Mushy Robotics raises $26 million as staffing shortages proceed • TechCrunch

I spent final week in Boston, assembly with a number of of the realm’s high automation startups. Mushy Robotics — based mostly in close by Bedford, Massachusetts — is a kind of names that comes up so much. Because the idea of sentimental robotics grippers have more and more come into vogue, the corporate of the identical identify has been reaping a lot of that windfall.

At present, as an example, it introduced a $26 million Sequence C, led by Tyson Ventures. The VC arm of Tyson Meals is a pure match right here. In spite of everything, meals manufacturing has lengthy been a giant piece of Mushy Robotics’ technique. Its compliant grippers do a great job selecting up fragile and inconsistently sized foodstuffs, from meat to provide — a longstanding problem for extra inflexible programs.

“At Tyson, we’re frequently exploring new areas in automation that may improve security and enhance the productiveness of our group members,” Tyson Ventures’ Rahul Ray mentioned in a launch. “Mushy Robotics’ revolutionary robotic know-how, laptop imaginative and prescient and AI platform have the potential to remodel the meals business and can play a key function in any firm’s automation journey.”

Marel and Johnsonville additionally joined the spherical as new buyers, following a $23 million Sequence B with a $10 million extension raised in June of final 12 months. On the time, Mushy Robotics cited pandemic-fueled job loss as a significant motivator within the funding spherical. Clearly the job scenario hasn’t gotten significantly better — significantly in industries like meat packing — at the same time as funding has largely slowed down throughout the board over the previous 12 months.

The agency says the brand new spherical of funding will go towards accelerating the deployment of its mGripAI system, which mixes 3D imaginative and prescient with a gentle gripping system. Mushy Robotics says the proper storm of pandemic-fueled points has resulted in “the 4 largest gross sales quarters within the firm’s eight-year historical past.”