Collaborative Robotics raises $100 million in Series B funding

Collaborative Robotics, (or Cobot), a leader in the development of practical collaborative robots (cobots), today announced it has raised $100 million in Series B funding led by General Catalyst and joined by Bison Ventures, Industry Ventures and Lux Capital.

Existing investors Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Neo, 1984 Ventures, MVP Ventures and Calibrate Ventures participated as well, bringing the total funding raised to over $140 million in less than two years.

Cobot also announced that industry leader Teresa Carlson has joined the company as an Advisor.

Founded in 2022 by former Amazon VP of robotics and distinguished engineer Brad Porter (main picture), the Cobot team includes robotics and AI experts from Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, NASA, Waymo, and more.

The new capital will be used to further expand the team with top talent and advance its commercial deployments. Paul Kwan, managing director at General Catalyst, joins Alfred Lin from Sequoia Capital on Collaborative Robotics’ board of directors.

Brad Porter, CEO and founder, Collaborative Robotics, says: “Getting our first robots in the field earlier this year, coupled with today’s investment, are major milestones as we bring cobots with human-level capability into the industries of today.

“We see a virtuous cycle where more robots in the field lead to improved AI and a more cost-effective supply chain. This funding will help us accelerate getting more robots into the real world.”

Collaborative robots (cobots) are poised to revolutionize industrial automation by enhancing efficiency, safety, and ROI in sectors including manufacturing, healthcare, retail/e-commerce, manufacturing and more.

Cobots offer broad utility at an affordable cost compared to more complex robots like humanoids. These machines work alongside humans to improve productivity and reduce operational costs.

Cobots combine the power of automation with human problem-solving, streamlining workflows, alleviating employee strain and reducing errors. The results are better product quality, safer workplaces and optimized processes.

As businesses strive for efficiency, cobots offer scalability and cost savings, and are proving to be essential in modern industry for maintaining competitiveness and driving innovation.

Paul Kwan, managing director at General Catalyst, says: “In our view, Brad and Cobot are spearheading the future of human-robot interaction.

“Their pragmatic approach to developing and deploying capable, versatile and seamless to use robots we think will help accelerate the transformation of industrial automation.

“We believe the Cobot team is world-class at building the necessary hardware, software, and institutional trust to achieve their vision. Additionally, their focus on user partnership and thoughtful design is deeply aligned with General Catalyst’s stance on Responsible Innovation.”

Alfred Lin, partner at Sequoia Capital, says: “We’re in the early stages of a massive transition as AI drives productivity in the digital and physical world.

“Collaborative Robotics is well positioned to lead in this space. Brad and his team bring a unique combination of hardware, software and AI expertise, combined with the experience operating and driving change in some of the biggest logistics networks in the world. We’re thrilled to be a partner in this transformation.”

Teresa Carlson has joined Cobot as an advisor where she will advise and counsel the company on go-to-market at scale and industry transformation.

Carlson has a distinguished career leading digital transformation as head of worldwide public sector and regulated industries at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft she held roles as the SVP and executive in residence and prior as the VP of federal sales and operations, president and chief growth officer at Splunk and president and chief commercial officer at Flexport.

She is an officer for The Economic Club of Washington, DC, is the Vice Chair of the White House Historical Association and a board member of the Pentagon Memorial Fund.

Teresa Carlson, general catalyst advisor, says: “During my time at Amazon, I had the opportunity to partner with Brad on several transformative initiatives. I’m excited to work with Brad again at General Catalyst to transform and scale industrial automation for industries worldwide.”