Rethink Robotics, the Boston manufacturing robotics startup started by iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks, has raised a new $18 million round led by private equity firm Adveq. Previous investors, including Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions, CRV, Highland Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs and GE Ventures, also participated in the round.
The funding was disclosed in a Thursday Form D filing.
The startup told Robotics & Automation News that the new funding will be used for Rethink's global expansion initiatives, as well as new product development. Rethink already has multiple distribution partnerships across the world, including in China, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Australia. Manufacturers that use Rethink's robots include Deco Lighting in Los Angeles, DHL in Germany and Waison Group in China, according to the industry publication.
"We’re seeing increasing global demand for our smart, collaborative robots as manufacturers build more connected factories in response to changing consumer needs," Scott Eckert, Rethink's CEO and president, told Robotics & Automation.
Global manufacturing companies, especially those based in China, have become important customers for iRobot, though Brooks told BostInno in 2015 the company remains true to his original vision of developing technology to power renewed growth in US manufacturing. "The worst thing that could happen is we create a market in the U.S. and someone creates a competing robot elsewhere," he said at the time. "We have to become the dominant player in the world in this collaborative robot space."
We've reached out to Rethink for comment and will update if we get anything to add.
