Cyphy Works, the UAV developer with the tether solution, raises $7 million from VCs and angel investors.

Funds will be used to expand Cyphy Works efforts in surveying and situational awareness for agriculture, mining, construction, oil & gas, insurance and others.

CEO Helen Greiner, who was previously the co-founder and President of iRobot, said, “The opportunity to bring flying robots to commercial sectors is truly exciting. We are building a reliable and robust platform that is differentiated from hobbyist class UAVs, and is specifically designed for field operations in rough real-world conditions.”

Rethink Robotics gets $11.5 million Series D funding from VCs, previous investors and Bezos Expeditions, bringing total funding thus far to $73.5 million. Rodney Brooks, Rethink's CTO, was also a co-founder of iRobot as well as Director of MIT's CS and AI lab.

Rethink said the funding will be used as growth capital for continued expansion. When the company ships its 1,000th Baxter, perhaps other financing may be available – like an IPO?