Big Funding Rounds for Robotics

7-Eleven turns to Neubility, ABB launches new cobots

If you’re not getting enough insights from our newly launched Modern Delivery vertical, fear not - we’ve still got plenty of robotics and automation news below. It may be a holiday tomorrow, but robots are still getting the job done!

Positive Signals for Robotics Investment

The funding environment is showing signs of life for robotics and automation startups, as VCs take heed of new data that suggests robotic picking alone is set to be a $6.8 billion market by 2030, and the overall industrial robotics market will grow between 5-7% annually for the next four years. On the consumer side, restaurant customers are looking more and more enthusiastic about automation, with 58% of customers 13-38 feeling positively about the trend.

Realtime, Rentaus, Dexory, Contoro Haul in Fresh Funding

Getting down to the numbers, Renatus Robotics, based out of Tokyo, raised $2 million for its autonomous warehouse and logistics technology. Backers include Dawn Capital and e-LogiT co. Moving up in size: Dexory raised a $19 million series A, led by Atomico and joined by the likes of Lakestar, Kindred, Capnamic, and Maersk Growth. The British company makes robots that patrol the warehouse floor, to continuously monitor inventory levels and space availability. On the robotic arm side of things - Contoro Robotics raised $4.7 million for its software that allows a human operator to remotely operate machinery. And Realtime Robotics pulled in $9.5 million from Shinhan GIB and Kyobo Life Insurance for its own robotic arm software.

ABB Unveils New GoFa Cobots

Speaking of six-axis arms, industry giant ABB had big news of its own. The new GoFa 10 and GoFa 12 versions of its collaborative robot line can handle payloads of 10 and 12 kilograms, respectively. The industrial multinational also unveiled a new line of heavy-duty large robots that can handle up to 683 pounds. We’re excited to see that one potentially handle the world’s largest basket of french fries!

Neubility & 7-Eleven

While 7-Eleven might be working with Serve to handle robotic deliveries in the United States, it sounds like the convenience giant’s South Korean division has different ideas. The company is teaming up with Neubility, also based out of South Korea, starting with two locations in Seoul. Eight robots are involved in the initial pilot, which charges customers about 78 cents (USD) per order. On the tech-side, Neubility has opted to use V-SLAM over Lidar.

Neubility

In Other News

Hop Robotics gears up for commercial deployments of its suds slinger. RoboCat develops learning AI model. Tray robots turn heads in Indianapolis.