Soft Robotics, a US-based robotic technology spinout of Harvard University, raised $23m in series B funding from investors including corporates Yamaha Motor, Fanuc, Honeywell and Tefken yesterday.
Motorised vehicle manufacturer Yamaha, engineering technology producer Honeywell, industrial robotics supplier Fanuc and conglomerate Tefken joined Calibrate Ventures and Material Impact, which co-led the round, in addition to Scale Venture Partners.
Founded in 2012, Soft Robotics has developed padded robotic grippers that gently grasp objects in order to automate supply chain tasks involving unstructured and delicate items. The tools deploy artificial intelligence-driven machine vision to evaluate objects.
The technology is intended for applications such as food packaging and consumer goods returns. The cash will support the growth strategy of Soft Robotics, which has formed a strategic partnership with Fanuc.
The company secured $20m in a mid-2018 series A round led by Hyperplane Venture Capital that included Tefken unit Tekfen Ventures and Honeywell subsidiary Honeywell Ventures as well as ABB Technology Ventures and Taylor Farms Ventures, on behalf of power and automation equipment maker ABB and food producer Taylor Farms respectively.
Scale Venture Partners, Calibrate Ventures, Material Impact and Haiyin Capital also took part in the 2018 round. It followed a $4.5m seed round in 2015 that was led by Material Impact with contributions from Taylor Farm Ventures and Haiyin Capital.
The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing. Phoho courtesy of Soft Robotics, Inc.