US-based robotics technology developer Elementary Robotics completed a $12.7m series A round yesterday featuring Toyota AI Ventures, a strategic investment vehicle for automotive manufacturer Toyota.
Venture capital firm Threshold Ventures led the round, which included Fika Ventures, Fathom Capital and Ubiquity Ventures, increasing Elementary’s overall funding to $17.5m. Mo Islam of Threshold Ventures has taken a board seat at the company in connection with its investment.
Founded in 2017, Elementary has created robotics technology that combines deep learning artificial intelligence with advanced camera systems to help automate inspection processes in manufacturing.
Jason Puckett, vice-president of manufacturing at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, said: “Toyota is always looking for ways to leverage innovative technologies to help our employees and improve the manufacturing process, and we are excited to partner with Elementary in our Indiana plant.
“Elementary’s platform will bring value to our production lines by allowing us to automate traceability scans and add AI, machine vision and automation.”
Fika Ventures and Fathom Capital had previously co-led the company’s $3.6m seed round in late 2018, investing alongside Toyota AI Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures, Riot.vc, Osage University Partners and Stage Venture Partners.
