Photo Credit: PARMY OLSON VIA FORBES
A 26-year-old British-Nigerian entrepreneur named Silas Adekunle is part of Forbes most recent “30 Under 30” for European technology and is the highest paid robotics engineer in the WORLD, thanks to a new deal with Apple. Adekunle is on course to do huge numbers with his Mekamon robots thanks to an exclusive distribution deal he signed last November after spending some time in Cupertino and meeting Apple’s retail executives.
The Mekamon looks pretty cutting edge. Adekunle describes it as something like a cross between a crab and a spider, but unlike either of those it has no features resembling a pair of eyes or mouth. “When I went into robotics I really loved motion,” he says, “people are used to clunky robots, and when you make it appear to be realistic, people either love it or they’re freaked out.” Apple has priced his four-legged “battle-bots” at $300 and has put them in nearly all of its retail store locations in the United States and Britain. Check out what they can do:
Robots are already apart of every day life for some retailers and other industries, but they’re now slowly making their way into our homes. Adekunle says he hopes his “anthropomorphised robot-spiders” will be as popular as iRobot’s Roomba vacuum cleaner and Amazon’s Alexa. That’s not too far fetched of an idea thanks to people becoming increasingly more comfortable with artificial entities.
Adekunle is hoping to raise some more funds (he’s already managed to raise $10 million for the company) and strike some licensing deals with entertainment companies in Asia. Eventually, Mekamon robots might start to come out with branded versions, picture a pokemon character. “The partnership with Apple has been fruitful,” Adekunle says of his deal so far, and mentions he’s looking to continue the relationship, “We have many more products to bring to market, it’s a watch this space situation.” So far he’s sold about about 500 bots that have generated about $7.5 million! Look at what people are saying about him on Twitter below:
Is #SilasAdekunle single ? Asking for myself 😂😂😂😂
— mezcalmami🍾🖤 (@Eyeknow83) September 21, 2018
BOOM ✊🏾 #blackexcellence #blackboyjoy #wealwayswin #blackmenrock #silasadekunle #🇳🇬 #africangenius silas_adekunle https://t.co/MaFuqthHEw
— Ralph Harmon (@iGQRalph) September 21, 2018
Here comes all the gold digger after #silasadekunle sign a major deal with apple they’re running out in packs like pic.twitter.com/ifgvZTEMkQ
— tattooed_melanin (@piinkliipzzz) September 20, 2018
On to better news… so is Silas Adekunle looking for a wife? Asking for myself
— Sweet Enjil🍭 (@Adaeze_Nwaeze) September 21, 2018
Shoutouts to Silas fucking Adekunle
— daQuota Stanning (@theLUXURY_tax) September 21, 2018
