Skip, a wearable tech startup that began as a secretive project inside Alphabet, x exited stealth this week to announce a partnership with outdoor clothing specialist Arc’teryx. The deal is the first to bring Skip’s technology to market: “powered pants” that utilize a soft exoskeleton.
Introducing MO/GO Technology
The tech, called MO/GO, short for “mountain goat,” is a hybrid soft/rigid system designed to assist wearer mobility and boost the wearer while walking. Rather than walking for a person, it provides 40% energy assistance to the quadricep and hamstring while offloading work from the knees.
Launch and Availability
Reservations for the technology open this week, with plans to begin shipments later this year. MO/GO is getting a soft launch in late summer or early fall as a rental, offered near hiking destinations like the Grand Canyon.
Origin of the Technology
I first wrote about the technology in 2021 while it was still a project being developed in-house at Alphabet’s X Labs moonshot factory. Between late 2023 and early 2024, Alphabet reportedly began cutting resources at X as part of company-wide layoffs. The Google parent includes XOR Twitter Labs in a unit called “Other Bets,” which lost $1.19 billion in Q3 last year.
Transition to Independence
“Toward the end of 2023, it started becoming clearer that it wouldn’t make sense as a project within Alphabet,” founder and CEO Kathryn Zealand says. That was also a time of a lot of cost-cutting, and this was going to be tricky. We had to start fundraising.
Fundraising and Development
Alphabet wouldn’t sell Skip’s foundational IP to Zealand as an individual, so she engaged with VCs to form the spinout. The startup has raised $6 million through funding and grants.
Wearability and Real-world Testing
“I have a terrible fashion sense,” Zealand laughs. “Even when we were working in X, it was clear that the technology had potential. People would come in, and they’d have knee pain or struggle with stairs. They would put on a prototype, and they could do it.”
Choosing the Right Partner
Zealand tells the story of a woman who hadn’t climbed up a flight of stairs in 25 years, only to do it twice quickly while wearing the technology. “But the jump from ‘it works in the lab’ to what would be a viable consumer product that people would use every day — a lot of these were wearability challenges,” she says.
Skip initially explored multiple clothing partnerships, ultimately launching with just one. Arc’teryx “ticked all the boxes,” according to Zealand. The Vancouver, BC-based company produces clothing and “hard goods” like harnesses and ski boots — a cross-section between form and function right in Skip’s sweet spot.
Data Collection and Future Focus
Hiking rentals will collect anonymous data to test MO/GO in rugged, real-world scenarios, but Skip’s ultimate focus is everyday wear. The launch cost of $4,500 will almost certainly restrict its use for the non-mobility limited. Zealand says the company is currently in clinical trials to test the system’s efficacy in assisting conditions like Parkinson’s.
Future Plans and Challenges
Any potential to classify the system as a medical device is likely still years off. In the short term, Skip is looking toward having its system covered by the FSA to help lower user prices. Scaling manufacturing will also help bring the price down over time.
Alphabet’s Role and Spinout Model
Alphabet has employed various methods to work with X Labs spinouts. Big bets like Waymo tend to receive more foundational support from the tech giant, while smaller projects are nudged from the nest and encouraged to fly on their own. The latter model looks to become a more frequent option as Alphabet has scaled back resources. Iyo founder and CEO Jason Rugolo told us a similar story when we spoke about his company’s generative AI headphones in May, noting that Alphabet served as an early investor but opted against taking a seat on the startup’s board.
