Robotics Roundup #6: June 2024
Robotic manufacturing, autonomous trucking, and more defense tech
Welcome to Robotics Roundup, an overview of last month’s most important VC deals in the robotics industry. In June we saw significant investments in the manufacturing and logistics space, a big cash infusion for autonomous trucking, and a continuation of May’s bump in defense tech investment.
The Deals
Cruise received an $850M investment from parent company General Motors. The autonomous vehicle subsidiary will use the funds to relaunch its robotaxi services in Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston.
Waabi raised $200M in Series B funding led by Uber and Khosla Ventures, with participation from strategic investors like NVIDIA, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Porsche Automobil Holding SE, Scania Invest, and Ingka Investments. The Toronto company is building an end-to-end AI system to support autonomous trucking that is says will be ready for deployment next year.
Bright Machines raised $106M in Series C funding from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, along with NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, Jabil, and Shinhan Securities. J.P. Morgan also provided $20M in venture debt. The San Francisco company offers a software-defined full-stack automation solution for manufacturing facilities.
GrayMatter Robotics raised a $45M Series B round led by Wellington Management, with participation from NGP Capital, Euclidean Capital, Advance Venture Partners, and SQN Venture Partners along with existing investors. The Los Angeles company’s robots autonomously handle common manufacturing tasks like sanding, polishing, grinding, coating, and finishing.
Vecna Robotics added $40M in new funding to its Series C, bringing the total round to $100M. Tiger Global Management, Proficio Capital Partners, and IMPULSE participated. The Waltham, Massachusetts company creates self-driving forklifts, pallet jacks, and tuggers for use in warehouses and manufacturing facilities.
Formic raised $27.4M in a Series A funding round led by Blackhorn Ventures. The Chicago company provides pack-and-stack robots for food, chemical, and consumer packaged goods in a robotics-as-a-service offering charged by the hour.
Kinetic raised a $21M Series B led by Menlo Ventures, including strategic investments from the venture arms at Liberty Mutual and Allstate. The Santa Ana, California company’s robotic sensors — armed with computer vision and machine learning tech — diagnose and recalibrate the sensors and software in damaged cars.
Planted Solar announced it had raised $20M in Series A funding as it emerged from stealth. Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Khosla Ventures led the round. The Oakland, California company uses construction robots to speed up the deployment of solar power plants.
coboworx raised $12.2M in funding from Northstar Family Holdings, SquareOne Venture Capital, and Picus Capital. The German company’s palletizing and machine tending systems are designed to be modular so that small and medium-sized businesses can automate specific systems, then expand as needed.
ARX Robotics raised a $9.6M Seed round led by NATO Innovation Fund, Discovery Ventures, and Project A Ventures. The Munich defense tech company’s modular, unmanned ground vehicles can be customized for a variety of use cases including training, transport, and reconnaissance.
Eyebot raised $6M in Seed funding led by AlleyCorp and Ubiquity Ventures with participation from Humba Ventures, Ravelin, and Spacecadet. The Boston company is building self-service vision testing technology, which automatically tests users’ eyes within 90 seconds.
MORFO raised $4.3M in funding from a syndicate of investors that includes pro rugby player Antoine Dupont and international soccer star Raphaël Varane. The Parisian company uses autonomous drones to survey and replant deforested land in the tropics.
Do you have questions, feedback, or a funding round to announce? Get in touch at stateofrobotics@fprimecapital.com