VGo Communications
VGo Communications develops wheeled robotic telepresence devices that enable remote presence via two-way audio/video and remote mobility control. The company sells hardware plus annual service contracts to healthcare providers, educational institutions serving homebound students, and enterprise customers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersNashua, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What VGo Communications does
VGo Communications, Inc. is a privately held US company that developed and commercialized a robotic telepresence platform branded as VGo. The company's flagship product is a wheeled telepresence robot integrating a camera, microphones, video display, and motor-driven mobility, controlled remotely via PC, Mac, or iPad applications over Wi-Fi or LTE. The hardware runs approximately 12 hours on battery, supports HIPAA-compliant encrypted communications, and is priced starting around $6,000 per unit with a required annual service contract near $1,200. The software required on the operator's computer is licensed as part of the overall solution.
VGo sells to three primary vertical segments: healthcare providers (telestroke, teleurology, pediatrics, remote family visits, and patient monitoring across customers including Mayo Clinic, Rady Children's, Boston Children's, Children's Specialized Hospital, Weisman Children's, Palomar Health, and others); education (enabling homebound and hospital-bound K-12 and college students to attend class remotely, with deployments such as Posnack Jewish Day School and Dartmouth College Athletics); and enterprise / manufacturing (remote engineers and executives, including deployments at Audi and NASA Langley). A secondary persona is people with disabilities using VGo for workplace participation. International footprint is limited, with documented deployments in Canada (Montreal Children's Hospital) and the UAE (Amana Healthcare via partner AP Medical Innovations), and a notable humanitarian deployment in an Ebola Treatment Unit in Liberia with Vecna Cares.
The go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales supplemented by white papers, trade-show presence (HIMSS, ATA, InfoComm), and earned media coverage on CNN, Bloomberg TV, and healthcare trade press. The company was founded in 2007, is headquartered in the Boston area (Burlington, MA and Nashua, NH), and has raised approximately $14.78M in disclosed equity funding across six rounds between 2009 and 2013, with Castile Ventures as a disclosed Series 2 lead in 2010. Leadership includes Peter N. Vicars as CEO and President, Dr. Eugene Spiritus as Chief Medical Officer (joined May 2013), and Ned Semonite as VP Marketing and Product Management. Revenue is generated primarily through one-time hardware sales bundled with recurring annual service contracts and one-time software licensing.
VGo Communications firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- VGo Communications
- Legal name
- VGo Communications, Inc.
- Website
- https://vgocom.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- VGo Communications develops wheeled robotic telepresence devices that enable remote presence via two-way audio/video and remote mobility control. The company sells hardware plus annual service contracts to healthcare providers, educational institutions serving homebound students, and enterprise customers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where VGo Communications is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Nashua
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
VGo Communications business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales: Sale of VGo robotic telepresence units - the physical robot platform with integrated camera, microphones, and video display
- Annual Service Contracts: Annual service contracts required for ongoing support, software updates, and maintenance
- Software Licensing: Specialized software required on user's computer to operate the robot - sold as part of the overall solution
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | VGo Robot Unit - base hardware starting price |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Service Contract - required support and maintenance |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Weisman Children's Hospital purchase |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels8 records
VGo Communications product offering
Product offeringCore offering
VGo Communications develops and markets the VGo robotic telepresence robot, a wheeled hardware platform that replicates a person's presence in a distant location through two-way audio/video and motor-driven remote mobility. The robot is controlled via PC, Mac, or iPad applications, connects over WiFi or LTE 4G, and is sold primarily to healthcare institutions, schools, and enterprise customers. Pricing starts at approximately $6,000 per unit with required annual service contracts of about $1,200.
Product overview
VGo Communications offers a single unified product line centered on the VGo robotic telepresence robot. The core offering is a wheeled telepresence device with integrated camera, microphones, video display, and remote-controlled mobility that allows users to be 'present' in distant locations. The product is marketed across three primary sectors: healthcare (patient monitoring, remote consulting, family visits), education (enabling homebound students to attend school), and business (remote executives, engineers, training). The robot runs for up to 12 hours on battery, weighs approximately 12 pounds, and is priced starting at about $6,000 plus an annual service contract. Control is achieved via PC, Mac, or iPad applications without a modular add-on architecture.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- VGo Telepresence Robot A wheeled robotic telepresence device that replicates a user's presence in a distant location, enabling them to see, hear, talk, and move around remotely. Controlled via PC, Mac, or iPad over WiFi or LTE 4G. Designed for healthcare providers, educational institutions, and enterprise customers needing remote consultations, patient monitoring, student attendance, and executive presence. Includes integrated camera, microphones, and video display, 12-hour battery life, and HIPAA-compliant encrypted connection. Priced starting at approximately $6,000 per unit with required annual service contracts of approximately $1,200.
Quantifiable outcome
- Telemedicine diagnosis accuracy of 96 percent in stroke care
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use VGo Communications
Customer profileNamed customers22 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
VGo Communications technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
VGo Communications partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, regional and minor.
- Vecna CarescoreVecna Cares, a healthcare IT company, partnered with VGo to deploy the first telepresence robot in an Ebola Treatment Unit in Liberia, West Africa. The robot was used as a training assistant to support doctors and nurses in the unit.
- AP Medical InnovationsregionalAP Medical Innovations partnered with VGo to bring VGo's robotic telepresence technology to the Middle East through Amana Healthcare deployment
- Cricket WirelessminorCricket Wireless donated $186,000 to Rady Children's Hospital to purchase up to 12 VGo robots for telemedicine program
- Starlight Children's FoundationminorPartnered with Astellas USA Foundation to place VGo robots at Rush Children's Hospital in Chicago
- Para-Plus Translations, Inc.minorTranslation services partner for VGo at Weisman Children's Hospital - enables remote foreign-language interpretation services
- HIMSS Innovation CenterminorHIMSS Innovation Center in Cleveland, Ohio features VGo as part of their visitor experience, allowing visitors to meet and test drive the robot
- US Department of EducationminorUS Department of Education selected Posnack Jewish Day School's film about Kyle's VGo use as one of 16 winners from 2,500 submissions highlighting technology in education
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
VGo Communications competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- iRobot: Established consumer and commercial robotics company that incubated Ava Robotics. Comparable as a robotics platform with adjacent technology, though it does not focus on telepresence today.
- InTouch Health (Teladoc Health): Provider of telehealth platforms and remote-presence carts for hospitals. Competes with VGo in clinical telemedicine via a software/cart-centric model rather than a small-wheeled robot.
- Vecna Robotics: Sibling entity under the Vecna umbrella (VGo demos route through vecnahealthcare.com). Operates broadly in autonomous mobile robots for material handling, with healthcare IT overlap.
Direct peers
- Ava Robotics: Develops autonomous telepresence robots originally spun out of iRobot. Competes with VGo in enterprise, healthcare, and education remote presence, with a more recent technology stack.
- Double Robotics: Maker of the Double telepresence robot — a wheeled iPad-based remote presence device directly comparable to VGo in form factor, use cases (healthcare, education, business), and pricing. Closest direct competitor in the telepresence robotics category.
- Mantaro Networks: Produces the MantaroBot telepresence device for enterprise and remote-collaboration use cases, directly comparable in form factor and target applications to VGo.
- OhmniLabs: Manufactures the Ohmni telepresence robot with a similar wheeled form factor and iPad-style control. Targets healthcare, education, and enterprise use cases that overlap directly with VGo's customer segments.
- Suitable Technologies (Beam): Pioneer in the Beam telepresence robot, marketed to enterprise, healthcare, and education buyers. One of the closest historical comparables to VGo before its acquisition by BlueJeans.
Emerging players
- Xenex Disinfection Services: Hospital-focused service robotics company (UV disinfection). Comparable as a hospital-robotics vendor targeting the same clinical buyers as VGo, even though use cases differ.
Others
- BlueJeans Network (Verizon): Video conferencing platform that acquired Suitable Technologies. Adjacent competitor in remote presence/collaboration that can substitute software-only for VGo's hardware model.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
VGo Communications social profiles
Digital presenceVGo Communications financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
VGo Communications leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
VGo Communications funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
VGo Communications M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about VGo Communications
What does VGo Communications do?
VGo Communications develops and markets the VGo robotic telepresence robot, a wheeled hardware platform that replicates a person's presence in a distant location through two-way audio/video and motor-driven remote mobility. The robot is controlled via PC, Mac, or iPad applications, connects over WiFi or LTE 4G, and is sold primarily to healthcare institutions, schools, and enterprise customers. Pricing starts at approximately $6,000 per unit with required annual service contracts of about $1,200.
Is VGo Communications a public or private company?
VGo Communications is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was VGo Communications founded?
VGo Communications was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is VGo Communications based?
VGo Communications is headquartered in Nashua, United States, in the North America region.
How does VGo Communications make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are annual Service Contracts and software Licensing.
Who are VGo Communications's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are iRobot, InTouch Health (Teladoc Health) and Vecna Robotics. Direct peers are Ava Robotics, Double Robotics, Mantaro Networks, OhmniLabs and Suitable Technologies (Beam). Xenex Disinfection Services is listed as an emerging player. BlueJeans Network (Verizon) is listed as an others.
Does VGo Communications have an API?
No public API is recorded for VGo Communications.