Rivian spin-out Mind Robotics raises $500M for industrial AI-powered robots

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1:01the confidence you need to build your website. Learn how you can get more out of your.com from a Framer specialist or get started building for free today. At Framer.com slash TC Startups, for 30% off our Framer Pro Annual Plan. That's Framer.com slash TC Startups for 30% off. Framer.com slash TC Startups. Rules and restrictions may apply. Mind Robotics is an industrial robotics lab spun out of the electric vehicle maker Rivian. The company has just raised $500 million in a series A funding round co-led by venture firms Excel and Entries and Horowitz. The financing announced on Wednesday follows a $115 million seed round that was led by Eclipse in late last year, bringing Mind Robotics total fundraising to $615 million in the few months since its founding. This round brings the Startups valuation to around $2 billion.

2:03That's according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news. Mind Robotics was created by Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scarenge. It was spun out of Rivian in November of last year with Scarenge serving as Chairman. The general idea is that Scarenge wants to use data from Rivian's electric vehicle factory to train industrial robots to be more dexterous and adaptable, as well as a venue to prove out those robots usefulness. The company was founded to address a structural gap with current industrial automation solutions. That's according to a press release announcing the series A round. Existing industrial robotics can perform repeatable, dimensionally stable tasks, but a large share of factory value ad work requires human-like dexterity, adaptation, and physical reasoning that classical robotics cannot address.

3:04Mind Robotics is building the AI foundation, models, hardware, and deployment infrastructure to close that gap. Scarenge told the Wall Street Journal that mind robotics will have a large number of robots deployed by the end of this year. In the months since mind robotics was announced, he has spoken a few times about how the startup intends to focus on more traditional factory robot designs instead of the much-hyped humanoid robots that have garnered so much attention over the last year, like those built by Tesla. Scarenge said, doing cartwheels does not create value and manufacturing. Beyond the training data, in a place to deploy the robots, there are other ways Rivian and mind robotics might collaborate moving forward. In December, Rivian announced it had been developing its own custom silicon, meant to help power the autonomous vehicle software that will go on its cars.

4:06In an interview with TechCrunch at the event, Scarenge says it doesn't take a lot of imagination to think that Rivian might sell those custom chips to mind robotics. It's a robotics processor, so it could work really well for that. Mind Robotics is the second company Rivian spun out last year. The first was also an electric mobility company that is starting with a high-end modular e-bike, as well as small electric cargo vehicles for Amazon. That startup was also backed by Eclipse and has since raised another $200 million from Green Oaks Capital, with its valuation currently sitting around $1 billion. Vivecoating sensation Replet has it another funding milestone. The company announced on Wednesday that it raised a $400 million Series D at a $9 billion valuation, led by previous investor, Georgian partners. Other participating investors include G-squared, Prism Capital, Kotu, and recent Harawitz

5:10Kraft Ventures, Y-Combinator, Accenture Ventures, Octa Ventures, and Databricks Ventures. Founder and CEO Amjan Masad also said in a post on social media that backers include Angel Investors, Chiquilloneo, and Jared Leto. This follows the $3 billion valuation the startup hit in September when it raised a $250 million round. At that time, Replet said it was on track for $150 million in annualized revenue. Replet did not release updated current ARR figures, but the company told Forbes it hopes to hit annual recurring revenue of $1 billion by the end of the year. While Replet's recent rise has been meteoric, Masad previously told TechCrunch that it took nine years of grinding and a controversial decision to pivot from serving professional developers toward non-programs to find its groove. Checkout Ventures has closed a $114 million fund-3 to back AI-focused early-stage startups

6:17working in scientific fields such as biology and chemistry. The firm has already written checks to three companies and plans to invest in at least 20 companies through this fund, with average check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $5 million. Lendi Fishburn, managing director of breakout ventures told TechCrunch the firm was looking for companies focused on unlocking the complexity of science with AI. Breakout spun out of a grant program from the Teal Foundation, and officially launched in 2016 that has previously raised two funds, a $60 million fund-1 in 2017 and a $112.5 million fund-2 in 2021, also focused on science startups. Lendi told TechCrunch, we've always been focused on the opportunity for technology to unlock the power of biology and chemistry to solve massive unmet needs and create new markets.

7:18It took around a year and a half to raise fund-3, she said, from limited partners, including the craft group Pine Grove Venture Partners and Cubed Capital. She added, breakout founders may be PhDs, who developed the science they are commercializing or they may be emerging from industry where they deeply understand the need and opportunity. Either way, we look for fit. The obvious reason why this is the best person to build a specific company. That's it from TechCrunch, for more stories like these, go to TechCrunch.com.