New robotics financing

In today's Handelsblatt, behind the paywall, there is an article about investments in robotics startups. It has become more difficult, valuations have fallen and a dollar of turnover is still rewarded more in the USA than in Germany. But there continues to be money, according to the statement. In Germany, funding was fairly constant at US$0.6 billion in 2022. This would be remarkable in that in 2021, two "heavyweights" each received large tranches: Agile Robots and Neura Robotics. At the beginning of 2022, on the other hand, Wandelbots received $84 million and others followed suit. In the USA, on the other hand, there was a significant drop in financing in 2022 from over $6 billion previously to $3.6 billion.

The last few days two more major financings became known, which had not been mentioned here yet. This will now be made up for:

KEWAZO (scaffolding robot) with further financing

The Munich-based startup was introduced very early on in this space(link). It was founded in 2018 and since then I know it, as it had presented itself at a BayStartup event. Erecting scaffolding is exhausting, not without danger and actually unproductive. Because someone always has to wait for the next piece of scaffolding. Since the shortage of personnel is also steadily increasing here, automation was the obvious choice. From the new press release: "KEWAZO automates and digitalizes the flow of materials on the construction site with the help of state-of-the-art robot technology and unsurpassed data analytics. The company's first product, the LIFTBOT, an intelligent robotic elevator for construction and industrial sites, is strengthened by the ONSITE data analytics platform. As of 2021, a dozen LIFTBOTs are in use at Europe's most prominent construction sites and leading industrial facilities in the oil, gas, power and chemical industries, including industry giants Bilfinger and Altrad."

KEWAZO has thus long since achieved proof-of-concept and has now been able to raise a further US$10 million, following the first US$10 million already achieved in 2021. As the gif above the article illustrates, the classic setup (left scaffold) is much more personnel-intensive than the one with KEWAZO (right scaffold). Roughly 70% of the hours should be able to be saved.

I find it remarkable that students had the idea to build scaffolding in the first place and that the route of a capital increase was still being sought. Apparently, classic loan financing is not yet possible. Sure, there are no profits yet, but nevertheless I think that loan financing would have been easier several years ago. Bankers could still "believe" in a company without being sanctioned in the event of failure.

Another $42 million for US XXL robotic mower

The autonomous lawn mowers from the US startup Scythe Robotics are intended for large-scale lawn care (golf courses, parks, etc.). The company had already received $18 million in funding. Actually, the video is rather off-putting: a truck drives up, as it does today, and an employee unloads the vehicle. As a layman, I would have thought, rather smaller lawn mower, which does not have to be delivered every time. But that's how you can make a mistake. Crucially, there are already 7,500 reservations for the all-electric, fully autonomous M.52 mower. A few years ago, this robotic mower would not have been possible for lack of sufficient batteries. Ultimately, the software will be decisive here as well.

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The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Opdra. He answers companies the question if and how a robot could be used in your company (initial analysis including recommendation). This in the greater areas of Trier and Lüneburg as well as Eastern Germany without Leipzig/ Berlin for 700 € net, in the rest of Germany for an all-inclusive price of 1,750 € net (incl. travel). The low price is possible thanks to promotion. Permanently looking for interesting solutions, he has already seen hundreds of applications. For this reason, his customers also include large companies that have know-how but do not know the entire market. For companies with 250 employees or more or those based in Austria or Switzerland, the flat rate does not apply. You can find more about him here.