Robotics & Automation News

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Intelligent City raises $30 million to bring robotics and automation to prefabricated construction sector

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With pressure mounting for cities to address affordable housing needs, decarbonize buildings, and meet sustainability goals, housing technology company Intelligent City raised CAD 22 million ($17 million), bringing the total capital invested in the company to CAD 30 million ($23 million).

As one of the first companies in North America to apply automation and robotics to the design and manufacturing of prefabricated mass timber buildings, Intelligent City will use the funding to scale operations, commercialize its Platforms for Life (P4L) building solution, grow factory automation, and expand its footprint across and beyond Canada.

Earlier this year, the company completed testing of its building systems and is now verified to work within the new mass timber high-rise building codes in Canada and the US. [Read more…] about Intelligent City raises $30 million to bring robotics and automation to prefabricated construction sector

Fictiv secures $100 million in funding to solve ‘urgent supply chain risks’

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Fictiv, a provider of on-demand manufacturing, has closed a $100 million Series E funding round.

Fictiv says this investment will advance its mission to accelerate product innovation with an expanded focus on decreasing supply chain risk through its best-in-category technology and product experience.

This unique combination of benefits helps Fictiv’s customers tackle both the continuous, competitive pressures to innovate faster and address the relentless, daily supply chain disruptions. [Read more…] about Fictiv secures $100 million in funding to solve ‘urgent supply chain risks’

FarmWise raises $45 million to expand AI-powered farm equipment

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Farm automation startup FarmWise Labs has completed an oversubscribed $45 million Series B funding round, led by leading ag-tech venture firms Fall Line Capital and Middleland Capital, with participation from GV and Taylor Farms, a grower and processor of leafy greens and fresh vegetables.

Existing investors Calibrate Ventures, Playground Global, SVG Ventures and the venture arm of Wilbur Ellis also participated in the round. To date, FarmWise has raised $65 million in equity.

With this round, Clay Mitchell, co-founder and managing director of Fall Line Capital and a fifth-generation Iowa farmer joins the FarmWise board of directors. [Read more…] about FarmWise raises $45 million to expand AI-powered farm equipment

Wikifactory secures $2.5 million funding to expand its manufacturing marketplace

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Wikifactory, an online platform for collaboratively creating physical products, has secured $2.5 million in pre-series A funding from existing shareholders and new investors including, Seier Capital, the investment vehicle of Lars Seier Christensen. This brings Wikifactory’s funding to date to a total of nearly $8 million.

Wikifactory enables developers, designers, engineers and startups from across the globe to collaborate, prototype and produce hardware solutions in real-time that solve real world problems.

The company is working to build the Internet of Production, which is an emerging concept of a distributed, interoperable, open standards-based system, linking together product definitions, software services, and manufacturing-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions. [Read more…] about Wikifactory secures $2.5 million funding to expand its manufacturing marketplace

Yamaha Motor Ventures leads $7.5 million funding round for Verge Ag

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Yamaha Motor Ventures, the strategic business development and investment arm of Yamaha Motor, has led a $7.5 million Series A funding round for Verge Ag, a precision agriculture company.

Verge claims to be the developer of the world’s first AI-powered interactive software that enables farmers to plan, simulate, and validate the movement of equipment in the field and execute field operations efficiently.

Nolan Paul, partner and Global Ag Tech lead for Yamaha Motor Ventures, says: “This investment in Verge Ag underlines our thesis that precision farming technologies are mission critical to a sustainable future for agriculture. [Read more…] about Yamaha Motor Ventures leads $7.5 million funding round for Verge Ag

Skyline Robotics unveils ‘world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot’ Ozmo

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Skyline Robotics has unveiled “the future of window cleaning” with Ozmo, describing it as the “world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot”, and investors are taking notice. (See video below.)

The company has closed a successful pre-Series A funding round led by Standard Industries with contributions from Karcher New Venture and Gefen Capital.

Skyline will use the funding across a variety of business operations including expanding its New York City team, as well as continued product development and new capabilities to own the facade operations of the future. [Read more…] about Skyline Robotics unveils ‘world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot’ Ozmo

Starship Technologies raises $100 million in 30 days as demand for delivery robots skyrockets

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Starship Technologies, a provider of autonomous delivery services, has raised $100 million in the last 30 days, including a new $42 million Series B funding round.

The Series B funding will help Starship further scale its service and meet increasing demand for its autonomous delivery service by launching in tens of new cities and campuses, including Pleasanton in the Bay Area as well as University of Tennessee, Knoxville and University of Idaho.

Some of this funding is immediately going to support people by donating directly to the Red Cross in Ukraine, says Starship. [Read more…] about Starship Technologies raises $100 million in 30 days as demand for delivery robots skyrockets

RightHand Robotics raises $66 million in Series C funding

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RightHand Robotics, a startup developing autonomous robotic picking solutions for order fulfillment, has secured $66 million in a Series C financing.

The funding round was led by investors Safar Partners, a technology venture fund; Thomas H. Lee Partners, an investor in automation and supply chain; and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which is part of the SoftBank Group.

Zebra Technologies, Epson and Global Brain also join this round, along with previous investors GV, F-Prime Capital, Menlo Ventures, Matrix Partners and Tony Fadell’s Future Shape. Previous rounds were led by Menlo Ventures and Playground Global. [Read more…] about RightHand Robotics raises $66 million in Series C funding

Autonomous vehicle simulation startup MorAI raises $20 million funding

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MorAI, a developer of autonomous vehicle simulation technology, has secured a $20 million Series B funding round.

The round includes investment from new investors Korea Investment Partners, KB Investment, and the state-run Korea Development Bank, as well as from existing investors Naver’s D2 Startup Factory, Hyundai Motor Group’s Zero1ne, Kakao Ventures, and Atinum Investment, bringing MorAI’s total funding to date to $25 million.

MorAI was co-founded in 2018 by three autonomous driving researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Ever since, the company has established itself as South Korea’s sole provider of full-stack autonomous vehicle simulation solutions. [Read more…] about Autonomous vehicle simulation startup MorAI raises $20 million funding

India’s richest man spends $132 million buying majority stake in robotics company

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India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, has bought the majority stake – 54 percent – in a robotics company called Addverb Technologies through his Reliance Industries conglomerate.

Addverb Technologies is a warehouse automation company, mainly in the intralogistics space, providing autonomous mobile robots and other systems, and was already working with Reliance Industries.

The purchase of the shares took place during the startup’s latest funding round. [Read more…] about India’s richest man spends $132 million buying majority stake in robotics company