BOW

BOW, which stands for “Bettering our Worlds,” is a universal robotics software company founded in 2020 by Daniel Camilleri and Richard Waterstone. The company originated as a spin-out from the University of Sheffield in the UK. The founding team, which now includes CEO Nick Thompson, recognized that the robotics industry faced significant barriers, such as the complexity and high cost of programming robots and the lack of portability for applications across different robot models.

The company's core product is the BOW Software Development Kit (SDK), a platform that allows any software developer, not just specialized roboticists, to create, manage, and deploy complex robotics applications. The SDK is designed to be robot-agnostic, meaning applications built with it can run on various robots from different manufacturers without being rewritten. This is achieved by providing a universal API that abstracts the underlying hardware complexities. The platform supports common programming languages like Python, C#, and C++ and works across operating systems such as Windows, Linux, and macOS. Key features of the product suite include a simulation environment for testing code without physical hardware, the BOW Hub for managing licenses and communications, and BOW Insight for real-time 3D visualization and control. The technology also features low-latency communication based on a custom WebRTC implementation, enabling remote control of robots from anywhere in the world.

BOW targets its solutions at a broad market, including Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), systems integrators, software development houses, academic institutions, and businesses in sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, security, and entertainment. The company's business model is based on software licensing and subscriptions. In January 2025, BOW announced it had closed a €4.7 million (£4 million) Seed funding round led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from Finance Yorkshire and Praetura Ventures, to accelerate platform development and scale its team. The company has also formed strategic partnerships with firms like Advantech to streamline robotics integration.

Keywords: robotics software, software development kit, universal robotics platform, robot-agnostic, cross-platform robotics, robot programming, simulation environment, remote robot control, fleet management, automation software, Daniel Camilleri, Nick Thompson, University of Sheffield, hardware abstraction, low-latency communication, WebRTC, computer vision, AI integration, autonomous systems, robotics integration