Robotics & Automation News

Market trends and business perspectives

funding

Xometry raises $50 million for on-demand parts marketplace

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Xometry, the largest on-demand manufacturing marketplace, has raised $50m in equity funding, led by Greenspring Associates.

The new funding will back efforts to build a platform connecting suppliers to businesses that need prototypes and small runs of parts.

Dell Technologies Capital will also participate in the round, along with all previous venture and strategic investors including BMW i Ventures, Foundry Group, GE Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Maryland Venture Fund and Almaz Capital. Xometry has raised a total of $113m to date.

[Read more…] about Xometry raises $50 million for on-demand parts marketplace

Mitsubishi Electric takes a stake in Realtime Robotics

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Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has taken an equity stake in Realtime Robotics, Inc. a U.S. technology startup that develops and commercialises motion-planning technologies.

Motion planning is the process of calculating and determining the optimised path that a robot should take to reach a goal without colliding with any obstacle. Realtime Robotics’ motion path planning solution performs the necessary calculations in real time.

Funding by Mitsubishi Electric is expected to accelerate the development of industrial robot systems offering enhanced safety and performance.

[Read more…] about Mitsubishi Electric takes a stake in Realtime Robotics

Robotic toymaker Anki to close down

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Anki, a startup company which made robotic toy cars and trucks, is planning to close its doors, according to a report on the Recode website.

The company had raised more than $200 million in funding for the venture, and generated $100 million in revenue in 2017, but is now making all of its 200 employees redundant.

In a statement to Recode, the company says that it had been left “without significant funding” which meant it could not finance its hardware and software development plans going forward.

[Read more…] about Robotic toymaker Anki to close down

Veo Robotics could make all industrial robots collaborative

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Traditional industrial robots tend to be very large and potentially dangerous, which is why they tend to be caged off and kept separate from human workers.

But a new company called Veo Robotics says it has the technology to transform traditional industrial robotic arms into safe machines that humans can work alongside, within close proximity.

Veo’s solution could make every industrial robot a collaborative robot. The term “collaborative” is recognized by international standards organizations and usually applies to much smaller, newer types of robots which are specifically designed to safe for humans to work with.  [Read more…] about Veo Robotics could make all industrial robots collaborative

Tomahawk Robotics raises $2.4 million in seed funding

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Startup company Tomahawk Robotics, which aims to bring “advanced robotic control systems to enterprise markets”, has raised a $2.4 million seed round investment from leading venture capital firms and angel investors.

Participating in the oversubscribed round are: Mosley Venture Partners, which led the round, Naples Technology Ventures, Scout Ventures and Stout Street Capital.

This initial investment round will be used to further evolve Tomahawk Robotics’ Kinesis platform and expand the product development and engineering teams to address immediate deliverables for key customers.  [Read more…] about Tomahawk Robotics raises $2.4 million in seed funding

Industrial IoT startup MachineMetrics raises $11.3 million in funding

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Industrial IoT startup MachineMetrics has raised $11.3 million in Series A funding. The company says the funding will enable it to “continue leading the endeavor to bring analytics to manufacturing”.

In a circular, the company says: “We intend to use every penny to give our customers a world-class experience through faster growth, focused innovation, quick product updates, custom features, improved service – and that’s just the start.”

Most importantly, adds the company, the funding has provided it with the opportunity to “preserve the secret sauce that has made MachineMetrics who we are today”.  [Read more…] about Industrial IoT startup MachineMetrics raises $11.3 million in funding

Plus One Robotics raises $8.3 million in Series A funding round

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Plus One Robotics, a 3D vision and controls developer for robotic automation in the logistics and e-commerce markets, has raised $8.3 million in its Series A investment round.

The funding round was led by Pritzker Group Venture Capital, with participation from Zebra Technologies. Also participating in the round were Schematic Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, TCL Ventures, ff Venture Capital, Dynamo, and First Star Ventures.

Erik Nieves, Plus One Robotics CEO, says: “We are delighted to add two more firms with deep roots in logistics and supply chain to our leadership.”  [Read more…] about Plus One Robotics raises $8.3 million in Series A funding round

GreyOrange raises $140 million in new funding, claiming ‘the biggest fundraising round in industrial automation sector’

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GreyOrange, a provider of warehouse robotics and automation systems, has raised $140 million in Series C funding, claiming it marks “the largest round ever raised by an industrial robotics company”.

Mithril Capital, co-founded by Ajay Royan and Peter Thiel, led this round, which included Binny Bansal and other existing investors including Blume Ventures.

They join Mitsubishi, Flipkart, and Project Verte as investors in the company.  [Read more…] about GreyOrange raises $140 million in new funding, claiming ‘the biggest fundraising round in industrial automation sector’

InVia Robotics raises $20 million in funding for warehouse automation robots

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InVia Robotics, a provider of warehouse robots and automation solutions for e-commerce fulfillment centers, has raised $20 million in new funding.

The Series B round was led by Point72 Ventures and included investments from Upfront Ventures and Embark Ventures.

The funds will be used to boost the commercial deployment of inVia’s Picker robots and cloud-based robotics-as-a-service management system in warehouses as necessitated by the scaling e-commerce market.  [Read more…] about InVia Robotics raises $20 million in funding for warehouse automation robots

Bossa Nova Robotics raises $29 million in latest funding round

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Bossa Nova Robotics, a provider of real-time, on-shelf product data for the global retail industry, has closed a $29 million funding round led by Cota Capital.

With new participation from China Walden Ventures, LG Electronics, and existing investors, this brings Bossa Nova’s total funding to $70 million.

The company says the funding will support the growth in the number of employees by 50 percent and will further its research and development efforts. Additionally, the company is exploring opening international offices due to high global retailer interest.  [Read more…] about Bossa Nova Robotics raises $29 million in latest funding round