Robots may be becoming increasingly common, but there aren't a lot of software tools around to help people develop and debug them.
In the absence of such software, robotics companies have had to spend lots of time and effort developing their own bespoke tools, Adrian Macneil, the CEO of Foxglove Technologies Inc., said in a blog post Monday. That observation led to Macneil forming Foxglove to develop and offer such tools to all comers.
"I realized that there was no reason modern robotics and autonomous vehicle companies should need to solve these same problems over and over again," Macneil wrote in his post. He continued: "We strongly believe the robotics industry will not reach its full potential until high quality off-the-shelf solutions are available — freeing up roboticists to focus on (more) complex ... challenges."
Foxglove now has some venture backing to help it realize Macneil's vision. He announced in his post that his San Francisco company has raised $3.7 million in a seed round led by Amplify Partners.
Macneil and co-founder Roman Shtylman both previously worked at Cruise LLC, the self-driving car technology developer owned by General Motors Co. The pair attracted as an investor in the round one of their former managers there — Cruise's chief technology officer Kyle Vogt.
Here are the details on Foxglove's seed funding, the only such round from the past week:
Foxglove Technologies Inc., San Francisco, $3.7 million: Amplify Partners led the funding for this provider of open-source robotics development software. Boost VC, Pathbreaker Ventures, Kyle Vogt, Pieter Abbeel and Fred Ehrsam also invested.
