i am new to the board after reading about it through the investor relations site, and thought i would give my two cents regarding the discussion and the company.
First, I would like to say that i invested in the company in july with a reasonable amount of money based on several assumptions (they may not be good assumptions, but i think they are still valid). One, as most of us have read, microsoft is investing time and money in bringing robotics into the mainstream market. For example, microsoft robotics studio. As the GM for Robotics at Microsoft points out, robotics is like computers were 20 years ago, tons of potential but need a common thread and market innovators to make them mainstream. Secondly, I work for a major defense contractor where i see innovation with robotics nearly everywhere, along with a budget from agencies like DARPA and DoD that are driving new technologies to replace soldiers on easy yet extremely dangerous missions. A good example of this in the mainstream media is the DARPA grand challenge, as well as products such as the predator. in my opinion, this research and innovation is going to drive consumer markets in the nearer term. These two things have made me feel strongly that this field is certainly a high potential growth field.
As far as the company is concerned, there are frankly not that many options when it comes to robotics to invest directly in. with the exception of maybe irobot, most companies that are investing in robotics, such as the defense contractors and companies like bombardier are typically conglomerate type companies. I don't know that innova yet has a "killer app" that they have developed, but they certainly have a good portfolio of useful products such as the URC3, as well as a slew of intellectual property rights that they are clearly willing to defend (see current lawsuit). In the long term, i'm of the belief that this technology will eventually be acquired by another company if INRA cannot succeed as a standalone company. It seems that they are heading in the right direction (if they are in fact pursuing new IP acquisitions), as well as developing good working partnerships with companies such as Microsoft and Mesa Robotics. As a small company their debt concerns me, and i would like to see stronger revenue growth, but as a new(er) company they have used creative financing to continue to operate. From what i understand the officers of the company are well respected in the industry, so the recent claims on this board that they're may be some conspiracy to defraud investors just doesn't seem justified. It appears that they have kept up with SEC filings on a timely basis, and they are clearly attempting to be transparent with their financial positions (if they were trying to skip on the company, you would think that the management and IR would be pumping this stock to a higher price so they can cash out). My immediate conclusion is that INRA will continue to grow at a steady pace (assuming they are able to effectively market their product to customers, maintain and grow acquisitons/partnerships, and sustain reasonable debt ratio), or they will be acquired by a bigger company in order to acquire technology/IP. In either case, in my opinion, it doesn't seem as though the sky is falling; and we, as stakeholders should be able to get something out of this investment in the near to long term future.
In response to the current banter on this site, i believe that the panic by a couple of "elder" members of this board is having a detrimental impact on my/our investment with no tangible evidence of any wrongdoing and/or malfeasance. i would respectfully ask that we use this board, as stated before, to remain constructive and factual. in any case, i would agree that it would be beneficial to get some feedback from the company in regards to new business or news to buoy investor confidence.
