Market trends and business perspectives
HRG Robotics has held its first startup competition, attracting more than 50 investment and technology companies and organisations.
The company says it wants to provide a platform to support innovation and startups.
HRG says startup competitions help connect companies of “great potential” within HRG system with top venture capitalists. [Read more…] about HRG Robotics holds its first startup competition
ForwardX Robotics, a provider of artificial intelligence and robotics solutions, says it will now offer Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) options for its collaborative mobile robots.
Whilst also offering outright sale and renting options, the RaaS subscription-based model aims to encourage supply chain operations to invest in innovation by allowing them to upgrade their facilities without the large upfront investment usually associated with automation projects.
Paul Qian, VP of sales at ForwardX Robotics, says: “The pressure on supply chains to deliver is growing with every day that passes and we know how much of an impact our solutions can have on facilities and their processes. [Read more…] about ForwardX Robotics launches robots-as-a-service for its warehouse automation solutions
Samsung Electronics, the smartphone giant which is also one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers, is expanding its NAND flash production capacity in Pyeongtaek, Korea.
The company says the development will reinforce the company’s ability to meet demands from emerging technologies.
Construction, which began this May, will pave the way for mass production of Samsung’s cutting-edge V-NAND memory in the second half of 2021. [Read more…] about Samsung expands chipmaking capacity
Entrepreneurs have invested more money in robotics than all other sectors combined, according to a new report by Silicon Valley Bank.
In a report called The Future of Robotics, SVB says: “Investment in robotics has significantly outpaced the rest of venture (financing), making robotics one of the hottest sectors of the decade.”
SVB’s data shows that robotics venture capital funding represented 55 percent of all venture financing (see bar chart below). [Read more…] about Robotics one of the hottest investment sectors of the decade, says Silicon Valley Bank report
Lilium, the Munich-based aviation company developing an all-electric, vertical take-off and landing aircraft for regional air mobility, has raised another $35 million.
The company says investment management partnership, Baillie Gifford, the new investor, is known for its track record of investing in high-impact technology companies such as Amazon, Tesla, Airbnb, Spotify and SpaceX.
Baillie Gifford has invested $35m in Lilium, extending the startup’s current funding round to more than $275 million, and total investment to date to more than $375 million. [Read more…] about Electric air taxi startup Lilium raises another $35 million to take total investment to $375 million
PAO Severstal, one of the world’s largest vertically integrated steel and mining companies, has led a second tranche of investment into Dutch company Airborne, a developer of digital automation platforms for the production of composite parts and products with integrated composites.
The total investment in Airborne has already amounted to “several tens of millions of dollars”, says Severstal.
In spite of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has led to many venture projects on the global market being placed on hold, Severstal led the new investment in Airborne with support of existing shareholders including HPE Growth. [Read more…] about Severstal expands automation capabilities with second investment in Airborne
The robotics industry received record investment in 2019, totaling $46 billion.
According to recent figures published by global tech advisory firm ABI Research, a total of $17.8 billion went to acquisitions and a further $29 billion went into investments.
Most of the funding was focused on autonomous passenger vehicles, surgical robotics, and warehouse automation, with significant growth for field robotics and drone services. [Read more…] about Robotics industry raised $46 billion funding last year
Brain Corp, a developer of artificial intelligence systems for the robotics industry, has raised $36 million in Series D funding to “help meet the growing demand for autonomous mobile robots”.
The company says the growth is being generated by retail, healthcare, airports, education and other industries now on the front lines of the coronavirus health crisis.
The round was led by returning investor SoftBank Vision Fund 1, and includes new investors ClearBridge Investments, and Satwik Ventures, and an additional investment from Qualcomm Ventures. [Read more…] about Brain Corp raises $36 million to meet ‘growing demand for autonomous robots’
The industrial automation sector is “paying the price for failing to think big and invest bigger”, according to a report by GlobalData.
The industrial automation sector was not in a great place before Covid-19 struck, having been slowed by flat capital expenditure and declining industrial production, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The virus has since closed factory after factory worldwide with workers sent home. The reality is that despite much hype over the years, advanced factory automation has not been substituted for human workers at scale. [Read more…] about Industrial automation is ‘paying the price for failing to think big and invest bigger’
InoBat Auto, a battery production company providing new energy solutions for electric vehicles, has secured funding to build a research and development centre to support the construction of a 10 GWh Gigafactory in Slovakia – the world’s biggest car producer per capita.
The investment from the Slovakian Government has contributed to the €100 million first-phase fund raising to deliver the Gigafactory, which will deploy state-of-the-art battery technology with the potential to provide an estimated 240,000 electric vehicles with cutting edge batteries by 2024.
InoBat Auto says its planned Gigafactory will catapult Europe to become a leading global force in the electric vehicle battery industry. [Read more…] about InoBat Auto secures funding from Slovakian government to build €1 billion ‘Gigafactory’
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