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Bota Systems raises $2.5 million in seed round to ‘give robots sense of touch’

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Bota Systems, a pioneer in advancing robotics with force torque sensing solutions, announces the completion of a $2.5 million seed round led by Marathon Venture Capital, along with the participation of angel investors.

As part of the round, Bota Systems will grow the team to address increasing demand by leading research labs and manufacturing companies globally, along with accelerating its ambitious product roadmap towards delivering a superior robotic platform with outstanding sensitivity. [Read more…] about Bota Systems raises $2.5 million in seed round to ‘give robots sense of touch’

Seed Group and Samotics partner to bring condition monitoring and energy optimization services to the Middle East

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Seed Group, a company of the Private Office of Sheikh Saeed bin Ahmed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, has entered into a strategic partnership with Samotics, a provider of real-time actionable insights to eliminate industrial energy waste and unplanned downtime, to bring enhanced condition monitoring and energy optimization services to the Middle East.

As part of this partnership, Seed Group will support Samotics to expand its operations and establish its offering in the Emirates and the wider Middle East region.

The companies will collaborate to identify approaches and opportunities to bring Samotics’ innovative solutions to the region’s industrial players, helping them eliminate unplanned downtime and improve energy efficiency. [Read more…] about Seed Group and Samotics partner to bring condition monitoring and energy optimization services to the Middle East

Civ Robotics raises $5 million seed funding round

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Civ Robotics has closed a $5 million seed funding round led by ff Venture Capital and Alley Robotics Ventures, with participation from Trimble Ventures.

Civ Robotics’ autonomous surveying solution, CivDot, is an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), designed for civil engineering and infrastructure projects, such as solar farms, roadways, data centers and power plants to name a few.

Tom Yeshurun, co-founder and CEO of Civ Robotics, says: “The construction industry faces worker shortage challenges, and CivDot is empowering efficiency and safety on the job, while driving projects forward from the start. [Read more…] about Civ Robotics raises $5 million seed funding round

Peer Robotics raises $2.3 million in seed funding round

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Peer Robotics, a new mobile robotics solution for manufacturing, has raised $2.3 million in seed funding led by Kalaari Capital, with participation from existing investors Axilor Ventures, Connecticut Innovations and Innopact VC.

Rishabh Agarwal, co-founder, and CEO of Peer Robotics, says: “Small and medium-size companies are struggling with the labor shortage today, not to mention high turn-over.

“Also, many operations are still manual with employees operating at a high risk of injuries and fatigue. Solutions to date have been too expensive and complex. [Read more…] about Peer Robotics raises $2.3 million in seed funding round

Ottonomy closes $3.3 million seed funding round

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Ottonomy has closed its seed funding round of $3.3 million, bringing its total funding to date to $4.9 million.

The funding is planned to support the scale of Ottobots for fully autonomous airport, retail and restaurant deliveries with its robots.

The funding round is led by Pi Ventures who back deep tech startups. Connetic Ventures and Branded Hospitality Ventures and the Founder & CEO of Addverb Technologies, Sangeet Kumar, also joined this round; making the group a dynamic mix from retail, food and robotics industry investors for Ottonomy’s seed round. [Read more…] about Ottonomy closes $3.3 million seed funding round

Abundant Robots launches to help farmers streamline harvesting process

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Abundant Robots, a startup automating the apple harvesting process to deliver high-quality produce to consumers, has launched to raise up to $20 million in seed capital via equity crowdfunding site WAX.

The launch comes just weeks after the corporate innovation venture studio and startup incubator Wavemaker Labs Asia (agtech-focused division of Wavemaker Labs’ overall brand) purchased Abundant Robotics’ intellectual property.

This acquisition is part of Wavermaker Labs’ larger strategy to bring intelligent automation solutions to market and help shape a future of food that is more efficient and sustainable, and is filled with prosperity, thoughtful sourcing and improved food quality from seed to fork. [Read more…] about Abundant Robots launches to help farmers streamline harvesting process

SVG Ventures selects 10 startups for accelerator program

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SVG Ventures | THRIVE has chosen 10 global startups selected to join the 8th cohort (THRIVE VIII) of their award winning accelerator program, aimed at the agricultural technology sector.

The 10 companies were selected from an applicant pool of over 800 startups from across 78 countries.

The competitive selection process, conducted in collaboration with THRIVE’s corporate partners, focused on startups’ potential impact on sustainability as well as commercial success. [Read more…] about SVG Ventures selects 10 startups for accelerator program

Agtonomy raises another $5 million to develop technology platform for local agriculture

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Agtonomy, a hybrid autonomy and tele-assist service platform, has raised an additional $5 million in Seed II funding from strategic and venture investors Toyota Ventures, Flybridge, Hampton VC, E²JDJ and Momenta, for a total of $9 million in seed funding to date.

The startup, which is developing a platform for local agriculture, raised $4 million in its seed round from Grit Ventures, GV (formerly called Google Ventures), and Village Global, the venture firm backed by some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Dell, in September last year.

This latest round will be used to accelerate development and trials of the Agtonomy platform to address the growing labor and sustainability challenges facing local agriculture. [Read more…] about Agtonomy raises another $5 million to develop technology platform for local agriculture

Delivery robot startup Serve Robotics raises $13 million in seed funding round

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Serve Robotics, an autonomous sidewalk delivery robot company, has closed a $13 million expanded seed funding round.

The companies participating were strategic investors Uber Technologies; Delivery Hero backed DX Ventures; 7-Eleven’s corporate venture arm, 7-Ventures; and Wavemaker Partners’ food automation focused venture studio Wavemaker Labs.

The new round extends Serve’s previous seed funding and includes participation by existing seed investors Neo, Western Technology Investment, and Scott Banister among others. [Read more…] about Delivery robot startup Serve Robotics raises $13 million in seed funding round

Norway’s Global Seed Vault reopens for first deposit of 2021

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The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, has reopened for the first deposit of 2021.

Sometimes referred to as a “doomsday vault”, it is a long-term seed storage facility with the capacity to store almost 5 million different seed samples from all over the world.

When construction began in 2006, the concept behind the seed vault was to ensure that Earth’s plant life can be replenished in the event of natural or manmade catastrophe. [Read more…] about Norway’s Global Seed Vault reopens for first deposit of 2021