well, now I’m sure. Eight months from the time we place the orders for parts, the first mass-production Mark II will roll off the line. The sale of 1000 units will be enough to finance the set up costs (NREs), and when we’ve hit that milestone we’ll start the clock ticking. If we can sell 1000 by the end of the year, I’m confident that our ship date will be Sept 19th 2022.
When I joined Mycroft in 2020, the circumstances weren’t great. There was the patent thing. There was the pandemic thing. There was a Mark II prototype that cost $2000 each to make. The software needed a little work too. In retrospect…
But I was sold on the idea, the team and the need. Just look at this Mycroft vs. Amazon video to see just one example of what drives me crazy about modern technology. Amazon is relentless with their constant attempts to get your attention and “feed you content”. Mycroft just does what you ask it to. That’s the kind of device I want in my house.
Now the Mark II really exists. I have two on my desk and one in my kitchen. And, finally, we have a solid plan to make more. Lots more.
Personally, I’m very excited to have the date finally pinned down and I can’t wait for you to get yours. Thank you once again for your support.
Sincerely,
Michael Lewis
CEO, Mycroft AI inc.
p 408-834-9398
michael.lewis@mycroft.ai
EVT = Engineering Validation Testing
DVT = Design Validation Testing
PVT = Production Validation Testing
DFM = Design for Manufacturing
UL = Underwriters Laboratories
FCC = Federal Communications Commission
CE = Certified for European Economic Area
RoHS - Restriction of Hazardous Substance Directive
EE = Electrical Engineering
ME = Mechanical Engineering
Pre-order your Mark II now. Shipping starts 19th Sept 2022*.
If you want not just the speaker in your hands but also to be part of this growing tech startup as it brings privacy, data sovereignty, and access to many communities: invest at Start Engine.
* See order page for details.
Mycroft senior developer, Mike Hansen, has put together a demo video showing the Mark II in action. Using Home Assistant - a big open source project (yay open source!) - the Mark II can be seen turning the lights on and off, securing the house with a "good night" setting, and even answering the front door to a friendly, familiar, (albeit slightly neurotic) Fozzie Bear.
Check out the Mark II's capabilities and invest in THE private voice assistant at its pre-production valuation.
It's coming...help us shape the future of AI.
If you'd like to receive our weekly newsletters which contain hardware, software, and business development updates, sign up at https://mycroft.ai/newsletters/
Mycroft paralegal, Leanna Pohevitz, has an extensive background in linguistics and went to school to focus on civil rights law. How does Leanna’s personal pursuits align with Mycroft values? She can probably tell you better than we could, but a short synopsis: Mycroft wants to provide a voice technology to everyone. This means allowing users the freedom to speak to their voice assistant in their native language, which can have a startling ripple effect on culture and community. Leanna views providing an all inclusive voice assistant as a social justice issue. That is why she is on our team.
Leanna has written about the importance of native language voice detection in a previous blog entitled Cultural Genocide if you’d like to learn more about what drives Leanna and Mycroft to be the best we can be.
Native language detection matters. Join the nerds.
If you'd like to receive our weekly newsletters which contain hardware, software, and business development updates, sign up at https://mycroft.ai/newsletters/
The Mycroft Michaels sat down to have a discussion about what makes our newest development hire, Mike Hansen, tick. In our series, “Who are you and what are you doing here?”, CEO of Mycroft, Michael Lewis, asks employees what their passions are and how Mycroft facilitates accomplishing those values. Mycroft is first and foremost the open source, private voice assistant. But the company has come to be a harbinger for social change.
Mike Hansen sees that change through Mycroft’s efforts in making an open source, privacy-focused technology. Coupled with his experience in the Rasspy Project, Mike wants to provide the Mycroft community with a robust hardware that delivers THE much-needed private voice assistant.
Privacy is priceless. Join the nerds.
If you'd like to receive our weekly newsletters which contain hardware, software, and business development updates, sign up at https://mycroft.ai/newsletters/
Unified Patents reported: “On December 13, 2021, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a final written decision in Unified Patents, LLC v. Voice Tech Corporation holding all claims of U.S. Patent 10,491,679 invalid.”
This is the first major victory in the patent troll saga, and we are grateful for the public support of our community and the attention they brought to our cause. Unified Patents was one of those who took notice of Mycroft’s make-no-mistakes response to the irrelevant and poor-quality patents asserted against us last year. Unified independently chose to file a petition to invalidate one of Voice Tech's patents and we could not be more pleased with the result.
Mycroft ideologically opposes the use of patents for what we believe to be extortion by non-practicing entities that invent nothing, produce nothing and serve only to slow innovation. A decision on the second patent is due in May 2022 and we expect to be fully vindicated.
We are incredibly gratified to not be alone in protecting the open source ecosystem from patent abuse. However, we are compelled to restate this message from our April 2020 blog post:
“Our patent abuser … [is] trying to cast themselves as the victim when in fact they are the aggressor. […] It is never okay to threaten someone with bodily harm or harass them. Don’t. Just don’t.”
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