Robotics investments reach $418M in November 2023

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May Mobility launched an autonomous driving shuttle service in November at an Arizona retirement community.

Robotics investments reached about $418 million in November 2023 as a result of 40 funding rounds. November’s $418 million was the lowest monthly funding amount through the first 11 months of 2023. With the November investments, robotics funding for the first 11 months of 2023 totals approximately $12.1 billion.

The two largest individual investment rounds for November 2023 went to providers of self-driving software and hardware. May Mobility, a provider of autonomous driving technology for commercial fleets, pulled in a $105 million Series D round, while Eacon Mining, a developer of autonomous haulage solutions for operations at surface mines, raised more than $55 million in Series C funding.

Other companies receiving sizeable funding rounds in November 2023 include GITAI, a developer of remote-controlled robots to support astronaut’s operations in space ($47.5 million), and China-based HCFA, a manufacturer and integrator of industrial automation and robotics products ($38 million).

As with previous months in 2023, companies located in China and the United States received the majority of robotics investments, $166 million and $149 million, respectively. Companies based in China and the U.S. also received the majority of the rounds (23 of 40 investments between them), with the companies in the remaining countries each receiving 3 or fewer investments. Two investments into the Japanese firms GITAI and Sensyn Robotics resulted in $63 million in funding.

All types of robotics investments were well represented in November 2023 (Figures 2 and 3). For both the total number of investments and the overall amount of funding, most rounds and investment amounts fell into the ‘Other’ category, a catchall phrase for investment types that fall outside the typical stages of funding that businesses go through before their initial public offering (ex. Seed, Series A, B, C, D, E and F funding). Michigan-based May Mobility’s outsized Series D investment ($105 million) accounted for approximately one-quarter of all November 2023 funding.

For a recap of the investments, see the table below or view a downloadable table here.

Editor’s note
What defines robotics investments? The answer to this simple question is central in any attempt to quantify them with some degree of rigor. To make investment analyses consistent, repeatable, and valuable, it is critical to wring out as much subjectivity as possible during the evaluation process. This begins with a definition of terms and a description of assumptions.

Investors and investing
Investment should come from venture capital firms, corporate investment groups, angel investors, and other sources. Friends-and-family investments, government/non-governmental agency grants, and crowd-sourced funding are excluded.

Robotics and intelligent systems companies
Robotics companies must generate or expect to generate revenue from the production of robotics products (that sense, analyze, and act in the physical world), hardware or software subsystems and enabling technologies for robots, or services supporting robotics devices. For this analysis, autonomous vehicles (including technologies that support autonomous driving) and drones are considered robots, while 3D printers, CNC systems, and various types of “hard” automation are not.

Companies that are “robotic” in name only, or use the term “robot” to describe products and services that do not enable or support devices acting in the physical world, are excluded. For example, this includes “software robots” and robotic process automation. Many firms have multiple locations in different countries. Company locations given in the analysis are based on the publicly listed headquarters in legal documents, press releases, etc.

Verification
Funding information is collected from several public and private sources. These include press releases from corporations and investment groups, corporate briefings, market research firms, and association and industry publications. In addition, information comes from sessions at conferences and seminars, as well as during private interviews with industry representatives, investors, and others. Unverifiable investments are excluded and estimates are made where investment amounts are not provided or are unclear.