Robotics Roundup #1: January 2024
Including spinal surgery assistants, androids, and farming robots
Welcome to our first edition of Robotics Roundup, a monthly rundown of the robotics industry’s most important VC deals. This month: spinal surgery assistants, androids, and plenty of farming robots.
The Deals
1X raised a $100M Series B round with participation from EQT Ventures and “other notable global investors.” Formerly known as Halodi Robotics, the Oslo company builds androids capable of performing a wide variety of tasks.
BlueWhite raised $39M in Series C funding, led by Insight Partners and with participation from new investors Alumni Ventures and LIP Ventures, among others. The Tel Aviv- and Fresno, California-based company creates autonomous tractors and sprayers, as well as the technology to manage a fleet.
LEM Surgical raised a Series B round worth CHF 22M (roughly USD $25M). The Bern-based company, which creates robotic assistants for spinal surgery procedures, did not disclose its investors but said the round was “strongly oversubscribed” with new investors from Switzerland and the U.S.
Thorvald, also known as Saga Robotics, raised a $11.5M venture round, with new investors Songa Investments and MP Pensjon, plus existing shareholders. The company builds robots that autonomously treat crops with high-intensity UV-C light to combat diseases like powdery mildew.
VoxelSensors closed a €9.5M (roughly USD 10.3M) Seed round, jointly led by SFPRIM Relaunch, Capricorn Digital Growth Fund, and Qbic Fund. The Belgian company develops spatial and empathic sensor fusion technology for mobile, XR, and industrial applications.
Watsonville, California-based farm-ng raised $10.05M in Series A funding, led by Acre Venture Partners with participation from Xplorer Capital, HawkTower, Santa Cruz Ventures, and others. The company’s robots perform a range of farming tasks including seeding, spraying, pest management, and compost spreading, plus geo-tagged data collection, visualization, and analysis.
Aqua Robotics raised $8.1M in funding from Skeie Technology and Nysnø Climate Investments, plus existing investors. The Norwegian company creates automated net-cleaning technology for the fishing industry, eliminating the need for chemicals or high-pressure spraying.
Aether Biomedical closed a further $1.5M in a Series A first announced in November, bringing the round to a total of $7.3M. The round was led by J2 Ventures and Story Ventures. The Polish company builds bionic prosthetic limbs designed for upper arm amputees.
SKY ENGINE AI raised $7M in Series A funding led by Cogito Capital Partners with participation from Edge VC, Taiwania Capital, Movens Capital, and HTGF. The London company’s technology trains AI computer vision algorithms for a range of industries and use cases.
ACWA Robotics raised €4.8M (roughly USD $5.2M) in Seed funding from Banque des Territoires, FMH Circular Invest, and Capital & Innovation by Crédit Agricole Alpes Provence, as well as existing investors. Using the Corsican company’s pipe-climbing robots, utilities can gather data on their water infrastructure.
Netleaf raised $4M in funding in a round led by AgFunder. The Santa Cruz, California company’s robotic technology scans indoor cultivation crops, generating millions of data points on plant health and growth metrics.
Are you announcing your funding round soon? Submit it at stateofrobotics@fprimecapital.com