The five things humanoid robots need to scale
Humanoids Summit, plus Pollen Robotics, Hugging Face etc.
Actually let’s make that the SIX things that humanoid robots need to scale, thanks to Ingo Keller’s suggestion to include Societal Acceptance.
Funding/Financing
Facilities
Supply Chain
Skills
Support and Service
Societal Acceptance.
I shared these thoughts on a great panel at the close of The Humanoids Summit in London, with Jenny Read from ARIA, Rory Daniels from TechUK, Ingo Keller from the National Robotarium and Rueben Scriven from Interact Analysis.
From extensive experience building ecosystems to support the commercialization of robotics technologies, from Silicon Valley Robotics to IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, most discussions only focus on one of these six aspects. Funding or financing is only the very first step. We need facilities to prototype and small batch manufacture before robotics companies can benefit from more established manufacturing pipelines. Ideally facilities that include testing capabilities - something that Circuit Launch is able to provide.
Securing supply chain availability and redundancy is a whole topic for another post.
Accessing the skills needed is challenging, although more mature robotics companies have great track records in utilizing outsourced software development etc. often from industries outside of, or adjacent to, robotics. Basically robots are enterprise software companies on legs, or wheels.
Once you start shipping robots then the service and support infrastructure is critical and there are also a lot of adjacent industry service providers that robotics companies are starting to leverage (for example utilizing printer companies - full of global technical support teams).
And for Societal Acceptance, then the work we’re doing on drafting standards guidelines and bringing the various global standards organizations together (via IEEE RAS) is a critical component. Save the date Sept 15 for a special workshop in the UK on Defining Robot Dexterity!
Hope to share more details from some of the other super interesting panels and keynotes at The Humanoids Summit.
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Robotics News
Want a humanoid open source robot for just $3000? Hugging Face is on it. - Ars Technica (with a lot of help from Rob Knight at The Robot Studio)
Hugging Face Unveils Two New Humanoid Robots - TechCrunch (actually it’s three if you also count Pollen’s Open Duck Mini, the Disney inspired bot)
China’s Startups Race to Dominate the Coming AI Robot Boom - Bloomberg
Humanoid Robots Is ‘The Space Race Of Our Time’, Says Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas - Forbes
Elon Musk dreams of thousands of robots working in factories. Tesla’s first Optimus lead has doubts. - Business INsider
Amazon’s sprawling warehouse robot factories offer a glimpse into modern US manufacturing - Business Insider
ABB Reportedly Exploring $3.5 Billion Sale of Robotics Business - PYMNTS
UK trial shows space robots could build solar farms in orbit - TNW
UK’s answer to DARPA invests $23.3M in touchy-feely robots - The Register
Farmers fuming over California’s ban on driverless tractors, other robots - NBC Bay AREA
McGovern, Latta, Stevens, Obernolte Announce Re-launch of Congressional Robotics Caucus - Jim McGovern
Which countries are ahead in the global autonomous vehicle race? - World Economic Forum
The Deals
While we’re waiting for my monthly funding roundup - here’s the latest robotics deals via F-Prime Capital:
Quantum Systems raised €160M in funding led by Balderton Capital, with participation from fellow new investors Hensoldt, Airbus Defense and Space, Bullhound Capital, and LP&E AG. The Munich-based company builds AI-powered aerial intelligence systems for defense, emergency services, and industrial applications.
Mach Industries raised $100M in funding co-led by Khosla Ventures and Bedrock Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital. The Huntington Beach, California company is building unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as a network of decentralized microfactories for the defense industry.
Orca AI raised a $72.5M Series B round led by Brighton Park Capital, with participation from Ankona Capital and Hyperlink Ventures. The London company builds autonomous shipping technology.
Saildrone raised $60M in funding led by the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark. The Bay Area company builds autonomous sailing drones for autonomous maritime security, ocean mapping, and ocean data gathering.
Vivodyne announced $40M in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from new investors Lingotto Investment Management, Helena Capital, and Fortius Ventures. The San Francisco company uses robotics and AI to test biopharmaceutical drugs on lab-grown human tissues, eliminating the need for animal testing.
Posha raised $8M in Series A funding led by Accel with participation from Xeed Ventures, Waterbridge Ventures, and others. The Silicon Valley company is creating a countertop cooking robot where users add ingredients and select from a list of recipes.
MX3D raised €7M in Series A funding led by EDF Pulse Ventures, with participation from ING Sustainable Investments. The Amsterdam-based company has developed a new kind of robotic metal 3D printing technology.
Intrepid Labs raised $7M in Seed funding led by AVANT BIO. The Toronto company is using robotics and AI to refine drug formulation and accelerate therapeutic development.
RoboForce raised an additional $5M on top of the $10M it raised in January. The Silicon Valley company is developing humanoid robots for use in challenging environments like manufacturing, mining, and outer space.
Milvus Robotics raised $4.5M in funding led by Türk Telekom Ventures, with participation from APY Ventures, Türkiye Development Fund, Maxis Ventures, and Inveo Ventures. The Ankara-based company is building robots for use in warehouse and logistics settings.
Speedbird Aero raised €3.5M led by Lince Capital, with participation from Explorer Investments, Cedrus Capital, and AcNext Capital. The São Paulo company is building logistics drones capable of transporting food, medicine, and other small packages.
TEKEVER raised an undisclosed amount of funding from existing investors including Ventura Capital, Baillie Gifford, the NATO Innovation Fund, Iberis Capital, and Crescent Cove. The Lisbon-based company builds autonomous aerial drones offering “surveillance-as-a-service” technology.
Robotics Events
Bots&Beer&BoardGames Mountain View - June 4
Robotics Invest Boston - June 10-11
CVPR Nashville Tennessee - June 11-15
Hugging Face Le Robot Hackathon Mountain View - June 14-15
Hugging Face Le Robot Hackathon Mountain View - June 14-15
(Hugging Face SF Hackathon and Robot Build Nights links coming soon)
Hard Tech Venture Summit & Startup Manufacturing Workshop - June 18-19
Deep Tech Week Robot Party - June 22
SVR Robotics Leadership Summit - June 30
Actuate - Sep 23-24
SVR Robotics Investment Summit - Sep 25
ROSCON Singapore - Oct 27-30
SVR Robotics Leadership Summit - Dec 10
Humanoids Summit - Dec 11-12
Join the organizing team at Silicon Valley Robotics - bots&beer@svrobo.org
Thank you for sharing!