Fifty-four producers of robots and robotics enabling technologies raised funding in September 2024, pulling in a total of $3.7 billion. This is the highest monthly funding amount for 2024.

September’s investment exceeded June 2024’s total – the previous monthly leader – by over $1 billion and was more than 2.5 times the 12-month trailing average of $1.4 billion. The total investment targeted to robotics companies for January through September 2024 equals approximately $14.6 billion.

You can follow all of The Robot Report‘s robotics investments coverage here.

The largest single robotics investment in September was a $2.2B post-IPO debt round from Aptiv, a developer of autonomous driving technologies. Aptiv’s funding accounted for nearly 60% of the monthly total.

Other companies attracting significant investment in September 2024 include Quicktron Robotics ($100M for mobile robots), Mendaera ($73M for robotic interventional platform), Seegrid ($50M for mobile robots), Quantum Systems ($40M for drones) and Pyka ($40M for autonomous electric aircraft).

Continuing a trend, makers of humanoid robots continued to attract sizable investment. Example companies receiving sizable funding amounts in September 2024 include Agibot, Unitree Robotics, Booster Robotics (Accelerating Evolution), Xinghaitu, Yobotics, and navel robotics.

Companies located in the United States and China received the majority of the September 2024 investment rounds with 17 and 14, respectively. Aptiv’s $2.2B round was large enough to boost Ireland into first place among countries receiving September 2024 investments. Firms based in China attracted the second most funding (approximately $1.2B), while companies in the U.S. secured a total of $335 million.

All funding classes were represented among September 2024’s investments. For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most rounds and investment amounts fell into the ‘Other’ category, a blanket term for investment types that fall outside the typical stages of funding that businesses go through.

What defines robotics investments?
The answer to this question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investments
Robotics investments should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowdsourced funding are excluded.

Robotics Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investments top $3.7B in September appeared first on The Robot Report.

Swiss-Mile raised $22M in August 2024 for its wheeled quadruped.

Fifty producers of robots and robotics enabling technologies received funding in August 2024, pulling in a total of approximately $1 billion. This figure is on par with the $1.2 billion average The Robot Report has tracked each of the previous 12 months. Investment targeted to robotics companies for the first eight months of 2024 equals about $10.86 billion. You can follow The Robot Report‘s investment section here.

The largest investments in August were secured by developers of autonomous driving technologies. As described in Table 1 (below), they include Aurora ($483M), Luminar ($100M), Kodiak Robotics, and Wayve. Other companies providing similar solutions include Kuandeng ($14M), Gatik, and LeddarTech ($7.5M).

Investment into companies developing healthcare robots was also robust, totaling about $130 million. Example funded companies include Neptune Medical ($97M) and Agile Medical ($14M).

Developers of humanoid robots, along with their quadrupedal counterparts, continue to attract attention from the investment community. Swiss-Mile ($22M), ZhongQing Robot ($14M), Holiday Robotics ($13M), Foundation ($11M), and Deep Robotics serve as examples.

Companies located in USA and China received the majority of the August 2024 investment rounds with 17 and 12, respectively. Firms based in the USA attracted over 80% of August 2024’s funding (approximately $872M), buoyed by large investments into Aurora, Luminar, Neptune Medical, and Kodiak Robotics.

All funding classes were represented among August 2024’s investments. For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most rounds and investment amounts fell into the ‘Other’ category, a blanket term for investment types that fall outside the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed, Series A, B, C, D, E and F funding).

August 2024 Robotics Investments

What defines robotics investments?
The answer to this question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investments
Robotics investments should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowdsourced funding are excluded.

Robotics Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

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Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investments near $1B in August appeared first on The Robot Report.

Robotics companies raised approximately $1.3 billion in July 2024. That figure is a result of 47 investments for producers of robots and robotics enabling technologies. July’s total is slightly more than the 12-month trailing investments average of $1.2 billion.

Investments for the first seven months of 2024 equals approximately $9.7 billion. The $9.7 billion figure compares favorably to the January to July 2023 total funding amount of $8 billion. Robotics companies raised $2.7 billion in June 2024, but that number was inflated by two large investments raised by autonomous vehicle companies.

Robotics investments will be a major topic at RoboBusiness, which is produced by The Robot Report and runs Oct. 16-17 in Santa Clara, Calif. F-Prime Capital will be speaking on Oct. 16 about investor shifts in the robotics landscape, while a panel on Oct. 17 will look at the current state of robotics investments. MassRobotics’ startup bootcamp will also cover how robotics startups can approach raising funding.

The two largest robotics investments in July 2024 were secured by software firms. Applied Intuition, a provider of simulation and other software solutions for autonomous vehicles, and Skild AI, a developer of robotics foundation models, landed $300 million in July 2024 investment.

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Saronic, a defense technology startup, raised $175 million for its autonomous surface vessels (ASVs). The Austin, Texas-based company said its ASVs serve as a “force multiplier” for the existing fleet, working alongside crewed systems and allowing naval forces to go farther and do more with less risk to life and mission.

Monarch Tractor raised $133 million in Series C funding. The California-based agribotics company will use its latest funding to further develop Autodrive, its autonomous operations product, for new global markets and crop sectors. The company also plans to expand its operational footprint domestically and globally, as well as follow its planned path to profitability. It has raised more than $220 million to date.

Two other notable investments went to companies developing robots for the restaurant and hospitality sectors. Botrista Technology, a supplier of a robotic beverage production platform, attracted $65 million of investment in July, while OakDeer Robotics, a producer of food cooking robots and related technologies, landed $27 million in funding.

Companies based in the United States and China received the most total investment. Companies based in the U.S. (19) and China (11) also received the majority of the funding rounds in July.

All funding types were well represented in July 2024 investment totals. For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most rounds and investment amounts fell into the ‘Other’ category, a blanket phrase for investment types that fall outside the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed, Series A, B, C, D, E and F funding).

For ongoing coverage of robotics investments, read The Robot Report‘s investments section.

Editor’s Note: Steve Crowe contributed to this report.

What defines robotics investments?
The answer to this question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investments
Robotics investments should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowdsourced funding are excluded.

Robotics Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investments top $1.3B in July appeared first on The Robot Report.

Forty-eight companies that make robots or relevant enabling technologies raised a total of $2.7 billion in June 2024. At press time, this was the highest monthly funding total of 2024. It exceeded May’s total by more than $500 million and was more than double the 12-month trailing investments average of $1.3 billion. Robotics investments for the first six months of 2024 totaled about $8.4 billion.

The largest investments were, once again, raised by developers of autonomous driving technologies. San Francisco-based Cruise raised $850 million from owner GM as it restarts its on-road operations. Aptiv raised $816 million, Waabi $200 million, 42dot $185 million and Tier IV $54 million. It should be noted that these five companies raised more than $2.1 billion alone in June.

June 2024 Robotics Investments

Robotics technologies for manufacturing operations also attracted substantial investment. Bright Machines attracted $126 million Series C funding. GrayMatter Robotics, a provider of an AI-powered solution that enables robots to self-program, raised $45 million in Series B funding. And Formic Technologies, a developer of turnkey robotic solutions as a service, raised $27.4 million in Series A funding.

Companies based in the U.S. and China received the majority of the funding rounds in June with 10 each. Once again, firms based in the U.S. attracted the most funding at approximately $1.1B, while Aptiv’s $816 million round was enough to boost Ireland into 2nd place. Five companies in Canada secured a total of $225.6 million, while four companies in both Korea and Japan received $198 million and $59.8 million in funding, respectively.

Global robotics investments for previous 12 months. | Credit: The Robot Report

Editor’s Note
What defines robotics investments? The answer to this question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investments
Robotics investments should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowdsourced funding are excluded.

Register now

Robotics Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Autonomous vehicles fuel $2.7B funding boom in June 2024 appeared first on The Robot Report.

Robotics investments for May 2024 topped $2.1 billion, the result of funding for 37 companies. The $2.1 billion is the highest monthly funding amount for the year 2024 and greatly exceeds the trailing 12-month average of $1.2 billion. Robotics funding through May 2024 totals approximately $5.7 billion.

The two largest robotics investments were raised by autonomous driving companies. UK-based Wayve raised a $1 billion Series C, while Massachusetts-based Motional raised $475 million from Hyundai. Motional’s funding came just weeks after partner Aptiv cut off financial support after incurring millions of dollars in losses.

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Drone companies also attracted substantial investments in May 2024. Aerodome, a developer of a drone-based data acquisition and analysis system for emergency response operations, attracted $21.5 million in Series A funding. Neros Technologies, a provider of autonomous drones and services for defense operations, and SwissDrones, a developer of unmanned helicopter systems for aerial missions beyond visual line of sight, raised $10.9 million (Seed) and $10 million (Series B), respectively.

Unlike previous months, companies located in the U.S. and China did not receive the largest funding amounts. The UK, as a result of Wayve’s outsized $1 billion round led the way in May 2024. Companies based in the U.S. and China received $852 and $138 million in investment, respectively. More typically, companies based in the U.S. (13) and China (8) received the majority of the rounds in May.

Two Series C rounds contributed $1.1 billion to May’s total of $2.1 billion. The remaining funding classes were all represented in May 2024.

Editor’s Note
What defines robotics investments? The answer to this question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investments
Robotics investments should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowdsourced funding are excluded.

Robotics Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investments drive past $2.1B in May appeared first on The Robot Report.

Figure 1: Global Robotics Investment – Trailing 12 Months.

Robotics investments reached at least $466 million in April 2024, the result of 36 funding rounds. The April investments figure lagged recent months and was the smallest amount since November 2023. April 2024’s investment total was significantly less than the trailing 12-month average of $1.1 billion (see Figure 1).

Providers of collaborative robots scored the two largest rounds. As described in Table 1, Collaborative Robotics’ $100 million Series B round was April’s largest investment. As its name implies, the California-based firm is developing collaborative robots and enabling software for their use. China’s Rokae, a provider of collaborative and industrial robots, secured $70 million in April. 

April 2024 Robotics Investments

Other companies attracting substantial rounds illustrate the broad range of company types that received funding in April 2024. For example, Kraken Robotics, a developer of unmanned underwater vehicles and sensors, pulled in $45 million, while Serve Robotics, a provider of autonomous mobile delivery robots, attracted $40 million. Other April funding leaders included Asensus Surgical ($20 million), a supplier of robotic laparoscopy systems, and humanoid robot provider Mentee Robotics ($17 million).

As with previous months, companies located in the United States and China received the largest funding amounts, $239 million and $115 million, respectively (See Figure 2). Companies based in the U.S. (14) and China (9) also received the majority of the rounds.

For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most fell into the ‘Other’ category, a catchall phrase for investment types that fall outside the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed, Series A, B, C, D, E and F funding).

Figure 2: April 2024 robotics investment by country.

Figure 3: April 2024 robotics funding by investment type and amount.

Editor’s Note
What defines robotics investments? The answer to this question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and Investing
Robotics investments should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowdsourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and Intelligent Systems Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investments top $466M in April 2024 appeared first on The Robot Report.

Chinese and U.S. companies led March 2024 robotics investments. Credit: Eacon Mining, Dan Kara

Thirty-seven robotics firms received funding in March 2024, pulling in a total monthly investment of $642 million. March’s investment figure was significantly less than February’s mark of approximately $2 billion, but it was in keeping with other monthly investments in 2023 and early 2024 (see Figure 1, below).

California companies secure investment

As described in Table 1 below, the two largest robotics investments in March were secured by software suppliers. Applied Intuition, a provider of software infrastructure to deploy autonomous vehicles at scale, received a $250 million Series E round, while Physical Intelligence, a developer of foundation models and other software for robots and actuated devices, attracted $70 million in a seed round. Both firms are located in California.

Other California firms receiving substantial rounds included Bear Robotics, a manufacturer of self-driving indoor robots that raised a $60 million Series C round, and unmanned aerial system (UAS) developer Firestorm, whose seed funding was $20 million. For a PDF version of Table 1, click here.

March 2024 robotics investments

Drones get fuel for takeoff in March 2024

Providers of drones, drone technologies, and drone services also attracted substantial individual investments in March 2024. Examples included Firestorm and Gather AI, a developer of inventory monitoring drones whose Series A was $17 million.

In addition, drone services provider Preneu obtained $11 million in Series B funding, and DRONAMICS, a developer of drone technology for cargo transportation and logistics operations, got a grant worth $10.8 million.

Companies in U.S. and China received the majority of the March 2024 funding, at $451 million and $100 million, respectively (see Figure 2, below).

Companies based in Japan and the U.K. were also well represented among the March 2024 investment totals. Four companies in Japan secured a total of $34.7 million, while an equal number of firms in the U.K. attracted $13.5 million in funding.

Nearly 40% of March’s robotics investments came from a single Series E round — that of Applied Intuition. The remaining funding classes were all represented in March 2024 (Figure 3, below).

Editor’s notes

What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing

Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies

Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification

Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

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The post March 2024 robotics investments total $642M appeared first on The Robot Report.

The largest robotics investment in January 2024 was a $100 million round secured by Norway-based 1X, a developer of humanoids (See Table 1 below). Chinese humanoid developer Robot Era raised $14 million in February.

Makers of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for agricultural operations were well represented among February robotics investments. Examples include Bluewhite ($39 million), Burro ($24 million), Saga Robotics ($11.5 million), farm-ng ($10M), and Ant Robotics ($2 million).

January 2024 Robotics Investments

Companies based in China attracted the greatest investment amount ($229 million), the result of 17 rounds (Figure 2, below). The leading investments among Chinese firms included Zhuoyi Intelligent Technology, a developer of drones and other classes of unmanned systems, autonomous truck developer Senior Automation, and GUOZI, a producer of AMRs.

Companies based in the United States raised $154 million in January 2024, while Norway, buoyed by the $100 million 1X investment, placed third among countries with $113 million in funding.

Figure 2: January 2024 Robotics Investment by Country

While Series B rounds attributed for most of the January investments, all funding types were well represented in January 2024 (Figure 3 below).

Figure 3: January 2024 Robotics Funding by Investment Type and Amounts

Editor’s note
What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics companies raised $578M in January appeared first on The Robot Report.

Robotics investments rose in February 2024. Sources: Unitree, Dan Kara

Robotics investments equaled $1.9 billion in February 2024, the result of 51 funding rounds. Last month’s figure was the largest since June 2023’s total $2.1 billion, and nearly double that of February 2023’s robotics investment total of $620 million.

February 2024 robotics transactions by month.

Similar to January 2024’s robotics fundings, the largest February 2024 investment was once again secured by a developer of humanoid robots, in this case Silicon Valley-based Figure AI, to the tune of a $675 million Series B round. Another maker of legged systems, Unitree Robotics, also received $140 million in Series B funding last month. For a PDF version of Table 1, click here.

Autonomous transport joins humanoids in February 2024 funding

Some of the largest individual investments for February 2024 went to providers of software and hardware solutions for self-driving vehicles. Recogni, a provider of vision-based perception solutions for autonomous driving, pulled in a $102 million Series C round.

In addition, Uhnder, a developer of radar-on-chip technologies for advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) and autonomous transportation, attracted over $50 million in Series D funding.

As with previous months, companies located in U.S. and the China received the majority funding amounts, $1.2 billion and $281 million, respectively (see Figure 2, below). Companies based in Switzerland, punching above their weight, secured a total of $253 million.

Figure 2: February 2024 robotics investments by region.

Companies based in the U.S. and China also received the majority of the rounds in February — 19 and 10, respectively.

Four Series B rounds contributed $850 million to February’s total robotics investment of $1.9 billion. The remaining funding classes were all represented in February 2024 (Figure 3, below).

February 2024 investments by type.

Editor’s notes

What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing

Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies

Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation.

Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification

Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

Register now

The post Robotics investment rebounds in February 2024, totaling $1.9B appeared first on The Robot Report.

In December 2023, makers of autonomous mobile robots for indoor applications such as e-commerce fulfillment were well represented. Examples include GreyOrange ($135M), Cyngn ($5M), Instock ($3.2M) and SWARM Robotics.

Companies producing mobile systems for outdoor use also received sizable rounds. For example, Mu Qin Zhi Neng ($5M), Oak Heron Technology ($2.5M), and Greenfield ($2M) all produce systems for agricultural operations, while Gecko Robotics ($100M) provides robots for industrial inspection.

Robotics Investments - December 2023

As seen in Figure 2, U.S. companies received the greatest number of rounds (14) and the greatest investment amount ($512M). This figure was fueled by significant outlays for Shield AI ($200M), a developer of an autonomy stack for aircraft operations, and Gecko Robotics ($100M). Chinese firms also received substantial funding ($170M, 12 companies), of which $85M went to Zhiyuan Robotics, a Shanghai-based developer of humanoid robots. Companies in Germany ($16M), Korea ($11M), and Switzerland ($11M), also received significant rounds.

Figure 2: December 2023 Robotics Investment by Country

All funding types were well represented in December 2023 (Figure 3, below). For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most rounds and investment amounts fell into the ‘Other’ category, followed by Series A funding rounds.

Figure 3: December 2023 Robotics Funding by Investment Type and Amounts

Total robotics funding for 2023 equals approximately $12.9 billion (Figure 1, below). The average monthly robotics investment over that period equals about $1.07 billion. Funding in November 2023 was $418 million. You can read all The Robot Report‘s investment coverage here.

Figure 1: Monthly Robotics Investment for 2023

Editor’s note
What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investments top $749M in December 2023 appeared first on The Robot Report.

May Mobility launched an autonomous driving shuttle service in November at an Arizona retirement community.

Robotics investments reached about $418 million in November 2023 as a result of 40 funding rounds. November’s $418 million was the lowest monthly funding amount through the first 11 months of 2023. With the November investments, robotics funding for the first 11 months of 2023 totals approximately $12.1 billion.

The two largest individual investment rounds for November 2023 went to providers of self-driving software and hardware. May Mobility, a provider of autonomous driving technology for commercial fleets, pulled in a $105 million Series D round, while Eacon Mining, a developer of autonomous haulage solutions for operations at surface mines, raised more than $55 million in Series C funding.

Other companies receiving sizeable funding rounds in November 2023 include GITAI, a developer of remote-controlled robots to support astronaut’s operations in space ($47.5 million), and China-based HCFA, a manufacturer and integrator of industrial automation and robotics products ($38 million).

As with previous months in 2023, companies located in China and the United States received the majority of robotics investments, $166 million and $149 million, respectively. Companies based in China and the U.S. also received the majority of the rounds (23 of 40 investments between them), with the companies in the remaining countries each receiving 3 or fewer investments. Two investments into the Japanese firms GITAI and Sensyn Robotics resulted in $63 million in funding.

All types of robotics investments were well represented in November 2023 (Figures 2 and 3). For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most rounds and investment amounts fell into the ‘Other’ category, a catchall phrase for investment types that fall outside the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed, Series A, B, C, D, E and F funding). Michigan-based May Mobility’s outsized Series D investment ($105 million) accounted for approximately one-quarter of all November 2023 funding.

For a recap of the investments, see the table below or view a downloadable table here.

Editor’s note
What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investments reach $418M in November 2023 appeared first on The Robot Report.

Table 1: October 2023 Robotics Funding and Investment

In October, companies located in the USA, China and Germany received the majority funding amounts, receiving $530, $260, and $101 million, respectively (See Figure 1, below). Companies based in the USA received the majority of the rounds (22), while Chinese companies secured 10 investments.

The types of businesses receiving funding in October varied widely in their technologies, products and services. Unlike previous months in 2023, where surgical robotics companies and providers of self-driving software and hardware solutions for autonomous transportation dominated, no general investment theme emerged. It should be noted, however, that Didi Woya ($149 million) and Pony.ai ($100 million), both autonomous transportation solutions providers, did secure sizable funding rounds.

Figure 1: October 2023 Robotics Investment by Country

For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most rounds and investment amounts fell into the ‘Other’ category, a blanket term for investment types that fall outside the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed rounds followed by Series A, B, C, D, E and F funding). Two late-stage fundings, Shield AI (Series F) and Pony.ai (Series D), accounted for approximately one-third of the total October 2023 funding amounts..

Figure 2: October 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Type

Figure 3: October 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Number and Amounts

Editor’s note: What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and Investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and Intelligent Systems Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics investment for October totals $980M appeared first on The Robot Report.

Companies located in the USA, China and Israel received the most rounds and the most funding amounts, dwarfing other countries (Figure 1, below). Companies based in the USA received the majority of the rounds (23), which resulted in a total funding inflow of $537 million. Firms based in China attracted $141 million in funding (coming from 17 investments), while four investments in Israeli companies accounted for $94M in investment.

The types of businesses and their offerings varied widely among the funded companies. As usual, companies offering robotic surgical systems and enabling technologies attracted sizable rounds. CMR Surgical ($164 million) and Virtual Incision ($30 million) serve as examples.

Also consistent with 2023 funding trends, providers of self-driving software and hardware solutions for autonomous transportation, also received substantial funding. Stack AV ($1 billion), Kodiak Robotics ($75 million), FERNRIDE ($19 million) and AutoCore ($10 million), exemplify.

Companies offering unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), usually coupled with drone-enabled data and analytics services, continue to receive sizable funding rounds. These providers typically focus on surveying and inspection applications for their offerings, with construction, agriculture, utilities and energy sectors as the target markets. Suppliers offering solutions to the defense and security sectors also attracted funding. Examples include AeroVironment ($109M), Treeswift ($11M), Shield AI ($150M) and Perceptual Robotics ($3M).

Figure 1: September 2023 Robotics Investment by Country

For both the total number of investments and the total amount of investment, most funding fell under the aegis of ‘Other’, a catchall descriptor for investments that do not include the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed rounds followed by Series A, B, C, D and E funding). A single Series D round (CMR Surgical, $164M) accounted for approximately 9% of September 2023’s funding totals.

Figure 2: September 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Type

Figure 3: September 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Number and Amounts

Table 1: September 2023 Robotics Funding and Investment

Editor’s note: What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and Investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and Intelligent Systems Companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from a number of public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics companies raised $1.8B in September 2023 appeared first on The Robot Report.

Companies located in the U.S., China and Israel received the most rounds and the most funding amounts, dwarfing other countries (Figure 1, below). Companies based in the USA received the majority of the rounds (23), which resulted in a total funding inflow of $537 million. Firms based in China attracted $141 million in funding (coming from 17 investments), while four investments in Israeli companies accounted for $94M in investment.

Companies offering robotic surgical systems and enabling technologies were particularly strong in August. Examples include PROCEPT BioRobotics ($150M), Vicarious Surgical ($45M), Ronovo Surgical ($27M), and Endorobotics ($8M).

Providers of self-driving software and hardware solutions for autonomous transportation, led by Pony.ai ($139M), also received substantial funding. Other companies include Innoviz Technologies ($65M), Helm.ai ($55M) and Imagry ($15M).

Figure 1: August 2023 Robotics Investment by Country

All funding types were well represented in the August 2023 investment review (Figure 2). Approximately one-quarter of the August 2023 investments were Pre-Seed and Seed rounds.

More than one-half of the August 2023 investment amounts fell under the aegis of ‘Other,’ a catchall descriptor for investments that do not include the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed rounds followed by Series A, B, C, D and E funding). Investments in the ‘Other’ category accounted for over $500M in funding (Figure 3, below).

Figure 2: August 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Type

Figure 3: August 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Number and Amounts

Editor’s note: What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from a number of public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post Robotics companies raise $851M in August 2023 appeared first on The Robot Report.

Table 1: July 2023 Robotics Funding and Investment

Companies based in China received the majority of the rounds (18), which resulted in a total funding inflow of $501 million (Figure 1, below). Firms based in the USA attracted $1.2 billion in funding (coming from 14 rounds), with investment into autonomous vehicle technology provider Aurora accounting for $820 million of that sum. Japan’s Telexistence, a provider of autonomous mobile robots for retail operations, attracted $160 million in funding. This single investment propelled Japan into third place among countries for total July 2023 funding amounts.

In keeping with well-established robotics funding trends, providers of self-driving software and hardware solutions for autonomous transportation secured sizable investment amounts. Examples include Aurora ($820M), Robosense ($164M), and HoloMatic ($48M).

July 2023 robotics investments were notable for the large number of rounds into producers of AMR solutions. Collaborative Robotics ($30M), Seegrid ($16M), Suzhou Aijiwei Robot ($14M), and Syrius Robotics ($14M) serve as examples.

Providers of drones, drone-enabled analytic services and enabling technologies also continue to attract the attention of the investment community. For example, Ehang ($23M), Verity ($11M), Lyncon ($5M) and others received rounds.

Figure 1: July 2023 Robotics Investment by Country

June 2023 robotics investments were atypical in that most funding fell under the aegis of ‘Other’, a catchall descriptor for investments that do not include the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed rounds followed by Series A, B, C, D and E funding).

Figure 2: July 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Type

Figure 3: July 2023 Robotics Funding Amounts by Investment Number and Amounts

Editor’s note: What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.

The post July robotics investments approach $2B appeared first on The Robot Report.