Nvidia-backed robotic manufacturing startup taps new CEO with an eye to AI

Eclipse

The Scoop

Bright Machines, a robotic manufacturing startup with backing from Nvidia, Microsoft and venture firms like Eclipse and Lux Capital, has named a new CEO as the company expands into the rapidly growing AI market, the company told Semafor.

Former Cisco executive and McKinsey veteran Chris Stori will take over the reins from co-founder and interim CEO Lior Susan.

“Stori’s extensive experience propelling companies like Meraki from millions to billions of dollars in revenue is a testament to his ability to lead and scale a complex organization,” Susan said in a statement to Semafor.

Bright Machines was founded in 2018 by a group of executives from AutoCAD maker Autodesk and Flex, a contract manufacturing giant. The aim was to use the combination of AI and robotics to create a multi-purpose, automated manufacturing system that it dubbed “micro-factories.”

They wanted to make robots easier to reprogram and more flexible compared to traditional robots used in manufacturing, which are expensive and time-consuming to set up and then can only be used for one purpose.

The company was originally set up to assemble and inspect electronic devices. But its robots have been successful making data center equipment used in the rapidly expanding AI market, the company said. “The expertise of the staff across multiple domains puts Bright Machines at the forefront of the AI and manufacturing space,” Stori said in a statement.

In June, it announced a $126 million series C investment round that included Nvidia and Microsoft. The fundraise “highlights the intense pressure that large cloud compute providers are facing to scale AI infrastructure,” the company said at the time.

In Stori, the company says it’s bringing on a CEO that has experience in enterprise networking and manufacturing.

Stori was general manager for Cisco’s Enterprise Networking, Meraki, and IoT division. At McKinsey, he advised US manufacturing and industrial companies on expanding into international markets, according to Bright Machines.

Bright Machines’ micro factories look like a string of futuristic phone booths. Inside, robotic arms, cameras and other instruments and tools work together to assemble server boards and other electronics.

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The Future of Repetitive, Physically Demanding and Dangerous Work: DCVC Co-leads Investment in Agility Robotics

Data Collective

By Kelly Chen and Matt Ocko 10.15.20

It’s difficult to imagine a time when humans labored over what is now done by washing machines, looms, tractors, and excavators. These tedious and physically demanding activities were the early low hanging fruit of automation that allowed society to scale, creating, not destroying jobs in the last 140 years, and vastly improving quality of life.

We’re now at another transformative moment as we see the side effects of an accelerating population shift; our able-bodied working age group is massively shrinking as a percentage of the population. Yet, even as this demographic shrinks, in many critical industries like e-commerce or logistics, hard manual labor is still critical and in growing demand.

This work is repetitive, physically demanding or even dangerous, and the part of the population carrying its burden is rapidly disappearing (see below). Nearly every week, we see news reports scattered with references to accident and injury rates in warehousing facilities that should have us alarmed about the nature of this work.

Additionally, due to the physically-intensive nature of these roles, it’s incredibly difficult to keep humans engaged in them long term. Logistics executives have long cited high labor turnover and cyclical temporary worker needs as their biggest pain points. Agility Robotics is tackling this “last mile” of difficult automation problems, focusing on repetitive, physically demanding, and dangerous work.

Source: https://www.economist.com/news/2014/11/13/the-world-reshaped

Agility Robotics combines two decades of research and development with one of the most impressive robotics teams globally. The team has built a programmable, bipedal, humanoid robot (read: robot with two arms and legs) that can unload, inspect, carry, and deliver items across a variety of uncontrolled indoor and outdoor terrains – things that come easily to humans but not to date for robots.

Existing robotic solutions in the $1.6T logistics industry tend to be narrowly focused, expensive, and often cannot navigate human terrain. Agility’s robots come in a “drop in” configuration for existing facilities and as an easily scalable solution. Importantly, in working closely with partners and experts on the frontlines of today’s logistics sector, the team has already demonstrated that it can technologically solve many of the logistics market’s largest problems – and pragmatically and economically.

At DCVC, we don’t back seemingly impressive ‘science projects’ that lack robust, real world applications. Instead, we focus on companies that channel their ingenuity, creativity and effort into solving urgent problems impacting both huge industries and our society at large.

When we met founders Damion and Jonathan, we immediately recognized that Agility’s robot was purpose-built for actual – not theoretical – industry. The team has spent years working with and understanding the needs of Agility’s partners and customers, and have built up industry expertise we think is second to none. This practical diligence is already paying dividends, with Agility having struck up a partnership with Ford to develop a last-mile logistics solution that combines Ford’s autonomous vehicle technology and Agility’s bipedal robot Digit.

Since we’ve gotten to know the Agility team, it’s clear they have put an incredible amount of thought into creating a solution which can eliminate the burden on human workers while providing real-world reliability, safety and cost-effectiveness. DCVC is thrilled to join the weighty mission at Agility, co-leading a $20m round alongside previous investor Playground Global.

To view the robot in action, visit Agility Robotics’ YouTube channel.