Inbolt raises €15 million to make industrial robots smarter with AI

Inbolt leverages AI to deliver a software-only vision solution for industrial robot guidance, using any standard 3D camera. Inbolt enables robots to adapt to their environment, making automation more flexible, reliable and efficient.

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• This Series A funding round is led by Exor Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of Exor N.V., and supported by existing investors MIG Capital (Germany), SOSV (US), BNP Paribas Développement. Bpifrance also joined the round.
• The new funding will accelerate the company’s R&D and continue its expansion notably in the United States and Japan. Inbolt also plans to bolster its workforce to support this growth.
• Inbolt is already present in production in more than 20 industrial sites with its robot guidance solution, GuideNOW.

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PARIS, September 19, 2024 - Inbolt, the pioneer of real-time robot guidance solutions, announces it has secured a €15 million Series A round. The round is led by Exor Ventures, the early-stage investment arm of Exor N.V.. Exor is the largest shareholder of industrial groups such as Ferrari, Stellantis, and CNH industrial. This financing is also supported by Bpifrance and repeat entrepreneur Yann Fleureau, founder of Cardiologs. Existing investors MIG Capital (Germany), SOSV (US), and BNP Paribas Développement (France), are also investing in the round, taking the total raised by the company to €20 million. 

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The Paris-headquartered startup makes production lines more efficient and precise, with its 3D vision system boosted by artificial intelligence. Inbolt’s technology enables the guidance of industrial robotic arms and is 100 times faster than its competitors, giving robots the ability to adapt to all industrial environments, across industries such as automotive, electronics, and logistics. With offices in France and Germany, and more than 20 factories deployed across Europe and the United States, Inbolt will use the new funding to meet growing demand from new regions, particularly in the United States and Japan.

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A turnkey solution to rapidly modernise factories

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The manufacturing sector must increasingly turn to automation to meet new challenges such as labour shortages, reindustrialisation and a demand for better working conditions. However, the mass installation of robots has, until now, been complex and represented a significant cost for manufacturers.

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Amidst surging industry demand, Inbolt has developed GuideNOW, a turnkey real-time robotic guidance solution that uses 3D vision cameras and is powered by AI. Inbolt technology quickly processes 3D data to determine a part’s position and orientation, enabling real-time robot trajectory adaptation, even in unstructured environments. 

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Already proven in several dozen industrial sites in France, Italy, Poland, Hungary and the United States, Inbolt has established itself as one of the most robust solutions on the market. An initial contract with automotive group Stellantis enabled the manufacturers to save more than €3.1 million in one year. Inbolt is also used by customers such as Ford, Whirlpool, Thyssenkrupp Automotive, and Atlas Copco.

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In addition to the geographic expansion to the US and Japan, the funds raised will also be used to accelerate product development to expand use cases, and grow the team.

“At Inbolt, we enable any robot to make real-time decisions and adapt to all types of environments, even the most complex. With a 400% increase in demand over the past six months from various regions, it is strategic for us to strengthen our presence in Europe while accelerating our expansion into the United States and Japan. Our collaboration with Exor Ventures and our existing investors will allow us to leverage their expertise and connections with major industrial companies to accelerate our product development and expand our geographic footprint," said Rudy Cohen, CEO of Inbolt.

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“Until now, manufacturers have had to choose between ROI and deployment velocity of automation solutions. The ingenuity of Inbolt's platform is to leverage 3D cameras and AI to give eyes and brains to robotic arms that were previously complex to manipulate. This solution has two massive advantages: it can be deployed in a matter of hours and at a much lower cost and used even by less tech-savvy operators. We are delighted to be joining Inbolt and to be able to support them in their ambition for international growth,” said Noam Ohana, Managing Director at Exor.

“Inbolt has been moving at an incredible pace, especially over the last 10 months. Going from development to production in factories so quickly is seriously impressive. We’re excited to see how far they’ll take this,” comments Oliver Kahl from MIG Capital, who led the initial round of financing.

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Inbolt was co-founded in 2019 by Rudy Cohen, Albane Dersy and Louis Dumas, who met during the MSc X-HEC Entrepreneurs program. With their backgrounds in mathematics, artificial intelligence and mergers and acquisitions, the team founded Inbolt following an exchange at UC Berkeley in the United States. During their time at UC Berkeley, they identified the industrial issues robotics could help to address, particularly the need for greater flexibility in manufacturing.

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About Inbolt

Inbolt provides a real-time guidance solution for robots, based on 3D vision and artificial intelligence, enabling robots to make autonomous decisions adapted to uncertain and unstructured environments. To learn more, visit: https://fr.Inbolt.com/

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About Exor Ventures

Exor Ventures is the early-stage investment arm of Exor N.V. Exor Ventures focuses on early-stage startups from Seed to Series B, across AI, deeptech, and mobility. Over the last 7 years, they have invested in leading companies on a global basis, such as Mistral AI, Via, Brex, Qonto, Alan, Neuralink…

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About MIG Capital AG

MIG Capital AG is a leading German VC investor, specialising in deep tech and life sciences. With over €650 million invested in 50 companies, MIG supports innovations in AI, quantum technologies, IoT, precision medicine, and digital health. Their expert team leverages a strong network to foster the growth of portfolio companies, including BioNTech and Immatics, which have successfully listed on stock exchanges. Notable exits include SuppreMol (to Baxter) and Siltectra (to Infineon). For more information, visit www.mig.ag.

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About SOSV

SOSV is a global venture capital firm that offers multi-stage investment, starting with pre-seed startup development programs designed for founders with breakthrough technologies that address human and planetary health. With $1.5 billion in AUM, SOSV operates early-stage startup development programs IndieBio (human and planetary health) and HAX (hard tech). The SOSV ecosystem spans the globe, with 800+ startups operating in 56 countries and program offices in New York City, Newark, San Francisco, Shenzhen, Pune and Tokyo.

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About BNP Paribas Développement

BNP Paribas Developpement, a private equity stand-alone subsidiary of the international banking group BNP Paribas, has been investing its equity capital directly for over 30 years to support the development of SMEs and SMIs and ensure their long-term survival by facilitating their transfer, as a minority shareholder with a 2bn € AUM. Since 2016, we have also been supporting “early stage” startups (seed / Série A) with high growth potential, offering new uses or creating new technology, thanks to our Venture France team.

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