Swiss robotics company ANYBotics has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Walden Catalyst and NGP Capital, as it gears up to deploy its ruggedized four-legged robot, ANYmal X. This latest funding follows a $22 million round raised in December 2020. Notably, ANYBotics has already received preorders and reservations worth $150 million from prominent gas, oil, and chemical companies including PETRONAS, Shell, SLB, Outokumpu, Siemens Energy, BASF, and Vale.
Dr. Péter Fankhauser, co-founder, and CEO of ANYBotics, expressed the significance of the funding in validating the company’s unique approach to addressing operational challenges in complex industrial facilities. The legged robots developed by ANYBotics have already demonstrated their value in enhancing productivity and safety. The investment will facilitate international expansion and accelerate the development of the robots‘ AI capabilities, specifically in manipulation for maintenance tasks, with the aim of revolutionizing automated industrial operations.
Similar to Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot, ANYmal caters to a specific market, targeting job vacancies and patrolling processing plants to ensure worker safety and minimize environmental impact. The adoption of robotic solutions in such demanding roles helps address the difficulties associated with filling and maintaining these positions due to the various risks involved. ANYmal aims to complement human workers and enhance workplace safety.
Young Sohn of Walden Catalyst acknowledges the uniqueness of ANYBotics’ technology, emphasizing its ability to deploy robots easily in complex industrial environments. The efficiency of the solution in inspection applications within hazardous settings is particularly notable. Moving forward, there is a significant opportunity to leverage ANYBotics’ robust mobility platform and locomotion software stack, enabling new use cases and expanding the company’s market beyond robotic inspection.
ANYBotics has already conducted pilot programs with early adopters and has been utilized in research facilities such as ETH Zurich and the University of Oxford. The company originated from ETH Zurich in 2016, leveraging years of development in quadrupedal robotic systems. The latest funding injection will support the company’s efforts in deploying ANYmal for industrial applications and advancing its technological capabilities.
