It’s all systems go for August Robotics after the company raised a massive $5 million in seed funding from big-name backers, including Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes.
The Shenzhen-based company, founded by Australian Alex Wyatt, is now getting its first bots off the product line.
August Robotics is building a suite of robots that will work alongside people to make labour-intensive tasks more efficient, reliable and safe. The company is focussed on automating processes and workflows in the B2B sector.
August Robotics’ first robot will assist exhibition companies to optimise the process of setting up trade shows around the world. The trade show robot has been the subject of intensive testing, and the company is set to launch a commercially-ready version.
The trade show robot is just one of several application-specific robots that August Robotics is working on.
Oversubscribed seed funding round
August Robotics believes in the potential for robots and humans to collaborate and co-operate, enhancing business workflows in a manner that benefits people and businesses across the economy.
Earlier this month, August Robotics announced the closing of its oversubscribed A$5 million seed funding round.
The seed financing was led by Blackbird Ventures, and was joined by a number of well-known technology founders and investors, including Mike Cannon-Brookes (through his private investment company Grok Ventures), venture capital veteran Roger Allen and prominent businessman John Wylie.
“At Blackbird we like to invest in big ambition businesses that are going to change the way we live and work. August Robotics is building a suite of robots that will work alongside people to make labour intensive tasks more efficient, reliable and safe,” said Rick Baker, co-founder and partner of Blackbird Ventures, a leading venture capital firm based in Sydney, Australia.
“Robots will change the way we work over the coming decade and August Robotics is set to be a key player in the industry.”
International expansion
August Robotics will use the funds from the seed round to build a dedicated robot research & development centre in southern China, where the company will continue the development of its suite of specialised robots.
Proceeds from the round will also be used to facilitate international expansion and build sales and customer servicing capabilities in August Robotics’ target markets overseas.
“The August Robotics team has grown considerably over the past year as we work with our customers to make their jobs easier using robotic automation,” said Alex Wyatt, CEO of August Robotics.
“This investment allows us to hire additional robotics engineers to ramp up our R&D capabilities, and gives us the resources required to provide the best possible service to our customers.”
Talented team
Wyatt is a former Executive General Manager of Cricket Australia and CEO and co-founder of Climate Bridge one of the world's leading companies in the international carbon markets.
He is also a former board member and investor of RayGen, a Melbourne-based company that developed World leading solar technology and a member of the World Economic Forum.
August Robotics has offices in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Melbourne.
The company boasts a talented team of engineers, roboticists and business people spread across its network.
August Robotics will distribute its suite of specialised robots globally, with key markets being Western Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.
