With the rapid development of robotics and artificial intelligence, mobile robots are playing an increasingly important role across many industries. Investing in mobile robotics startups and technologies has huge potential as mobile robots transform how humans live and work. This article analyzes the key players, major applications and future trends of mobile robot investment.
Top 4 mobile robot companies attracting massive investment
As a key growth area, mobile robotics has attracted significant venture capital and private equity investment. The top players leading the industry include Boston Dynamics, Waymo, Nuro and Starship Technologies. Boston Dynamics is the pioneer in advanced humanoid and quadruped robots like Spot and Atlas. With Hyundai’s acquisition in 2021, Boston Dynamics is ramping up commercialization. Waymo has developed industry-leading self-driving car technology and begun robotaxi services. Its valuation exceeds $30 billion after investment from Google, Silver Lake, et al. Nuro pioneers autonomous last-mile delivery with its custom-built robot vehicles. Nuro has raised over $2 billion with backers like SoftBank Vision Fund. Starship Technologies makes sidewalk robots for contactless deliveries. Starship has raised $100 million+ from investors like Morpheus Ventures since its founding.
Warehousing, delivery and personal assistance drive mobile robot adoption
Warehousing is a major arena for mobile robot investment and growth. Companies like Fetch Robotics and Locus Robotics enable warehouses to automate inventory management and order fulfillment with fleets of mobile robots. The global warehouse robotics market is projected to reach $27 billion by 2025. Last-mile delivery is another huge opportunity propelling investment in delivery robots. Demand for contactless delivery skyrocketed after COVID-19. Mobile robots can provide low-cost, high-efficiency courier services. The military market also utilizes advanced mobile robots for tasks like surveillance and bomb disposal. In the long run, personal assistant robots like Anthropic’s Domestic Robot Eliza have massive potential. With advances in mobility and manipulation, personal robots could be adopted at scale in households.
Investment and acquisitions heating up as mobile robots gain traction
Investment into mobile robot startups has soared in recent years. In 2021 alone, a record $15 billion of VC funding flowed into robotics companies globally. Acquisitions are also heating up. In the past 2 years, active acquirers include Amazon (bought Canvas Technology), Ford (bought Agility Robotics) and Zebra Technologies (acquired Fetch Robotics). Hyundai-Boston Dynamics and Toyota-Vicarious are notable robotics acquisitions as well. As robots proliferate across industries, larger technology companies are ramping up M&A to expand their capabilities. We will also see accelerated consolidation and partnerships between robotics companies with complementary strengths in hardware, software and services.
Cloud robotics and 5G will enable next-generation advanced mobile robots
Future generations of mobile robots will build on connectivity, cloud computing and edge computing. With cloud robotics, robots can offload computationally intensive processing to the cloud. This allows robots to be low-cost and light while having access to powerful AI and analytics. 5G and next-gen networks will remove a key barrier to advanced mobile robot capabilities and use cases. Ultra-low latency 5G will support real-time communication and precise coordination essential for robots. To realize emerging applications like ubiquitous delivery robots and collaborative robots, we need the high-bandwidth and high-availability connectivity 5G provides.
Mobile robots are transforming major industries driven by escalating investment and acquisitions. Leading players like Boston Dynamics and Waymo are pioneering advanced robots and autonomous systems. Logistics, warehousing, delivery and personal assistance are key applications propelling mobile robot adoption. With cloud robotics and 5G’s emergence, mobile robots will become smarter, more capable and more ubiquitous.