MFV Partners joins DCVC, Playground Global and others in $150M Series B to Accelerate Blended Human-Robot Workplaces
MFV Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm exclusively investing in deep tech that is transforming industries, announced today it participated in Agility Robotics $150M Series B round. The investment is MFV Partners’ second in Agility, a creator of robots designed to work alongside people in logistics and warehouse environments, following its involvement in the company’s Series A round in 2020. MFV participated in the latest round alongside new investors such as DCVC, Playground Global and other previous investors.
This capital raise will further the company’s R&D and scale production to meet the demand from logistics providers, e-commerce retailers and others for robots that can work alongside humans to automate repetitive, physically demanding or dangerous work safely and scalably, even in the majority of spaces that are not purpose-built for automation.
“Our belief in Agility Robotics is based on our philosophy that deep tech innovation has the potential to offer transformational benefits to both industries and society,” said Karthee Madasamy, founder and managing partner, MFV Partners. “Agility has demonstrated a track record of executing its mission to reimagine how essential goods are delivered and the ways human and robot workers co-exist. We’re thrilled to be making this follow-on investment.”
“In our early days, MFV Partners understood instantly why our approach was unique and immediately offered value with its domain expertise within the manufacturing and logistics sectors,” said Damion Shelton, CEO of Agility Robotics. “We’re excited to have them join us again in this round to help meet growing customer demand as robotics become an increasingly critical piece of organizational success in light of workforce disruptions and supply chain challenges.”
Agility is one of two companies that MFV Partners has invested in within the automation and robotics market over the last year as industrial robot sales skyrocket amid the pandemic and global labor shortages. It also participated in Ati Motors seed round in 2021 to further manufacturing and deployment of a fleet of autonomous vehicles for improving trolley and bin movements in factories, warehouses, and eCommerce fulfillment centers.
“Robotics and automation are transforming the manufacturing sector in the face of recent challenges. In North America, industrial robot sales had their strongest year ever in 2021, and globally the market is forecasted to reach $31B by 2028,” added Madasamy. “These market tailwinds make investing in full-stack, deep tech systems within the robotics space extremely attractive. Given MFV Partners’ history of scaling disruptions within the sector, we believe we’re well-positioned to help robotics’ entrepreneurs productize, go to market and introduce them to their first customers.”
About MFV Partners
MFV Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm exclusively investing in deep tech that is transforming industries. It backs visionary deep tech entrepreneurs developing products and solutions that not only disrupt verticals, but solve some of the world’s biggest problems in the process. To date, MFV has invested more than $30 million to support teams shaping the future of critical industries such as transportation, manufacturing, agriculture and more. For more information, please visit http://www.mfvpartners.com.
About Agility Robotics
Headquartered in Corvallis, Oregon, Agility Robotics makes robots that are made for work. Agility marries design, software, and hardware to build robots capable of doing limitless tasks as part of a blended human-robot workforce. For more information about how Agility is innovating today to create a better tomorrow, visit agilityrobotics.com and follow @agilityrobotics on Twitter.