Move over SVB, time for some good news in robotics
Cool new startups, new funds, PR2 design files, etc.
I know it’s going to be a slow haul for startups with money tied up, but it’s at least guaranteed now, and no need to take predatory lending terms. It’s going to stay slow raising funds in robotics, but most robotics startups have always had that problem. So. On to some good news.
Build your own giant robot!
PR2 design files released! Yes, you too can now build your own adorable PR2.
Call for content: Present at TechCrunch Disrupt
Tech leaders, startup gurus, marketing mavens and hotshot VCs — don’t miss this call for content and your chance to share your expertise at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place September 19–21 in San Francisco. Show us what you know! Apply by April 21 to be a speaker at TechCrunch Disrupt.
Yamaha Motor Infused $100m into Robotics and AI Growth Initiatives
On March 13, 2023, Yamaha Motor announced the establishment of the Yamaha Motor Exploratory Fund, L.P. II. Aimed at exploring new technologies and possible growth opportunities, the company-supplied fund allocates $100M over a 10-year period. While that monetary injection will help Team Blue develop new products until 2023, Yamaha’s investment is a long time in the making.
Ambi deploying parcel sorting robots at OSM warehouses
Ambi Robotics is deploying its parcel-sorting robots at OSM Worldwide’s warehouses in the U.S. Based on the minimum four-year robots-as-a-service (RAAS) deal, the flagship AmbiSort A-Series system will be installed at OSM warehouses in Atlanta, Chicago, and Las Vegas.
Why Are We Letting the AI Crisis Just Happen?
Gary Marcus has a moment in The Atlantic - it’s a moment of immense peril in fact. Tech companies are rushing ahead to roll out buzzy new AI products, even after the problems with those products have been well documented for years and years. Read more here:
Microsoft just laid off one of its responsible AI teams
As the company accelerates its push into AI products, the ethics and society team is gone. Microsoft laid off its entire ethics and society team within the artificial intelligence organization as part of recent layoffs that affected 10,000 employees across the company,
has learned.Plus One Robotics Raises $50 Million in Funding
Plus One’s round was led by Scale Venture Partners, with Partner Rory O’Driscoll joining the board of directors. Top Tier Capital Partners, Tyche Partners, ROBO Global Ventures, Translink, McRock, and Pritzker Group Venture Capital also participated in the round alongside existing investors, which brings the company’s total funding to date to nearly $100 million.
Some cool global robotics startup I saw at Hello Tomorrow and around!
Some favorites:
Theker Robotics (Spain) – Developing advanced microelectronic soldering and desoldering technology for the electronics and semiconductor industries.
Qlayers (Netherlands)- Creating unique, environmentally friendly robotic solutions for coating large industrial surfaces.
Touch Sensity (France)- Making materials sensitive to mechanical physical interactions, in real time, without using sensors.
ADVANCED COMPUTING & ELECTRONICS
Embodme (France) – Redefining human-machine interaction with proprietary 3D touch & vision sensors.
EyeLight (Israel) – Breaking down the barriers between people and technology by creating digital worlds that feel human.
Inuru (Germany) –Visual user interface on every product – with breakthrough free-form OLED technology.
PhotonPath (Italy) – Enlightening People. We wake up every day to make the World more informed and connected.
QustomDot (Belgium) – Bringing Cd-free quantum dot inks to the microLED market.
Scantinel Photonics (Germany) – Game-changer for every autonomous journey.
TracXon (Netherlands) – The future of electronics: additive, sustainable and offering unlimited design freedom.
AEROSPACE
Hypersonix Launch Systems (Australia) – The fastest way to fly through the atmosphere.
Manta Aircraft (Italy) – Aircraft rethought: a disruptive hybrid-electric eV/STOL aircraft platform for a new regional
aviation.
Open Inductions (Australia) – [HOPE] Hybrid Operational Propulsion Engines.
Vaeridion (Germany) – Accelerating the green transformation of aviation with a small electric aircraft.
Innova Space (Argentina) – The first low-cost satellite constellation in Latin America.
Undefined technologies (United States of America) – Ion propulsion drone : the future of silent urban cargo delivery.
DIGITAL HEALTH & MEDICAL DEVICES
LEADOPTIK (United States of America) – Shrinking optics, expanding diagnosis.
MX Labs (Estonia) – Holistic health assessment on your smartphone.
REEV (France) – Empowers the daily mobility of people with walking disorders through a smart robotic knee brace.
IQ BIOZOOM (Poland) – Develops biosensing technology for non-invasive, real-time diagnostic tests.
ENERGY
Carnot Engines (United Kingdom) – Decarbonising long-haul transport & heavy-duty power with a zero-emission hydrogen engine.
Dual Fluid (Germany) – An entirely new fission technology that cuts today’s energy costs in half.
MAGNOTHERM (Germany) – Efficient, sustainable refrigeration systems, to make hydrogen liquefaction widely available.
Naco Technologies (Latvia) – Empowering hydrogen systems through future-proof nano-coatings to provide robustness and save material.
Natrion (United States of America) – Highly scalable solid-state batteries for enabling safe, fast-charging, and affordable electric vehicles.
Osmoses (United States of America) – Decarbonizing industrial separations and eliminating energy waste with a transformative membrane technology.
Perovskia Solar (Switzerland) – Achieving energy self-sufficiency, by enabling solar cells on every device.
Solaires Entreprises (Canada) – Recycling illumination to power electronic devices using Solaires’ PEROVSKITE photovoltaic technology.
SpinDrive (Finland) – Magnetic levitation for energy efficient rotating machinery.
Agora Energy (Canada) – Introducing the only battery technology that utilizes Carbon Dioxide for long duration Energy Storage.
ENVIRONMENT
Advanced Bacterial Sciences (United Kingdom) – Solutions by nature, for nature.
Drip.AI (Singapore) – Unlimited access to water anywhere with utility price.
IADYS (France) – The Jellyfishbot, the robot for floating waste and oil collection, water depollution and underwater measurement.
LATITUDO 40 (Italy) – Urban data analytics platform to design sustainable cities of the future.
Nevomo (Poland) – Implementing hyperloop and maglev-inspired transportation system on existing railway lines.
enaDyne (Germany) – The most efficient way to create green chemicals and e-fuels from CO2.
Panlys Biosecurity Solutions (India)– Safest indoor air for your living spaces and vehicles.
Aquacycl (United States of America) – Industrial wastewater treatment as-a-service helping companies protect climate and communities worldwide.
FOOD & AGRICULTURE
Biomineral Systems (United States of America) – Biomineral Soil Management and Agricultural Research Technologies for Climate Resilience-B-SMART.
DRONEQUBE (Turkey) – A UAV robotic platform to maintain non-stop, automated precision farming missions.
The Supplant Company (United Kingdom) – They turn agriculture’s most abundant renewable resources into replacements for the world’s most pervasive ingredients.
Vitiport (Slovakia) – Accelerating the green transformation of aviation with a battery-electric Microliner aircraft.
ZeroIN Foods (Canada) – Sweet fiber – the end of sugar overload.
Onego Bio (Finland) – Egg white protein without chickens, using precision fermentation.
Fabumin (Israel) – Turning waste into gold.
INDUSTRIAL BIOTECH & NEW MATERIALS
Algal Bio (Japan) – Foundry platform to develop novel products and solutions in all industries and
applications.
Allozymes (Singapore) – An enzyme engineering platform for cleaner, more scalable manufacturing, using custom enzymes.
FibreCoat (India) – Making high performance materials affordable.
Gozen Bioworks (United States of America) – They grow high-performance, premium next-gen leather.
Nanosci (Poland) – Air purification & disinfection technology, protecting people from pollution and low transmissions of airborne diseases.
NovoMOF (Switzerland) – Decarbonizing the power industry with metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
Reselo (Sweden) – Starting a rubber revolution to replace fossil-based materials with a sustainable alternative.
SEPPURE (Singapore) – They empower circularity.
SolOLED (United Kingdom) – Providing sustainable and cost-effective materials for solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes (SP-OLEDs).
Tandem Repeat Technologies (United States of America) – Smart materials from sustainable sources, inspired by the unique properties of squid proteins.
QpiVolta (India) – Accelerating the energy transition with advanced computing and AI-driven automation.
INDUSTRY 4.0 & AUTONOMOUS MACHINES
36ZERO VISION (Germany) – Automating visual inspection in industries through no-code computer vision.
Apellix (United States of America) – Drones that perform real work, like power washing, painting, and testing.
InPhocal (Netherlands) – Lasertech equipment with 400x more reach, up to 7x more speed and lower energy usage.
Parallel Flight Technologies (United States of America) – Pioneering intelligent hover, vertical-lift and autonomous UAV solutions to save lives, property and the environment.
Reliefed Technologies (Sweden) – Where design freedom meets mass production.
Rightbot Technologies (United States of America) – Robotics to supercharge warehouse operations.
Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers (United States of America) – TDSX, Bringing Deep Learning to the Deep Sea.
Voidless (Italy) – Box-on-demand packaging machines making ecommerce more sustainable.
Oculi (United States of America) – Ultra-fast and efficient smart vision.