Business research website CB Insights has named Veo Robotics, the Waltham-based industrial automation company building sensing and intelligence for robots to collaborate with humans safely, to its first-annual Advanced Manufacturing 50 ranking, showcasing the 50 most promising private advanced manufacturing companies in the world.
Founded by Patrick Sobalvarro, Clara Vu, and Scott Denenberg, Veo has pioneered the creation of software and hardware that allow for fluid, efficient, and flexible production lines within manufacturing facilities.
Also making the list within the robotics and collaborative robots category were Rokae, Novarc Technologies, Linkwiz, Exotic, and Locus Robotics.
Brian Lee, SVP of CB Insights’ Intelligence Unit, says: “This initial cohort of the AM 50 includes a wide range of companies at different stages of maturity, product development, and funding.
“Collectively, they are working on everything from factory analytics and artificial intelligence to the industrial internet of things cybersecurity.
“We’re excited to watch the companies on this year’s list continue to grow and further create operational efficiencies that will have a meaningful impact across industries.”
Patrick Sobalvarro, co-founder and CEO of Veo Robotics, says: “We’re proud to be recognized by CB Insights for our technology’s ability to improve safety, productivity, and working conditions for manufacturers.
“As manufacturers have been challenged by the pandemic, supply chain constraints, and labor shortages over the last few years, they’ve only increased the number and use of industrial robots within their facilities.
“Veo’s FreeMove is the only product currently available with the safety design needed to now unlock the true power of human-robot collaboration on their facility floors.”
Utilizing the CB Insights platform, the research team picked 50 private market vendors from a pool of over 6,000 companies, including applicants and nominees.
They were chosen based on factors including R&D activity, proprietary Mosaic scores, market potential, business relationships, investor profile, news sentiment analysis, competitive landscape, team strength, and tech novelty.
The research team also reviewed hundreds of analyst briefings submitted by applicants.
With human-robot collaboration rising for 6 out of 10 manufacturers in the last year as facilities turn to automation to supplement workers, Veo Robotics is providing advanced computer vision and 3D sensing to enable standard industrial robots to work safely alongside humans.
Specifically, the company’s flagship product FreeMove® uses dynamic speed and separation monitoring to automatically trigger a robot to stop as human co-workers move closer to the robot during operation. As a result, manufacturers can prioritize safety and productivity without sacrificing one for the other.
Quick facts on CB Insights’ AM 50:
- Equity funding and deals: Since 2017, the 2022 AM 50 cohort has raised $6.9 billion+ from 369 investors, across 177 equity deals. In 2021 alone, companies in this cohort raised over $3.7 billion across 46 deals.
- Unicorns: There are 12 companies with $1 billion+ valuations on the list.
- Global Reach: Twenty-seven of the selected companies are headquartered in the US. Germany and Canada tied for second, with four winners each. Other countries home to at least one winner on this year’s list include India, China, France, South Korea, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
