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April 2017 fundings, acquisitions, IPOs and failures

April 2017 had 17 robotics-related companies get funding totaling over $390 million - a fourth solid month for 2017 - $1.05 billion year-to-date. Acquisitions also continued to be substantial with ABB's $2 billion acquisition of Bernecker & Rainer, plus Baidu, iRobot and Cognex each making strategic acquistions.

Fundings

  1. Mobvoi, a Chinese voice recognition startup, signed a strategic partnership to build a 50/50 joint venture targeting the automotive market with Volkswagen. The deal involved VW investing $180 million in a Mobvoi series D funding. Modvoi has developed an advanced Chinese speech recognition system, Chinese/English translation, semantic analysis and integrated vertical and proactive search, all adapted for and connected with a smart rear-view mirror that provides navigation, messaging and information through voice input. Prof. Dr. Heizmann, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China said: “This partnership is a particular example of Volkswagen’s determination to work with groundbreaking Chinese tech companies like Mobvoi to create new forms of people-oriented mobility technology. We are impressed by Mobvoi’s innovative approach of AI technologies, and we are pleased to form this joint venture to explore the next generation of smart mobility.”
  2. Peloton Technology, a Silicon Valley-based developer of technology for trucks to avoid collisions, cut fuel use and travel in closer proximity, raised a $60 million round of funding led by Omnitracs, and additional investments from existing investors Intel Capital, DENSO International America, BP Ventures, Lockheed Martin, Nokia Growth Partners, UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Volvo Group, Sand Hill Angels, Band of Angels and Birchmere Ventures along with new investors B37 Ventures, Mitsui USA, Okaya, Schlumberger, US Venture and Breakthrough Fuel. 
  3. 3D Robotics raised another $53 million in a Series D round led Atlantic Bridge and joined by Autodesk Forge Fund, True Ventures, Foundry Group, Mayfield and other undisclosed investors. TechCrunch says 3DR is attempting a major metamorphosis: it's been working to turn its business into a competitive software player. Its Site Scan software - an aerial analytics platform - enables drone users to precisely control their flights and cameras and send data straight to the cloud.
  4. Luminar Technology, a Silicon Valley vision systems startup, is developing a new LiDAR-like high-resolution sensor that will help autonomous vehicles read signs, see traffic lights and avoid obstacles. Peter Thiel's 1517 Fund, which invests in startups led by young founders, participated in the $36 million seed round. GVA capital and Canvas Ventures also participated.
  5. Shield AI, a San Diego developer of artificially intelligent systems, raised $10.5 million in a Series A funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round.
  6. Synchron, a San Francisco-based company developing a medical device that records neuron signals as a way to control advanced prosthetics, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Neurotechnology Investors led the round, and was joined by the U.S. Department of Defense.
  7. Renovo Auto, a Campbell, CA startup creating platforms for autonomous, connected, and electric vehicles, raised $10 million in a funding round led by True Ventures (Verizon’s venture arm).
  8. Aurora Innovation, a Silicon Valley startup headed by Chris Urmson, former CTO of Google’s self-driving car project, has raised $6.1 from Allen & Company, Chris Urmson, Drew Bagnell and Sterling Anderson (who previously oversaw Tesla’s Autopilot software and who was involved in a lawsuit by Tesla which was settled/dropped by Tesla just the other day).
  9. VIST Group, a 25-year-old Russian IT company, raised $6 million from I2BF Global Ventures and VTB Capital Asset Management to develop robotizing and autonomous equipment for the mining industry. Said Vladimir Sakovich of the Skolkovo Foundation: “VIST is an example of those Russian companies, not numerous yet, that are showing good financial performance with a huge potential for international markets and also constantly developing innovative high-tech solutions."
  10. The Yield Technology Solutions, an Austrailian ag analytics and sensors startup, raised $4.9 million from lead investor Bosch, as well as from KPMG and AgFunder in a Series A funding round. The startup will use the funds to expand beyond aquaculture (oyster farming), its first target market in Australia, and into the US where it will focus on customers on the West Coast growing intensive, irrigated crops.
  11. DeepScale, a Silicon Valley autonomous vehicle vision systems startup, raised $3 million in a seed round.  Investors included Bessemer Venture Partners, Greylock, Auto Tech Ventures, Andy Bechtolsheim (who was the first investor in Google) and Jerry Yang.
  12. Arbe Robotics, an Israeli drone radar collision avoidance platform, raised $2.5 million from unknown sources. Arbe is also developing radar for autonomous vehicles that facilitates real-time mapping at distances up to 300 meters.
  13. WiBotic, a Seattle startup developing a wireless power and battery solution for mobile air, land and sea robots, raised $2.5 million in a seed round led by Tsing Capital, and including investments from Comet Labs and Digi Labs as well as follow-on investments from W Fund, WRF Capital and Wisemont Capital.
  14. COSY (Cognitive Operational Systems), a spin-off from the GRASP Labs at U Penn, raised $2.3 million (in February) in a Series A round from Safeguard Scienfitics, a growth-stage VC. COSY has developed a vision, perception and AI system for mobile robots to collect and evaluate inventory data.
  15. BestMile, a Swiss startup developing a cloud platform for the operation and optimization of autonomous vehicle fleets, raised $2 million from Airbus Venture, Partech Venture, and Serena Capital.
  16. Compound Eye, a San Francisco 3D vision for autonomous machines startup, raised $1 million from unknown sources.
  17. Ecoation Innovative Solutions, a Vancouver, CA ag sensor and analytics startup, raised $750k in a seed round with funds to be used to launch commercial sales to greenhouse growers in North America.

Acquisitions

When asked about the few IPOs but many acquisitions in the digital, tech and robotics industries, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said in an interview in Fortune Magazine:

When Steve and I started Apple we were so naïve and young. We didn't know anything about business. We didn't know that it’s often the case that you start a company and then you get bought out as an exit strategy. We thought that you start at home, you make a product, and become profitable so you have your company forever. As long as it makes a profit, it never goes away. That's how I thought companies worked. Boy, it's a different story now in Silicon Valley.

I think there are an awful lot of people who have a quick exit plan like selling the business to another big company to get enough money to buy a house in San Francisco. Then they move on to the next one. There are many companies that are started by business people and not engineers. Engineers say, “What would be a cool product? What would make the world greater and better?” That's where I come from.

  1. ABB has acquired Austrian industrial automation company Bernecker & Rainer, a move that fits in with its strategy of expanding its products to better challenge German rival Siemens on the factory floor. The Swiss company said the acquisition would increase its sales in industrial automation to around $15 billion by adding B&R's annual sales of more than $600 million. ABB gave no purchase price but a person familiar with the matter said it was nearly $2 billion.
  2. iRobot has acquired the Japanese iRobot-related distribution business of Sales on Demand Corp, a Tokyo integrator/reseller for around $15 million. The acquisition is expected to contribute incremental revenue of approximately $20-$25 million in 2017 and to expand gross margin.
  3. Cognex, the large vision systems provider, acquired Boulder, CO 3D sensor camera maker Chiaro Technologies for $3.5 million plus $1.25 million based upon reaching certain milestone revenue levels.
  4. Cognex also acquired ViDi Systems SA, a Swiss maker of deep learning machine vision software for an undisclosed amount.
  5. MHI Holdings, a Norfolk, Va. provider of marine repair services backed by Stellex Capital Management, acquired Seaward Marine Services, a provider of robotic underwater hull cleaning and ship husbandry services, and Accurate Marine Environmental, a provider of marine and industrial tank and bilge cleaning services, environmental remediation, and disposal services. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
  6. Schmalz, a global Germany-based manufacturer of vacuum technology for the robotics industry, acquired GPS GmbH (GPS Production Systems), a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute IPA, for an undisclosed amount. GPS develops products, tools and methods - including a plug-and-play interface for connection - to interface actuators and sensors to MES and ERP systems.
  7. Baidu acquired Silicon Valley vision systems startup Xperception  for an undisclosed amount. xPerception co-founders Dr. Bao Yingze and Dr. Chen Mingyu, were early key engineers at AR start-up Magic Leap. Following the acquisition, the core xPerception team will join Baidu Research and continue developing xPerception's core technology, visual inertial simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). Baidu hopes to harness the potential of xPerception's visual perception camera in its bid to develop autonomous cars. The camera's features include sophisticated tracking technology, three-dimensional obstacle detection, and object recognition. Michael Ramsey, transportation and mobility analyst for Gartner Research, explained that the acquisition could "help push Baidu closer to the leaders" but that it has a long way to go.

    "Right now, the largest tech players are scrambling to catch Uber, which has a big head start on virtually everyone. That means that if you don't have the capability in-house, you have to acquire it. XPerception has expertise in processing and identifying images, an important part of the sensing for autonomous vehicles. The purchase may help push Baidu closer to the leaders, but it is just one piece... it has a long way to go."

IPOs

Lots of activity, but no new stocks just yet.

  • San Jose, CA-based Mota Group, a maker of fingertip-sized drone toys and a line of more professional drones for commercial users, filed for an IPO of up to $23 million last year, pulled that and has recently lowered that figure to just $6 million and refiled. No indication of when the actual launch will occur.
  • Myomo, a Cambridge, MA upper limbs exoskeleton startup, filed for a Reg A+ IPO of $15 million in February and Banq, the issuer and service provider, says the final papers will be submitted mid-May.
  • Knightscope, a Silicon Valley security systems and robotics startup, also filed for a $20 million Reg A+ IPO in February and, according to SeedInvest, the issuer and service provider, is close to completing the transaction. Knightscope was evasive but sent over this picture of their company on NASDAQ's massive NYC signboard . A 1/4 page ad for Knightscope's offering also appeared in the WSJ and USA Today. 

Failures

  • Nav on Time (FR)
  • Wany Robotics (FR)

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iRobot, KUKA and other robotic stocks exceed earnings expectations

iRobot (IRBT on the NASDAQ stock exchange) jumped from $70 to $80 per share on news that iRobot's quarterly earnings were so good that the company raised their forecast for 2017 to new highs. KUKA also had good Q1/17 earnings as did Intuitive Surgical.

iRobot (IRBT:NASDAQ)

iRobot's stock jumped 15.75% on news that it's Q1/17 earnings exceeded analyst expections and had jumped 28.8% from Q1/16. As a result, iRobot adjusted upward their 2017 revenue forecast. iRobot now expects full-year 2017 revenue of $780 million to $790 million, which should result in earnings per share of $1.45 to $1.70 (up from EPS guidance of $1.35 to $1.65 previously). 

Total Q1/17 units shipped of iRobot's household cleaning robots was 704,000, a 28% rise from 550,000 shipped in Q1/16. According to CEO Colin Angle, iRobot has shipped over 15 million robotic home floor cleaners through 2016.

Last year iRobot divested its Defense and Security Division for $45 million to a VC which shortly thereafter launched Endeavor Robotics. Thus iRobot is now exclusively a commercial robotics provider. Year-to-date, iRobot's stock has risen 38% from $58 to $80. 

KUKA AG (KU2:ETR) / Midea Group (000333:SHE)

KUKA AG reported Q1/17 sales revenues of $862 million which was up 25.6% compared to Q1/16 revenue. Order backlog for the same period was up 30.6%. KUKA's outlook for 2017 is around $3.4 billion, up 7.5% over 2016 ($3.16 billion). KUKA's listed shares - only 5.4% remain with institutions and private investors, the rest, 94.6%, is held by Midea - remain listed but lightly traded as part of the agreement with Midea and will continue to be traded for at least 3 years.

Midea Group, a consumer products manufacturer, is one of the top 50 Chinese publicly-traded companies with revenues of $22 billion. It reported 2016 profits up by 15.6% year-over-year. In addition to its 2016 acquisition of KUKA for approximately $3.9 billion (according to Bloomberg), it just recently acquired Israeli Servotronix for $170 million. Servotronix adds to Midea's industrial automation acquisitions by being a motion control provider for robotics, printing, machine tools and electronics industries.

Midea chairman and CEO Paul Fang said, “This strategic alliance represents another milestone of Midea’s expansion in industrial automation and intelligent manufacturing. We believe that Servotronix’ technological leadership and innovation in motion control will generate significant synergies with Midea in terms of value chain integration and new market development. By leveraging each other’s complementary capabilities and resources, the two companies will join forces to develop exciting new products and explore growth opportunities going forward.”

Midea Group press releases regarding their acquisition of KUKA said almost the same thing: "By leveraging each other's complementary capabilities and resources...."

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG:NASDAQ)

Intuitive Surgical, a medical equipment provider and inventor of the da Vinci surgical robot system, reported $5.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97. Intuitive Surgical had a net margin of 27.21% and a return on equity of 14.24% with revenue of $674.20 million for the quarter, compared to the estimate of $664.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.42 EPS. Intuitive's revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. ISRG has climbed over 30% so far this year, from $642 to $837.

ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index

iRobot and Intuitive Surgical are members, and KUKA used to be a member, of the 80+ stocks included in the ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index, a leading indicator of the robotics and automation market. KUKA was dropped when it was acquired by Midea. Even though KUKA has revenues of around $3.4 billion, when combined with Midea's $22 billion, the percentage of robotics-related revenue is only 13% which is too little to qualify Midea for membership in the index. Also, Midea only trades on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange which, at the present time, ROBO Global doesn't cover.

For more information about the index or the 80+ member companies, go to ROBO Global's website.

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