Lightspeed Venture Partners
Assembly Line
Skild AI Raises $300M Series A To Build A Scalable AI Foundation Model For Robotics
Skild AI, an AI robotics company building a scalable foundation model for robotics, announced it has closed a $300M Series A funding round. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, SoftBank Group, and Jeff Bezos (through Bezos Expeditions), with participation from Felicis Ventures, Sequoia, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, CRV, Amazon, SV Angel, and Carnegie Mellon University. The funding brings the company to a valuation of $1.5B. The capital will be used to continue scaling the company’s model and training datasets for future commercial deployment of its technology, in addition to hiring for roles across AI, robotics, engineering, operations, and security.
Skild AI is building intelligence that is grounded in the physical world. The company is breaking the data barrier in robotics, training its model on at least 1,000X more data points than competing models. As opposed to vertically designed robots that are built for specific applications, Skild’s model serves as a shared, general-purpose brain for a diverse embodiment of robots, scenarios and tasks, including manipulation, locomotion and navigation. From resilient quadrupeds mastering adverse physical conditions, to vision-based humanoids performing dexterous manipulation of objects for complex household and industrial tasks, the company’s model will enable the use of low-cost robots across a broad range of industries and applications.
Intenseye Secures Record-breaking $64M Series B to Advance Its Mission of Transforming Workplace Safety With AI
Intenseye, the leader in AI-powered workplace safety solutions, secured $64 million in series B funding led by new investor Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from existing investors Insight Partners, Point Nine, and Air Street Capital. This latest infusion of capital is the industry’s largest ever and follows a historic year for Intenseye, marked by the proactive detection of tens of millions of workplace hazards and global growth and expansion across six continents.
Intenseye’s enterprise-ready computer vision AI platform delivers 24/7 visibility into unsafe acts and conditions that precede work-related injuries or illnesses — and that often go unnoticed via manual audits. Having alerted customers to more than 36 million such instances in 2023 alone, the solution is purpose-built to empower environmental health and safety (EHS) teams to drive changes that enhance efficiency, streamline compliance, and ultimately help prevent workplace incidents without compromising worker privacy.
🇩🇪 RobCo raises €39.1M from Lightspeed, Sequoia, others
RobCo, a provider of affordable and connected robotics automation solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has secured $42.5M (approximately €39.17M) in a Series B round of funding. The investment came from global VC firm Lightspeed Venture Partners along with existing investor Sequoia Capital. Kindred Capital and Promus Ventures also participated in this round.
RobCo facilitates SMEs’ entry into automation and addresses challenges such as skilled labour shortages, production scalability, and the transition to Industry 4.0. The company’s platform allows remote configuration, implementation, and management of robots via a digital twin, using a low-code approach that eliminates the need for complex programming or specialised personnel. In addition, RobCo combines its proprietary patented platform approach with a novel business model – Robot-as-a-Service (in short: RaaS).
RaaS allows small and midsize manufacturers to pay for robotic services on a monthly basis instead of buying hardware. Manufacturers see an immediate return of automation, while avoiding large upfront investments, and they’re able to transform robotics budgets from CapEx to OpEx.
Smartex sews up $24.7M to put smarter eyes on textile manufacturing
Smartex has developed machine-vision-driven software that makes fabric production more efficient by identifying defects, which primarily can be used to stop manufacturing if something is going wrong, preventing waste. In particular, the company argues that imperfect fabric can travel down the supply chain, with product issues only getting discovered much later in the manufacturing process.
These Series A funds will enable Smartex to expand the business to new geographies and to continue to grow the team. “I’m so excited about textile production in Asia and all the mega-factories in Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, etc. No one will ever solve textile problems without having a deep understanding and presence in these markets. So, going into all the cultural aspects and making businesses here is really awesome,” said Loureiro. “Our ultimate vision and long-term goal is to expand into other industries to enable factories around the world to produce with significantly less waste. We won’t stop until we have made a massive difference.”