London-based Index Ventures co-led the round alongside Toronto-based Radical, with participation from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Amplify Partners, among others. The funding brings the Bay-Area AI firm’s total Series C to US$155 million. (The Logic)
Talking point: Covariant’s technology teaches robots how to pick up and place objects, with every motion feeding into a central database and informs the machines how to improve the task in the future. “This comes at a time when retail executives are eager to invest in AI-powered robotic automation,” the company said in a press release. The firm, which has raised US$222 million to date, said its business has experienced “incredible” growth in the past year, even at a time when other tech companies have retracted substantially.