Listed in the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Europe
A Nigerian, Silas Adekunle the founder and CEO of Reach Robotics, as been named smartest Robotics Engineer in the world.
Adekunle, age 26, signs deal with Apple, Inc. effectively making him the highest-paid robotics engineer in the world.
He was born and had some of his education in Nigeria before relocating to the UK when he was a teenager. Having completed his secondary school education, he proceeded to the University of the West of England, Bristol where he graduated with a first class graduate in Robotics.
In 2013, he founded Reach Robotics, a company with an aim to infuse gaming and augmented reality to perform functions. Ever ready to learn, he gained experience on robotics within a space of 4 years and also became a team leader of Robotics In Schools programme, a programme which encourages and pays attention to students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). It was during his involvement in the programme that he thought of developing robotics to make education more entertaining for STEM students.
“The gaming robots called MekaMonsters, are multi-functional connected battle bots with augmented reality capabilities”
In 2017, Mekamon, the world’s first gaming robot was born. A part of its unique feature is the ability to customise the gaming bot to perform personalised functions. Despite being hit by disbelief when he was seeking funds, his initial launch of Mekamon sold 500 bots, generating $7.5 million.
Owing to this milestone success, Adekunle has received support from various organisations including London Venture Partners $10 million (N360 million). In the same year, Reach Robotics signed a deal with Apple securing exclusive sales in Apple stores.
Not only have his works gained recognition, he was also listed in the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Europe under the technology category.
He notes that the secrets to his success are balance, shared ideas, time management and being oneself.
