Robotics safety firm Veo raises $29 million, with help from Amazon

Survey numerous industrial warehouses and also you’ll see numerous cages. It’s a security factor — successfully a approach of guaranteeing that robots don’t by chance damage folks. They’re massive, quick and made from metallic. We’re small, squishy and don’t at all times look the place we should always. It’s not an ideal resolution, however it’s the most effective we’ve had for a very long time.

As automation will increase in these areas, so, too, will the chance for harm. These kinds of security issues lie on the coronary heart of Veo Robotics’ founding ideas. Merely put, the Massachusetts-based agency builds software program options designed to assist people and robots coexist in a working house.

In the present day, the startup introduced that it has closed a $29 million Sequence B. The full contains $15 million raised final yr — although the agency opted to carry off on making the elevate public till securing $14 million in 2023. Safar Companions and Yamaha Motor Ventures participated within the spherical, following previous investments from massive names like Google Ventures and Baidu Ventures.

Essentially the most notable title this day trip, nonetheless is Amazon. The retail behemoth participated by the use of the $1 billion Industrial Innovation Fund it introduced virtually precisely a yr in the past. Robotics have been a key focus for the fund because the first wave of investments, which featured Agility Robotics, BionicHIVE and Mantis Robotics.

Amazon has been amassing its personal in-house robotic military since its 2012 acquisition of Kiva Programs. It’s straightforward to view these investments as a type of trial run for potential acquisitions, although the corporate has largely denied that it makes use of the cash as an on-boarding course of. That stated, it’s definitely a vote of confidence and, on the very least, most likely a sign that the corporate will start piloting this know-how in its personal workspaces — assuming it hasn’t already. Veo says the recent funding will go towards accelerating its work with “company companions.”

“The most recent technology of clever robotic programs work with folks, not individually from them,” says co-founder and CTO Clara Vu. “Unlocking this potential requires a brand new technology of security programs — that is Veo’s mission, and we’re very excited to be taking this subsequent step.”

Amazon’s programs have historically been enclosed. The Kiva robots, as an example, work in a confined space that requires house security gear for a human to enter, whereas its robotic arms function in their very own cells. Extra lately, nonetheless, the corporate has started branching out in programs just like the autonomous Proteus, which permit for nearer human-robot interplay.

“As traders, we had been drawn to Veo Robotics’ concentrate on security within the office,” says Industrial Innovation Fund director, Matt Peterson. “Their know-how is each collaborative and efficient, prioritizing worker well-being. We’re excited to help Veo Robotics and their imaginative and prescient to design progressive and human-centric robotics.”