Robotics Roundup #7: July 2024
Fashion, logistics, and neurosurgery
Welcome back to Robotics Roundup, a look at the month’s most important VC deals in the robotics industry. In July we saw Alphabet make a massive new investment in autonomous taxis via its Waymo subsidiary, a big round for robotics “brain” company Skild AI, and heavy investment in the logistics and warehousing verticals.
The Deals
Waymo raised $5B from its parent company, Alphabet. The self-driving car subsidiary last raised funding in 2021, and this new round follows news that Waymo will expand its robotaxi service network beyond current operations in San Francisco, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.
Skild AI raised a $300M Series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, SoftBank Group, and Bezos Expeditions. The Pittsburgh company is building “a shared, general-purpose brain” for robotics applications across a range of tasks and industries.
Saronic raised $175M in Series B funding led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from 8VC, Caffeinated Capital, Elad Gil, NightDragon, and others. The Austin company builds autonomous watercraft for the US Navy and allies.
Monarch Tractor raised $133M in Series C funding from Astanor and HH-CTBC Partnership. The Livermore, California-based company is building what it claims is the “world’s first fully electric, driver-optional smart tractor” along with an AI-enabled farm management platform.
Mytra emerged from stealth and announced $78M in combined Seed, Series A and Series B funding from a consortium that includes Greenoaks and Eclipse. The South San Francisco company builds software-defined robots to help grocers, retailers, and other warehouse-dependent businesses move and store material.
Standard Bots raised $63M in Series B funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Samsung Next. The Glen Cove, New York-based company builds robotic arms powered by software that is programmable via simple demonstration.
Clarapath raised $36M in a Series B funding round led by Northwell Ventures. The Hawthorne, NY-based company is building robots that automate tissue processing tasks in pathology labs.
unspun raised a $32M Series B round led by DCVC, with participation from Lowercarbon Capital, E12, Decathlon, and SOSV. The Oakland, California company is building 3D weaving technology for apparel, using robotics to enable low-waste, on-demand clothing manufacturing.
Navigantis announced $12M in Series A funding led by Puma Venture Capital. The Miami company is developing an interventional robotics platform to help surgeons with a range of procedures and indicators associated with neurovascular diseases, including strokes and aneurysms.
Cartken raised a $10M round of funding led by 468 Capital, with participation from investors like Magna International, Shell Ventures, and Mitsubishi Electric. The Oakland-founded, Munich-headquartered company builds autonomous delivery robots with last-mile, on-site logistics, and curbside pickup applications.
Sojo Industries raised $10M in Series A funding with participation from Schreiber Ventures and Tech Council Ventures. The Bristol, Pennsylvania company’s technology helps food and beverage providers automate packaging and assembly operations.
Exyn Technologies raised $5M in funding. The Philadelphia-based company is developing autonomous aerial robot systems to operate in complex environments where GPS is not available.
Jacobi Robotics launched with a $5M Seed round led by Moxxie Ventures, with participation from Foothill Ventures, Humba Ventures, and The House Fund. The Berkeley, California company’s software leverages motion planning technology to help engineers program robotic arms with greater speed and ease.
Aurea Imaging raised $3M in Series A funding from Pymwymic, among others. The Dutch company has developed a tractor-mounted sensor system to autonomously gather crop data from orchards, allowing farmers to remotely monitor growth, flowering, production, and other information.
Do you have questions, feedback, or a funding round to announce? Get in touch at stateofrobotics@fprimecapital.com