This week in robotics: Amazon’s iRobot deal hits an EU snag as new funding retains sizzling drone summer season rolling

This week introduced in excellent news for the robotics area within the type of new funding for nascent firms, however two established gamers inside the area hit a snag. Amazon’s potential $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot, which had beforehand been approved by the U.K.’s antitrust regulators, is now getting an intensive assessment by the European Union.

Our resident robotics skilled Brian Heater has some further evaluation on the deal, and a commemoration of the late trade legend Joanne Pransky, within the newest version of his Actuator publication. Subscribe to get those updates every Thursday right here.

And for the remainder of the previous week’s robotics information, carry on scrolling.

Verity’s $11M retains sizzling drone summer season hovering

The Swiss startup Verity announced a new round of funding, on high of its $32 million Series B from back in March. Its take care of Ikea, which had put 100 of its drones in 16 warehouses in Europe, has attracted a ton of trade consideration, and this explicit spherical will go towards scaling to satisfy the necessity for scale to deal with the rising alternative for provide chain automation.

Wildfire detection automation nets further $17M

Pano AI has been creating cameras able to robotically detecting wildfires, most lately catching and sending early warnings concerning the Kutch Highway Hearth 14 minutes forward of the primary 911 name.

And with wildfires an rising concern worldwide within the face of rising temperatures, Pano AI announced a $17 million extension to its $20 million Collection A.

Simbe’s funding will increase to $54M following BJ Wholesale deal

Whereas Verity’s drones concentrate on warehouses, Simbe’s targeted on the shops themselves, with its robots roaming by means of shops to observe stock inside a buyer’s attain. The corporate simply introduced a recent spherical of funding with a $28 million Series B that follows its $26 million Collection A from late 2019, recent off the heels of its deal inserting its Tally robots in all BJ Wholesale Membership places.

Bedrock’s ocean-mapping ambitions uncover $25M in funding

Any building venture requires surveying, inspection and monitoring, and the identical holds true for the rising quantity of underwater initiatives spurred by the demand for offshore wind. Bedrock’s autonomous underwater automobiles purpose to conduct that work as a substitute of pricey crewed survey ships, and they just announced $25.5 million in new funding to increase its mission. Curiously, their new focus is much less on the {hardware} itself, and extra on proving the industrial viability of promoting the information they accumulate by means of their autonomous explorers.

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