Switzerland’s Anybotics raises $60m for US expansion

13 Dec 2024

From left: Fredrik Isler and Dr Péter Fankhauser. Image: Anybotics

The company has now raised a total of more than $130m in funding and recently opened an office in Silicon Valley.

Anybotics, which creates autonomous industrial robots, has raised an additional $60m as part of its Series B funding round, having raised $50m last year.

The Swiss company, which spun out of ETH Zurich in 2016, is the maker of Anymal, a four-legged robot similar to Boston Dynamics’ Spot the Dog, which is designed to carry out industrial inspection work and improve safety and efficiency.

The latest funding was led by Qualcomm Ventures and Supernova Invest with participation from TDK Ventures and other investors.

The robotics company will use the funding to further expand in the US, having just opened a Silicon Valley office last month.

It will also use the funds to invest further in its hardware and software development to help its Anymal robot achieve “next-level performance” to enhance its industrial inspection capabilities.

The company will do this by adding enhanced sensor arrays to its robots for visual, acoustic, gas and thermal monitoring to increase flexibility and precision in order to meet evolving inspection needs.

The increased funding will also be used to expand its autonomous mobile robotics team.

Qualcomm Ventures Europe director Michel Glezer said Anybotics is “transforming industrial operations” with its robotics.

“Their ability to deliver proven solutions for critical challenges in global industries positions them as a leader in the robotics market,” he said. “We’re proud to support their mission to enable the automation of industries through edge AI and connectivity.”

Michael Thomas, partner at Supernova Invest, said Anybotics is tackling some of the most critical challenges in industrial automation. “We are thrilled to support their journey as they scale globally and set new benchmarks in robotics innovation.”

The company’s flagship Anymal robot is designed to navigate dangerous and hard-to-reach places in industrial facilities in order to carry out full inspections and provide data for real-time asset monitoring.

The certified commercial version was launched in 2021 and has been receiving upgrades since then, including an emergency rapid response function.

Anybotics has also condemned the weaponising of general robots. In 2022, it signed an open letter, along with Boston Dynamics and four other companies, pledging not to weaponise their own “advanced-mobility general purpose robots” or the software that enables advanced robotics.

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Jenny Darmody is the editor of Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com