The Stuttgart-based company Sereact has secured itself 25 million euros to further develop its integrated AI software, which enables robots to perform tasks they were never trained for.
“With our technology, robots act according to the situation, instead of following rigidly programmed processes. They adapt to dynamic tasks in real time, enabling an unprecedented level of autonomy,” says Ralf Gulde, CEO and co-founder of Sereact (short for “Sense, Reason, Act”).
Former Spotify and Klarna supporter To create led the Serie A round. Existing investors Point Nine and Air Street Capital also participated, as did several prominent angel investors. These include former Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg, former DeepMind product manager Mehdi Ghissassi and former Skype manager Ott Kaukver.
Typically, robots – like these Roomba vacuum cleaners – are hard-coded. This means that they follow precise instructions that allow them to repeat certain tasks.
Sereacts eHowever, embodied AI acts like a robot's brain, allowing them to analyze and even learn new tasks on the go. This is thanks to a machine learning technique called “Zero-Shot Visual Reasoning,” which allows AI to understand and interpret images without requiring any prior specialized training for these types of images.
The model, called PickGPT, makes robots more intelligent. This also means people don't have to pre-program them for every task, saving time for the companies that use them.
“The possibilities here are endless and it’s great to see this kind of innovation coming from Europe,” said Johan Brenner, General Partner at Creandum.
Sereacts The approach is similar to that of British startup Wayve, which has raised $1 billion in Europe Largest AI funding round ever last year. But while Wayve's technology is aimed at autonomous vehicles, Sereact focuses on logistics and warehouse robots that do things like Picking and packing, sorting and exporting goods Quality Control controls.
Companies such as BMW, Daimler Truck, Bol and Active Ants have already introduced Sereact's software in their factories. However, the startup now wants to go beyond the warehouse.
Sereact said it will use the new funding to develop new “robotic hardware platforms” such as mobile robots and humanoids. The company also plans to expand its US presence.
“We are on an exciting path to becoming the leading platform for robotics applications that change the daily lives of people and companies forever,” said Gulde.
