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In 2021, robotics startups had been flying excessive. Not like different classes that had buckled underneath the strains of a worldwide pandemic, curiosity in automation was at an all-time excessive, as firms tried to navigate provide chain points and ongoing labor shortages. Robotics and automation had been insulated from broader funding slowdowns, however ultimately, they, too, had been impacted.
It’s not as if the indicators haven’t been there. I kicked off the yr with a publish titled, “The thing we thought was happening with robotic investments is definitely happening.” That factor being funding slowdowns. After a banner yr, 2022 was the second-worst yr for robotics investments previously 5.
It was second solely to 2020, which was a type of as soon as in a life time world anomalies. Completely comprehensible in that case. That determine represented the 5 straight quarters of decline in VC cash.
Picture Credit: Crunchbase
Immediately, new numbers from Crunchbase level to a different annual decline for 2023. The yr isn’t fairly over, in fact, however year-to-date investments within the U.S. market are at $2.7 billion, down from $5 billion final yr, $9.1 billion in 2021 and even the $3.4 billion that got here by way of in 2020.
There are a few issues at play right here. First, we knew that preliminary pleasure wouldn’t final ceaselessly. A few of the world has gotten again to regular, relieving a few of the strain to automate as quickly as potential. Second, there are macro developments to deal with.
VC investments have slowed extra broadly, and that’s now relating robotics. The excellent news, nevertheless, is that the class has remained regular relative to the remainder of the panorama. The spike in curiosity round generative AI — and all issues synthetic intelligence — has been a chunk of sustaining its place.
The previous few years have additionally afforded robotics corporations an opportunity to show their efficacy in the actual world, demonstrating the worth of automation past the manufacturing sector that we’ve been seeing for a number of a long time now.
Robot sales additionally lately noticed a lower, courtesy of financial headwinds following the preliminary pandemic surge.
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