Tennibot

Market position

Positions itself as the only autonomous ball collector on the market and as the only AI ball machine company manufacturing in the United States. Recognition includes MUSE Design Awards gold, TechCrunch Disrupt innovation winner, CES Innovation Awards honoree, European Product Design Award, SoGal Ventures, Silicon Valley Robotics finalist, TBD Tennis Innovation Week innovation award, Alabama Launchpad and Tennis Industry Association awards, and inclusion in the Robot Report RBR50 for 2025. Media coverage has included Time Magazine, Forbes, BBC, Yahoo, Huffington Post, LA Times, Tennis Channel and TechCrunch.

Emphasizes autonomy and realism: a ball machine that drives around the court and repositions as a rally develops, paired with an autonomous collector so practice is not interrupted by ball pickup. Other stated differentiators include AI-generated custom drills rather than fixed patterns, 4K camera 3D tracking, low weight (25 lb Partner Lite), operation on all court surfaces, US hand-assembly with bench and on-court testing of every unit, a 3-year warranty and a 60-day risk-free trial.

Technology

Computer vision and autonomous navigation: 4K cameras with 3D ball tracking, sensors that detect court lines, the net, player position and obstacles, and self-calibration before drives into feeding positions. AI generates custom drills, automatically configuring shot placement, pace, spin and sequences. Control is via iOS/Android apps and Apple Watch, with over-the-air feature updates. The Partner V2 adds braking motors for smoother transitions between shot types and increased vertical range. The company states it holds over 17 patents and trademarks covering its ball machine and ball collector technology.

Go-to-market

Direct online sales supplemented by demo bookings, uncut product demonstration videos, player and coach testimonials, and customer-service-driven word of mouth. Leadership has described hand-delivering early units, collecting direct feedback from early adopters, deliberately limiting early production batches, and providing loaner units when problems arise, targeting a premium, socially networked recreational tennis audience.

Individual players from beginner to touring professional, plus coaches, tennis clubs, schools, academies and training facilities in tennis, pickleball and padel.

Geography

Headquartered and manufacturing in Auburn, Alabama, United States, with free US shipping and returns and international shipping to many countries.

History

The about page states Tennibot was founded in 2016 in Auburn, Alabama by Haitham Eletrabi and Lincoln Wang; other coverage also gives a 2016 founding date. The company emerged from Auburn University and the university's New Venture Accelerator and Tiger Cage competition, and has been housed in the City of Auburn's incubator system at the Auburn Center for Developing Industries, where it leased office and manufacturing space before outgrowing the facility ahead of a move to a newer city incubator in Auburn Industrial Park. It participated in the Techstars Sports Accelerator in 2020 and is a Techstars alumnus. Initial ball-collector units shipped around the onset of Covid-19, which disrupted supply chains; the company produced small batches of five to ten systems while incorporating early-adopter feedback. It later introduced the Partner V2 ball machine and, more recently, the Partner Lite.

Risks & controversies

Supply chain disruption during the Covid-19 period affected the company as it began shipping initial units, and management has described a cautious venture capital environment. Products are premium-priced and built to order with a 6–7 week lead time, and are not recommended for use in heavy rain or standing water.