Sarcos Robotics, a US-based industrial robot developer backed by corporates Microsoft, Caterpillar and Schlumberger, attracted $40m on Tuesday in a series C round led by investment firm Rotor Capital.
The oversubscribed round also featured ‘most’ of the company’s existing backers. It was founded in 1983 and acquired by defence and industrial technology supplier Raytheon in 2007 before its CEO led a buyout in 2015, since which it has raised approximately $96m.
Sarcos produces robotic systems with robust and flexible materials tailored to function in industrial factories and harsh outdoor climates.
The round comes as Sarcos prepares to launch an exoskeleton called Guardian XO that will compensate for gravity and inertia to support dangerous and exhausting manual labour. It will be available for a monthly subscription fee that also covers personnel training and servicing.
The company’s offering also includes automated ground drones suited to hazardous terrains, and a robotic dual-arm that can hoist items weighing up to 1,000 pounds. The series C capital will fund commercial production of Guardian XO.
Rotor Capital partner Brian Finn has taken a board seat Sarcos alongside Cecilia Prieto, a vice-president at oilfield services firm Schlumberger.
Sarcos closed a $15.6m series A round in 2017 featuring Schlumberger, software publisher Microsoft, Caterpillar Ventures and GE Ventures, subsidiaries of construction machinery producer Caterpillar and industrial and power technology provider General Electric.
The series A round included Cottonwood Technology Fund, two unnamed investment firms and Sarcos’s co-founders.
DIG Investment and Alex, Brown & Sons co-led the company’s $30m series B round in 2018, investing with Microsoft, GE Ventures, Caterpillar Ventures, Schlumberger and Cottonwood Technology Fund.
GE Ventures is in the process of having its assets divested to other venture capital investors but has not confirmed whether it has sold its stake in Sarcos.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.