Co-founder Terry Olkin talks about Left Hand Robotics sale to Toro

Recently, Longmont-based Left Hand Robotics experienced one of the biggest transitions a company can have. The beloved regional business, which focuses on creating autonomous turf mowing and snow clearing machines, was acquired by the Toro Company of Bloomington, Minn. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

"It's important to us that we now have the ability to get all the technology, all the work that we've done, to a much, much wider audience in a much shorter time than we were able to do on our own," said Terry Olkin, Left Hand Robotics Co-Founder and CEO.

He continued, "It's not that we didn't have any customers before, but when you're acquiring customers as a small startup versus as a global corporation, it's a whole different ball game."

Going forward, Olkin said that The Toro Company will continue to employ all 19 Left Hand Robotics staff. "This is a new kind of home for our existing workforce. It will let them be able to grow, to work in a bigger company. Some of our employees are young and have never worked in a bigger company before."

The group will continue to operate from the Longmont offices, similar to how The Toro Company operates other robotics groups in Minnesota and Portugal. Olkin said Toro wants to see that office thrive and grow and talked about eventual hiring. Going forward, Olkin will serve as the VP of Emerging Technologies while his co-founder, Mike Ott, will serve as chief engineer.

Since the sale, the new situation has shown promise.

Olkin said on the day of the sale, the Toro Company became a corporate sponsor of the Longmont-based "Up a Creek" competitive robotics team. The stand-alone nonprofit supports more than 200 high school-aged participants and survives based on donations. Olkin said Toro is also prepared to continue the intern program that Left Hand Robotics had previously put in place.

"This is a 110-year-old company. Part of their culture is to be part of the communities they're in," Olkin said.

Olkin also talked about the motivation behind the sale, much of which had to do with Covid-19-related challenges. In 2020, opportunities for live demonstrations that were a key part of sales dried up. Making matters worse, active investors became hard to find.

"We built our team up over the years, we had customers and we had revenue. We were on a fairly good growth pattern until the pandemic hit," Olkin said. "Then we were faced with the kinds of problems that many other companies faced, to keep the company going. We had to consider tough decisions, including letting people go."

He continued, "At a certain point, we weren't sure when or how this pandemic was going to end. We wondered if all of our technology, and the product, and all of the work we'd put in, would be better served by finding a home in a larger home. We had a number of interested parties in the company and eventually decided the best home for us would be with The Toro Company."

Given the challenges Left Hand Robotics faced, the results turned out well. "The idea that we're going to integrate our technology into Toro's products is big. As engineers, we like to not just build things, we like to see them in use. We like to see that people get the benefit of the work that we've done. Otherwise, it's just a science project."

Overall, he seemed proud of the process and glad it left them in a good place. "All things considered, we did well in a tough environment. I'm proud of our team here, that we were able to continue the vision."

Olkin summed up the sale by saying, "It's a really good match. It's hard to imagine any kind of better outcome."