Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

funding

Osaro raises $16 million to develop machine learning for industrial automation

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Osaro, a developer of machine learning software for industrial automation – especially robotic picking and vision, has raised $16 million in Series B funding.

The round was conducted with participation from King River Capital, Alpha Intelligence Capital, Founders Fund, Pegasus Tech Ventures, GiTV Fund, and existing investors as well as strategics, bringing total funding to $29.3 million.

Co-founder and CEO Derik Pridmore says the funds will be used to invest in talent acquisition, international deployments, and advancing the Osaro Pick and Osaro Vision product lines to meet customer demands. [Read more…] about Osaro raises $16 million to develop machine learning for industrial automation

Diligent Robotics raises $3 million seed funding to launch Moxi the hospital robot

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Startup company Diligent Robotics has raised $3 million in seed funding to launch “Moxi”, the company’s hospital robot.

Diligent Robotics describes itself as an artificial intelligence company which builds socially intelligent robots that help people with their jobs.

Its first product, hospital robot assistant named Moxi, is now out of beta and into market, beginning with the roll-out of Moxi into a Texas hospital starting October 2, 2019. [Read more…] about Diligent Robotics raises $3 million seed funding to launch Moxi the hospital robot

Autonomous vehicles simulator Applied Intuition raises $40 million in funding

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Applied Intuition, a provider of a simulation platform for autonomous vehicle development, has raised $40 million in Series B financing.

The funding round was led by General Catalyst with participation from Kleiner Perkins, M12 (Microsoft), Sozo Ventures, and La Famiglia.

Previous investors, Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, and Floodgate, also participated in this round. [Read more…] about Autonomous vehicles simulator Applied Intuition raises $40 million in funding

Micrologistics startup Takeoff Technologies raises $25 million

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Takeoff Technologies has closed its Series C fundraising with an additional $25 million in investment for 5 percent of the company, with a valuation of $500 million, bringing the total funds raised to $86 million.

The Series C funding was led by Forrestal Capital. This funding is set to propel a rollout scale across North America, Europe and Australia.

Takeoff is at the forefront of microfulfillment as the first and only solution provider with several operating sites in partnership with major grocery retail chains. [Read more…] about Micrologistics startup Takeoff Technologies raises $25 million

Self-driving tech startup Voyage Auto raises $31 million in funding

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A self-driving technology startup called Voyage Auto has raised $31 million in Series B funding.

The investment round was led by Franklin Templeton, with significant participation from Khosla Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion Ventures, and Chevron Technology Ventures.

The latest funding round brings Voyage Auto’s total capital raised to $52 million. [Read more…] about Self-driving tech startup Voyage Auto raises $31 million in funding

ESMERA opens €200,000 competition to fund small businesses developing robotics solutions

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The EU funded robotics project ESMERA – the European SMEs Robotics Applications – has opened its second open call to help fund small businesses developing robotic solutions for enterprise applications.

Within that call, industrial end-users have defined specific challenges that are to be solved by introducing a robotics solution.

The challenges come from the areas of manufacturing, energy, construction, agriculture, food processing, retail, healthcare and emergency response. [Read more…] about ESMERA opens €200,000 competition to fund small businesses developing robotics solutions

Yamaha taps into its $100 million fund to invest in Advanced Farm Technologies

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Yamaha is using part of its $100 million investment fund to buy a stake in Advanced Farm Technologies.

Yamaha Motor Ventures & Laboratory Silicon Valley led the Series A funding round for the startup.

Yamaha says this latest investment reflects the company’s “core interest in businesses driving innovation in the agricultural sector. [Read more…] about Yamaha taps into its $100 million fund to invest in Advanced Farm Technologies

Starship robots make 100,000 deliveries as startup raises $40 million in funding

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Starship Technologies, which makes an autonomous delivery robot, has closed $40 million in Series A funding.

The company, which has just become the first to complete 100,000 commercial deliveries, also announced that it plans to expand its service to 100 university campuses in the next 24 months.

Delivery robots arrived today at the University of Pittsburgh. Purdue University, Indiana is launching on September 9 with more following shortly. [Read more…] about Starship robots make 100,000 deliveries as startup raises $40 million in funding

Attabotics raises $25 million to ‘transform supply chains’

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Attabotics, a robotics company specialising in supply chain technology, has raised $25 million in Series B funding from financial and strategic investors.

Participants in the round included Coatue, Comcast Ventures, and Honeywell alongside returning early investors Forerunner Ventures and Werklund Growth Fund.

The new funding will go toward supporting Attabotics’ continued, explosive growth, including new hires, scaling manufacturing operations, the development of new technologies, and more. Attabotics has raised $32.7 million in funding to date. [Read more…] about Attabotics raises $25 million to ‘transform supply chains’

Freedom Robotics receives $6.6 million in seed funding

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Freedom Robotics, which provides cloud and on-device software for monitoring, control and management of robots and robotic fleets, has closed a $6.6m seed round.

The funding was led by Initialized Capital, with Toyota AI Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, Andrew Miklas from S28 Capital, and James Lindenbaum, alongside existing investors Green Cow Ventur­e Capital, Justin Kan, Josh Buckley, Kevin Mahaffey, and Arianna Simpson.

Freedom Robotics creates tools and infrastructure that all robotics companies require but are not core to their product or value creation.

[Read more…] about Freedom Robotics receives $6.6 million in seed funding