Robotics-as-a-Service Brings Automation to Small Businesses

Robotics as a Service, or RaaS, shifts costs from large upfront purchases to subscription or outcome-based fees, allowing smaller firms to use automation without buying equipment. The Missouri Department of Transportation rented a road-marking robot for three months, extended the rental to seven months and then purchased three units.

A single industrial robot can cost about $70,000 before adding peripheral equipment and integration. Smaller companies often lack staff to design, install and maintain complex systems. Wyatt Newman, a professor of robotics at Case Western Reserve University and a strategic adviser to ROBO Global Indexes, noted these barriers during a recent webcast and said RaaS removes the initial capital hurdle.

Under RaaS, providers typically design, install, maintain and repair systems and may operate them remotely, so customers pay for completed work rather than equipment ownership. Newman observed, “There’s no capital expenditure upfront. So it just takes away the risk.” Short-term rentals let users test performance and suitability before committing to purchases.

Practical examples show RaaS reaching sectors outside traditional manufacturing. RoadPrintz, a venture Newman is involved with, automates road marking. After the initial rental, Missouri DOT extended the trial and then bought multiple machines. Other municipalities, including Houston and Montreal, have used seasonal rentals to avoid owning equipment needed only part of the year.

When providers retain ownership of robots, they have incentives to keep machines running and to redeploy them across jobs. Newman commented that owners will seek ways to get more value from equipment: “They will want to be able to recycle it, reuse it, reapply it, reprogram it.” That approach can lead to regular hardware and software updates from providers.

Analysts expect RaaS to broaden the customer base for robotics into construction, infrastructure maintenance and other variable-demand use cases. Zeno Mercer, head of robotics and AI research at VettaFi, compared the potential range of consumer robotics form factors to the automotive market, with options from practical to premium.

Most RaaS companies remain private. Suppliers of robots, components and vision systems could see higher demand if providers scale fleets. Some investors track the trend through thematic exchange-traded funds that focus on different industry layers, such as the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO) for hardware and logistics exposure and the ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ) for software and AI technologies.