Investment in robotics startups stays hot

摘要

INVESTOR FUNDING IS CONTINUING TO FLOW into startups focused on warehouse robotics, including software-focused companies that use artificial intelligence (Al) for capabilities such as autonomous pick and place solutions leveraging robotic arms. Rather than focus on robotic hardware, these startups are Al and software focused. For example, Covariant, which offers Al-based software to enable autonomous order picking in fulfillment centers, recently announced it has raised $80 million in Series C funding, bringing its total capitalization to $147 million within two years of the company's public launch. Covariant will use the funding to continue its investment in research and development (R&D), as well as growing its team globally for its Covariant Brain solution. Covariant CEO Peter Chen said at the time of C Series funding in late July: "As of today, the Covariant Brain is powering a wide range of industrial robots to manage order picking, putwall, sorter induction-all for companies in various industries with drastically different types of products to manipulate. The breadth of use demonstrates the Covariant Brain can help robots of different types to manipulate new objects they've never seen before in environments where they've never operated."