Next to AI, VR, and some other rather popular buzzwords, one of the top trends in science, technology, and engineering today is the field of robotics. But that’s more than some creepy humanoid robots that pretend to be people, even though they often look obscurely unreal and as if they have been built in the 90s and not in 2018.
But robotics is a truly wide field and next to many questionable approaches there are some great companies out there who do amazing work and build robot innovation every day. Even though every new video on YouTube by Boston Dynamics is almost always bound to become a viral Internet sensation, there are many other interesting companies that dwell in this sector.
Top 50 robotics investments
We live in interesting times and the significance of robotics was also identified by capital investors such as venture capitalists and other people who fund startups with the hope of a future return on investment. Here is the list of the top fifty biggest funding and investment interactions in the sphere of robotics, worldwide, in the last twelve months.
| Position | Company | Type | Investment | Announced | HQ Location |
| 1 | UBTECH Robotics | Series C | $400,000,000 | Nov 15, 2017 | Shenzhen, China |
| 2 | Auris Surgical Robotics | Series D | $280,210,782 | Aug 4, 2017 | San Carlos, United States |
| 3 | Carbon | Series D | $200,000,000 | Dec 20, 2017 | Redwood City, United States |
| 4 | Nauto | Series B | $159,000,000 | Jul 19, 2017 | Palo Alto, United States |
| 5 | UiPath | Series B | $153,000,000 | Mar 6, 2018 | New York, United States |
| 6 | PROCEPT BioRobotics | Private Equity | $118,000,000 | Feb 20, 2018 | Redwood Shores, United States |
| 7 | Desktop Metal | Series D | $115,000,000 | Jul 17, 2017 | Burlington, United States |
| 8 | Brain Corporation | Series C | $114,000,000 | Jul 19, 2017 | San Diego, United States |
| 9 | Farmers Business Network | Series D | $110,000,000 | Nov 30, 2017 | San Carlos, United States |
| 10 | Rokid | Series B | $100,000,000 | Jan 18, 2018 | Hangzhou, China |
| 11 | Horizon Robotics | Series A | $100,000,000 | Oct 20, 2017 | Beijing, China |
| 12 | Ninebot | Series C | $100,000,000 | Oct 20, 2017 | Beijing, China |
| 13 | Preferred Networks | Funding Round | $95,000,000 | Aug 4, 2017 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 14 | Nuro | Series A | $92,000,000 | Jan 30, 2018 | Mountain View, United States |
| 15 | ispace technologies | Series A | $90,200,000 | Dec 13, 2017 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 16 | PrecisionHawk | Series D | $75,000,000 | Jan 24, 2018 | Raleigh, United States |
| 17 | Innoviz Technologies | Series B | $65,000,000 | Sep 7, 2017 | Kfar Saba, Israel |
| 18 | Peloton Technology | Series B | $60,000,000 | Apr 5, 2017 | Mountain View, United States |
| 19 | Geek+ | Series B | $60,000,000 | Jul 13, 2017 | Beijing, China |
| 20 | ROOBO | Series B | $53,000,000 | Sep 7, 2017 | Chaoyang, China |
| 21 | 3D Robotics | Series D | $53,000,000 | Apr 27, 2017 | Berkeley, United States |
| 22 | Oryx Vision | Series B | $50,000,000 | Jul 19, 2017 | Petah Tiqva, Israel |
| 23 | Vicarious | Series C | $50,000,000 | Jul 25, 2017 | San Francisco, United States |
| 24 | Drive.ai | Series B | $50,000,000 | Jun 27, 2017 | Mountain View, United States |
| 25 | Skydio | Series B | $42,000,000 | Feb 13, 2018 | Redwood City, United States |
| 26 | Wonder Workshop | Series C | $41,000,000 | Oct 30, 2017 | San Mateo, United States |
| 27 | Farmers Business Network | Series C | $40,000,000 | Mar 7, 2017 | San Carlos, United States |
| 28 | AImotive | Series C | $38,000,000 | Jan 4, 2018 | Budapest, Hungary |
| 29 | FiveAI | Series A | $35,000,000 | Sep 5, 2017 | Bristol, United Kingdom |
| 30 | Swift Navigation | Series B | $34,000,000 | Jun 28, 2017 | San Francisco, United States |
| 31 | Kespry | Series C | $33,000,000 | Dec 5, 2017 | Menlo Park, United States |
| 32 | Airobotics | Series C | $32,500,000 | Sep 7, 2017 | Petah Tiqva, Israel |
| 33 | UiPath | Series A | $30,000,000 | Apr 27, 2017 | New York, United States |
| 34 | FogHorn | Series B | $30,000,000 | Oct 4, 2017 | Mountain View, United States |
| 35 | Markforged | Series C | $30,000,000 | Nov 1, 2017 | Cambridge, United States |
| 36 | Volocopter | Series Unknown | €25,000,000 | Aug 1, 2017 | Stuttgart, Germany |
| 37 | Ouster | Series A | $27,000,000 | Dec 11, 2017 | San Francisco, United States |
| 38 | Cambridge Medical Robotics | Series A | $26,000,000 | Sep 18, 2017 | Cambridge, United Kingdom |
| 39 | Knightscope | Equity Crowdfunding | $25,000,000 | Sep 21, 2017 | Mountain View, United States |
| 40 | KeyMe | Series D | $25,000,000 | Sep 14, 2017 | New York, United States |
| 41 | Fetch Robotics | Series B | $25,000,000 | Dec 6, 2017 | San Jose, United States |
| 42 | Kinova Robotics | Series Unknown | $25,000,000 | Sep 28, 2017 | Quebec, Canada |
| 43 | Locus Robotics | Series B | $25,000,000 | Nov 20, 2017 | Wilmington, United States |
| 44 | Magazino | Series A | $24,800,000 | Feb 27, 2018 | Munich, Germany |
| 45 | MOJIO | Series B | CA$30,000,000 | Nov 30, 2017 | Vancouver, Canada |
| 46 | Sphero | Series Unknown | $23,000,000 | Apr 7, 2017 | Boulder, United States |
| 47 | Seven Dreamers Laboratories | Series Unknown | $22,800,000 | Jun 15, 2017 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 48 | Slamtec | Series B | CN¥150,000,000 | Jul 12, 2017 | Shanghai, China |
| 49 | Geek+ | Series A | CN¥150,000,000 | Mar 20, 2017 | Beijing, China |
| 50 | Qieon Research | Seed | $21,000,000 | May 25, 2017 | Kansas City, United States |
Many of these companies have their HQ in Silicon Valley but it’s interesting to see that there are also some other regions that try to get a foot into the door, but will we live to see androids on the streets and around us like in a novel by Isaac Asimov? I’m only saying I, Robot and the “three laws of robotics“.
Photo credit: Paul Hudson
Source: Crunchbase
