The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Business
    • Financial
      • Investments
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Earnings
    • Markets
      • Agriculture
      • Healthcare
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Security
    • RBR50
      • RBR50 Winners 2025
      • RBR50 Winners 2024
      • RBR50 Winners 2023
      • RBR50 Winners 2022
      • RBR50 Winners 2021
  • Resources
    • Automated Warehouse Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • eBooks
    • Publications
      • Automated Warehouse
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Robotics investments recap – May 2021

By Steve Crowe | June 2, 2021

robotics investments

Swedish startup Einride develops autonomous trucks for freight transport. | Credit: Einride

The Robot Report tracked 36 robotics investments that were worth at least $581 million in May 2021. There also were three mergers and acquisitions in May 2021.

The total amount is a significant drop from April 2021, in which 38 robotics investments totaled more than $4.8 billion. Most of April’s funding total came from two investments: Softbank invested $2.8 billion in AutoStore, a developer of AS/RS systems, and Cruise raised $750 million for its work on autonomous vehicles, adding Walmart to its already impressive list of investors.

May 2021 lacked those large investment rounds. The largest round in May was a $110 million Series B raised by Sweden-based Einride, which is developing autonomous vehicles. The second-largest round was $78 million for delivery robotics maker PuduTech, while Path Robotics raised a $56 Series B for its robotics welding systems and Oculii raised $55 million for its high-resolution radar solution.

Here is a breakdown of the funding types for May 2021, in order of most to least: Series A (11), Seed (10), Series C (4), Pre-Seed (4), Series B (3), Venture (3) and Corporate (1).

U.S.-based companies accounted for 17 funding rounds in May 2021, while China had the second-most at 7. The table below lists robotics company fundings in millions of U.S. dollars, where amounts were publicly available. If more of the funding amounts become available, we will update the chart.

Robotics Investments May 2021

CompanyTypeAmount ($M)CountryTech
Airspace LinkSeries A10U.S.Commercial drones
Ant RoboticsPre-SeedU.S.Agricultural robots
BaseTracKSeed1EstoniaAutonomous driving
BeepSeries A20U.S.Autonomous driving
Chef RoboticsSeed7.7U.S.Food robotics
Cron AISeries A4U.K.Perception
DerqSeed0.5DubaiAI
DroneSecPre-Seed0.038AustraliaCommercial drones
Edge Case ResearchSeries AU.S.Engineering services
EinrideSeries B110SwedenAutonomous vehicles
Flow RoboticsVenture2.4DenmarkLab automation
Halodi RoboticsSeries A10.1NorwayHumanoids
Harmonic BionicsSeries AU.S.Exoskeletons
Hong Jing DriveSeries AChinaAutonomous vehicles
In-Pipe RobotSeedU.S.Inspection robots
IUDROGrantU.K.Drone racing
Mech-MindSeries CChinaIndustrial robotics
MegaRoboCorporate Round65ChinaIndustrial robotics
MOVIA RoboticsSeed5U.S.Educational robots
Muddy MachinesPre-SeedU.K.Agricultural robots
NeatleafSeedU.S.Agricultural robots
OculiiSeries B55U.S.Perception
Path RoboticsSeries B56U.S.Robotic welding
PicnicSeries A16.3U.S.Food robotics
Precision.aiSeed20CanadaAgricultural robots
PropulsioneersPre-SeedU.S.Motion control
PuduTechSeries C78ChinaDelivery robots
Reshape BiotechSeed0.9DenmarkLab automation
Scantinel PhotonicsSeed9.1GermanyLiDAR
SiLC TechnologiesSeries A17U.S.Sensing
SuitXVenture6U.S.Exoskeletons
TerraClearSeries A25U.S.Agricultural robots
Upstream SecuritySeries C36IsraelCybersecurity for autonomous vehicles
VeniibotSeries A6.3ChinaCleaning robots
ViaBotSeed4U.S.Mobile robots
WeRideSeries CChinaAutonomous vehicles
YouibotVenture15.4ChinaMobile robots

Robotics mergers & acquisitions

There were three mergers and acquisitions in May 2021, compared to eight in April 2021. Two of these acquisitions took place via special purpose acquisition companies or SPACs. Bright Machines will go public through a merger agreement with SCVX. Bright Machines develops robotics-based work-cells for manufacturing.

Calif.-based Plus, a startup developing self-driving truck technology, is being acquired by Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V, a publicly-traded SPAC. If the deal is approved, the combined company will be valued at $3.3 billion and trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “PLAV.”

SPACs have become a hot investment mechanism in robotics, as well as many other industries. Berkshire Grey, Sarcos Robotics, Vicarious Surgical, and a slew of LiDAR companies, have or will also be going public via SPACs.

Acquired CompanyAcquirerAmount ($M)TechnologyStory
Bright Machines SCVX (SPAC)Industrial robotsStory
American RoboticsOndas Holdings 70.6Commercial dronesStory
PlusHennessy Capital Investment Corp. V (SPAC)Autonomous trucksStory

Editors’ note: What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from a number of public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, industry analysts, and association and industry publications, including Crunchbase PitchBook and Tracxn. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded.

About The Author

Steve Crowe

Steve Crowe is Executive Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media, and chair of the Robotics Summit & Expo and RoboBusiness. He is also co-host of The Robot Report Podcast, the top-rated podcast for the robotics industry. He joined WTWH Media in January 2018 after spending four-plus years as Managing Editor of Robotics Trends Media. He can be reached at scrowe@wtwhmedia.com

Tell Us What You Think! Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Articles Read More >

The 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards, logo shown here, recognize several categories.
Top 50 robotics innovations special report
GAM is a leading provider of gearboxes.
Learn how gearboxes enable next-gen warehouse automation
ABB YuMi two-armed robot assisting with manufacturing.
ABI Research finds 53% of manufacturers are adopting robots for quality improvement
Kawasaki had one of the largest robots at Automate 2025.
10 robotics trends spotted at Automate 2025

RBR50 Innovation Awards

“rr
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for Robotics Professionals.
The Robot Report Listing Database

Latest Episode of The Robot Report Podcast

Automated Warehouse Research Reports

Sponsored Content

  • Sager Electronics and its partners, logos shown here, will exhibit at the 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo. Sager Electronics to exhibit at the Robotics Summit & Expo
  • The Shift in Robotics: How Visual Perception is Separating Winners from the Pack
  • An AutoStore automated storage and retrieval grid. Webinar to provide automated storage and retrieval adoption advice
  • Smaller, tougher devices for evolving demands
  • Modular motors and gearboxes make product development simple
The Robot Report
  • Automated Warehouse
  • RoboBusiness Event
  • Robotics Summit & Expo
  • About The Robot Report
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search The Robot Report

  • Home
  • News
  • Technologies
    • Batteries / Power Supplies
    • Cameras / Imaging / Vision
    • Controllers
    • End Effectors
    • Microprocessors / SoCs
    • Motion Control
    • Sensors
    • Soft Robotics
    • Software / Simulation
  • Development
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Human Robot Interaction / Haptics
    • Mobility / Navigation
    • Research
  • Robots
    • AGVs
    • AMRs
    • Consumer
    • Collaborative Robots
    • Drones
    • Humanoids
    • Industrial
    • Self-Driving Vehicles
    • Unmanned Maritime Systems
  • Business
    • Financial
      • Investments
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Earnings
    • Markets
      • Agriculture
      • Healthcare
      • Logistics
      • Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Security
    • RBR50
      • RBR50 Winners 2025
      • RBR50 Winners 2024
      • RBR50 Winners 2023
      • RBR50 Winners 2022
      • RBR50 Winners 2021
  • Resources
    • Automated Warehouse Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • eBooks
    • Publications
      • Automated Warehouse
      • Collaborative Robotics Trends
    • Search Robotics Database
    • Videos
    • Webinars / Digital Events
  • Events
    • RoboBusiness
    • Robotics Summit & Expo
    • DeviceTalks
    • R&D 100
    • Robotics Weeks
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe