RIOS Announces $28M in New Funding to Automate Old-Line Industries

MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RIOS Intelligent Machines, Inc., leader of end-to-end AI-powered robotic workcells for factory automation, announced today that it has raised $28 million in Series A equity funding and debt financing. This new round of funding, together with a $5 million venture round announced back in 2020, raise RIOS' total capitalization to $33 million. The oversubscribed Series A round was led by new deep tech investor Main Sequence, along with new major investors Yamaha Motor Ventures, Orbit Venture Partners, Hypertherm Ventures, and strong participation from existing investors Valley Capital Partners, Morpheus Ventures, Grit Ventures, and others. Main Sequence Partner Mike Zimmerman is joining RIOS' board of directors, and Yamaha Motor Ventures COO & Managing Director Anish Patel has joined as a board observer.

RIOS helps enterprises automate their factory assembly lines, warehouses or supply chain operations, by deploying its AI-powered robotic workcells on the factory floor. Its robotic workcells are currently deployed in the United States in the manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, and food & beverage sectors. RIOS pioneered the robots-as-a-service (RaaS) business model for robotic workcells well before other automation providers, and currently offers its robotic workforce through a factory automation-as-a-service agreement, in which customers have no upfront capital commitments. The company has signed agreements with over a dozen customers in the U.S. and Japan, from mid-size businesses to large enterprises. The new capital will be used to deploy its robotic fleet at scale to both new and existing customers.

"Bedrock sectors of our economy are crippled by a labor shortage problem that Covid turned into a full-blown crisis. Today, most factories in the world are labor-intensive, and with millions of jobs unfilled, manufacturers are unable to keep up with skyrocketing consumer demand – and they are in extreme pain," said Dr. Bernard Casse, RIOS' CEO. "We have the cure to this trillion-dollar opportunity. We're re-industrializing America with best-in-class American technology, while upskilling our American workforce in the process and enabling them to access higher-level and better-paying jobs."

RIOS focuses on the last frontier of automation in factories, in which traditional automation breaks down. It has built a new breed of robots possessing unparalleled levels of dexterity, cognitive skills and autonomy, which are geared up to tackle hard-to-automate tasks in unstructured environments. Today, the company has engineered some of the most sophisticated hardware and software/AI platforms in the robotics space, which includes human-like tactile sensors for robots, haptics intelligence platform, and highest performance end-of-arm tooling.

"We are pleased to see the tremendous growth at RIOS since our initial investment," said Steve O'Hara, Managing Partner at Valley Capital Partners and a board member of RIOS. "From day one we were impressed with the RIOS team and believed their data-focused and full-stack technology approach would help differentiate them quickly as the demand for automation services grew. We are excited to see how quickly their pipeline has grown, far exceeding our expectations from a robotics company at their size and stage and couldn't be more excited to continue to partner with Bernard and his team to build a world-class technology company."

RIOS' value proposition to its customers are production-grade machines that meet throughputs and KPIs, are easy to use, have practically zero downtime, and can be integrated within their existing workflows. RIOS' solutions offering comes with the fastest delivery on the planet and a premier customer experience. RIOS' business proposition and superior technology stack allows manufacturers of all sizes to access world-leading automation with no capital investment, helping them to reliably scale to meet their growing demand.

"RIOS' combination of RaaS business model and adaptable end-to-end robotic workcell platform is the ideal answer to the labor and supply chain challenges facing manufacturers around the globe. Main Sequence was attracted to RIOS' strong market traction, positive customer feedback and world-class team," said lead investor Mike Zimmerman. "We're also thrilled that RIOS is strategically tapping into Australia's ecosystem of industry experts, research institutions, and commercial companies to both commercialize innovative robotic technologies and get early access to the Australian market."

About RIOS

RIOS Intelligent Machines, Inc. ("RIOS") is helping enterprises automate their entire factories, warehouses, or supply chain operations – by deploying AI-powered end-to-end robotic workcells that integrate within existing workflows. RIOS is the leader of fullstack AI-powered robotic workcells for factory automation and deploys its robotic fleet at scale to transform labor-intensive factories into "lights-out" factories of the future powered by robotics and AI. It has developed some of the most advanced hardware and AI/software platforms in the robotics world, including human-like tactile sensors for robots, haptics intelligence platform, and highest performance end-of-arm tooling and food-grade grippers. RIOS is a Silicon Valley technology company that was founded by former Xerox PARC engineers. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, and has a distributed workforce across the US and a subsidiary in Australia. More information is available at www.rios.ai.

About Main Sequence

Main Sequence is Australia's deep tech investment fund tackling the world's biggest challenges by turning today's scientific discoveries into tomorrow's industries. It works closely with scientists, researchers and industry collaborators to create, fund and accelerate new companies and industries that accelerate humanity for a more prosperous future.

Main Sequence was set up in 2017 to manage the CSIRO Innovation Fund, founded by the Australian Government and the national science agency to reinvest its historic contributions into the successes of the future.

Fund I was backed by CSIRO, and to date has invested in 26 companies that are changing the way healthcare is delivered, food is produced, spaces are connected and more. Its second fund, Fund II was launched in 2021 and backed by private investors and family offices. More information is available at www.mseq.vc.

SOURCE RIOS Intelligent Machines, Inc.