Robotics Roundup #3: March 2024
Servers, software, and autonomous airlines
Welcome to Robotics Roundup, with the month’s most important VC deals in the robotics industry. This month was big for robotics software infrastructure and computer vision.
The Deals
Applied Intuition raised a $250M Series E led by Bilal Zuberi at Lux Capital, Elad Gil, and strategic investor Porsche Investments Management. Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst also joined, among others. The Silicon Valley company develops software infrastructure to develop, test, and deploy autonomous vehicles at scale, and is now valued at $6B.
Physical Intelligence emerged from stealth with a $70M Seed round led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, OpenAI, and Sequoia Capital. The San Francisco company is developing foundation models and learning algorithms to power robotics technology.
Bear Robotics raised $60M in Series C funding led by LG Electronics. The Silicon Valley company creates autonomous robots that assists staff in the hospitality industry with table service.
Viam announced $45M in Series B funding, with participation from Union Square Ventures and Battery Ventures. The New York company’s software is designed to streamline interaction with devices across IoT, robotics, smart home, and industrial automation.
Robovision raised a $42M Series A led by Target Global and Astanor Ventures, with participation by Red River West. The Belgian company builds AI-powered computer vision to allow machines to see, currently in use in the agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail sectors.
Neural Propulsion Systems raised $17.5M in a Series B round led by Cota Capital with contributions from GM Ventures and RTX Ventures. The Bay Area company develops digital imaging radar technology for the mobility and defense industries.
Gather AI raised a $17M Series A-1 led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from Tribeca Venture Partners, Dundee Venture Capital, Expa, and Bling Capital. The Pittsburgh company makes computer vision and AI-powered inventory monitoring solutions for warehouses.
RIOS Intelligent Machines raised $13M in a Series B round co-led by Yamaha Motor Corporation and IAG Capital Partners. The Silicon Valley company is deploying AI-powered robotics and vision tech into manufacturing and automation use cases in the packaged food, beverage distribution, and woodworking industries.
Dronamics announced an equity investment of €10M (roughly USD $10.9M) in funding from the European Innovation Council. The Bulgarian company is Europe’s first licensed cargo drone airline, operating a fleet that can carry up to 770 lbs in cargo up to 1,550 miles.
Glacier raised a $7.7M venture round from New Enterprise Associates and Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund. The San Francisco company’s robots streamline recyclable sorting while gathering real-time data on recycling streams for businesses.
Buzz Solutions raised $5M in growth funding in a round led by GoPoint Ventures, with additional participation from Blackhorn Ventures and MaC Venture Capital. The Silicon Valley company uses drones as part of the visual inspections that help feed a predictive analytics platform for energy infrastructure.
Orchard Robotics announced $3.8M in combined Seed and pre-Seed funding led by General Catalyst and Contrary, respectively. The Seattle company enables precision crop management through its AI-driven camera systems, which are affixed to farm vehicles and collect data on fruit count, size, color, growth rate, and more.
Cambrian Robotics announced a $3.5M Seed+ round led by Cybernetix Ventures and KST Invest GmbH, with participation from Yamaha Motor Ventures and Digital Media Professionals. The London-based machine vision company, which boasts proprietary software capable of identifying small and transparent items, currently works in the automotive and manufacturing industries.
Automated Architecture raised a £2.6M (roughly USD $3.3M) Seed round led by Miles Ahead, with participation from Robotics & Discrete Automation and Robotics & Automation Ventures, Rival Holdings, Morgan Stanley, and others. Often abbreviated as “AUAR” (pronounced “our”), the London company is building a network of distributed micro-factories for sustainable timber housing.
Are you announcing your funding round soon? Submit it at stateofrobotics@fprimecapital.com