Dexterity, a robotics start-up developing AI-powered industrial machines, has raised $95m in a funding round, bringing its valuation to $1.65bn, reported Bloomberg.
Lightspeed Venture Partners participated in the latest funding, which adds to Dexterity’s total capital of nearly $300m.
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The round also included backing from investors such as Sumitomo.
The company’s robots are designed to handle repetitive and hazardous tasks such as loading and unloading trucks, as well as sorting and moving parcels.
Its customers include United Parcel Service and Federal Express.
Dexterity plans to use the proceeds to further develop its technology and expand its workforce.
Dexterity CEO Samir Menon was cited by the news agency as saying that Dexterity robots are designed to interact with their surroundings, identify objects and adjust their movements accordingly.
Menon said: “The combination of those three is what we engineer and what we believe will drive the future of physical AI.”
Menon added that the company employs multiple smaller AI models, each specialised for a particular task, rather than a single large AI system.
Currently, Dexterity is developing a new robot, Mech, which is said to be larger and more powerful than its current machines.
Featuring two large arms on a mobile base, Mech will be capable of lifting heavier items and operating in extreme temperatures.
Lightspeed partner Raviraj Jain said that advancements in AI technology and ongoing labour shortages are key factors driving investment in the company.
Jain added that Dexterity helps with “physically demanding, hard-to-staff tasks like truck-loading”.
Dexterity’s machines are designed to handle “increasingly complex tasks”, Jain noted.
