Boston, Mass. —

Ori, Inc., a creator of robotic interiors, today welcomed Amy Villeneuve to the company’s Board of Directors. Villeneuve joins Nicholas Negroponte, co-founder and former director of the MIT Media Lab, and Ori founder and CEO Hasier Larrea on the company’s Board.

‍

“Urban population growth demands that we come up with new ways of making small apartments, offices, and other spaces for both work and life more livable and functional,” commented Villeneuve. “We’ve largely exhausted conventional, manual solutions for these challenges, and need to turn to technology. What impresses me most about Ori is that they are creating a new category of robotic interiors, and have succeeded in developing an initial product that is extremely user-friendly, aesthetically pleasing, and in high demand around the world.”

‍

Villeneuve brings more than two decades of experience as a business leader, startup advisor, and board member to Ori. She was most recently president and COO of Kiva Systems, a provider of fulfillment center automation using mobile robots and sophisticated control software, and a vice president of Amazon. Villeneuve transformed Kiva Systems into a profitable venture, leading the company through a $775 million acquisition by Amazon.

‍

“Since announcing the commercial availability of Ori systems in May, the demand from commercial developers around the world has been incredible,” said Larrea. “Given the significant interest in our initial product, which allows people to transform their living spaces with the tap of a finger, we wanted to add an executive to our Board of Directors who has significant experience scaling companies from startups to global businesses. Amy Villeneuve is the perfect fit for this role.”