Soft Robotics joins the long list automation companies that have experienced an increase in investment interest during the pandemic. This morning, the New England-based company announced a $10 million raise. It is an extension to its $23 million Series A announcement in January last year.Material Impact, Scale Venture Partners, and Calibrate Ventures led the extension. It also included existing investors Tekfen Ventures as well as ABB, an industrial robotics giant. This latest round brings the total company funding to $58 million.The company was founded in 2013 and uses a unique approach to picking machines. It has a soft, pneumatic-powered grasper that is ideal for delicate food items that could otherwise be damaged by rigid robotics. Due to fears of disease transmission and labor shortages, automation has been an attractive option for food.Soft Robotics' COO Mark Chiappetta stated that today's industrial robots cannot deal with product variation or unstructured environments. This is a problem in the labor-intensive food supply chain, including areas like agriculture, food processing and logistics. Soft Robotics' revolutionary soft grasping, 3D perception and AI technologies unlock robotic automation. They augment widely-available industrial robots with real hand-eye coordination, allowing them perform tasks previously only possible by humans.Tyson Ventures, Tyson Foods' investment wing Tyson Ventures, joins the group. Tyson, which makes large quantities of poultry, beef, and pork, is an established customer.Tyson Ventures Rahul Ray, Tyson Ventures' CEO, stated in the release that we are constantly exploring new areas of automation that will improve safety and productivity for our team members. Soft Robotics' best-in class robotic technology, computer vision, and AI platform are capable of transforming the food industry. They will be a crucial part in any company's automation journey.
