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Innovative Mechatronic Systems (IMSystems), a Dutch motion control startup, raised a $3.5 million Series A funding round. The Series A round supports the commercial launch of IMSystems’ Archimedes Drive, which relies on friction instead of gear teeth to transmit torque.

The Series A was led by Finindus, Linamar and InnovationQuarter. IMSystems also raised funding back in December 2019 with support from ABB Technology Ventures and InnovationQuarter. IMSystems said the funding enables it scale up for mass production via a long-term manufacturing partnership with Linamar.

IMSystems claims its Archimedes Drive enables robots to “operate smoothly with higher efficiency and precision, increasing the robot’s production throughput while reducing the energy consumption (lowering the total cost of ownership). In addition, the drive’s inherent mechanical transparency results in smooth controllability. These advantages combined, give robot producers the opportunity to tackle new fields in automation, like allowing robots to operate in new environments or being inherently collision safe in human/robot collaborative working spaces.”

“This consortium brings a lot more than just capital to the table,” said IMSystems CEO Jack Schorsch. “From Finindus’ roots & relationships in the Flemish steel industry, to Linamar’s global ability to manufacture high quality, high performance parts, to the industry leading insight of ABB, we have deep access to the entire process, from raw steel to our client’s robots on the factory floor. That’s a competitive advantage that is hard to replicate.”

IMSystems plans to start commercial production in 2022 and will be backed by a long-term manufacturing commitment from Linamar. To accelerate adoption of the Archimedes Drive, IMSystems designed development kits to make it easy for customers to evaluate the technology first-hand. IMSystems plans to bring an assortment of drives to the market and set-up an application support team, making it more accessible for customers to evaluate the technology.

“I am very pleased to announce this manufacturing agreement and the investment in IMSystems. This strategic partnership is a great collaboration between our two companies in order to pursue the expanding industrial robotics market,” said Linamar CEO Linda Hasenfratz. “Given the growing global trend of industrial automation and the ongoing demand for better, more accurate robotic systems, we expect to scale quickly. IMSystems is truly a leader in this area, disrupting a technology field that hasn’t seen significant innovation or improvement in decades.”