In “now-drones-can-do-this” news, Bellevue-based computer vision company Clobotics has announced an $11 million Series A, bringing its funding total to $21 million across three rounds. The company says it will use the funding to expand its operations across North America, invest in product development and build out its computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning teams.
The company builds drones which use intelligent computer vision, artificial intelligence and data analytics software to inspect wind turbines. The drones take high resolution photographs to identify damage, and Clobotics claims they can identify weaknesses as small as one millimeter by three millimeters.
The company’s artificial intelligence algorithms then sift through the generated data and share the information on a customer cloud portal. Clobotics says this shortens the inspection process from days to minutes.
The technology has additional applications in retail, with a solution to recognize displays, assortments and SKUs and generate reports in real time.
Clobotics CEO and co-founder George Yan said the company works with a wide range of customers.
“In less than two years since our founding, Clobotics has attracted top global brands as customers by pioneering new processes that combine artificial intelligence and computer vision with our own smart hardware capabilities and expertise in the wind and retail industries,” Yan said in a statement. “Our investors have a reputation for spotting and investing in successful international technology companies and we are pleased they recognize this potential in Clobotics.”
Those investors include Nantian Infotech Venture Capital and Wangsu Company, which lead the round with their first investments in the company. Existing investors include KTB Network, GGV Capital and Capital Development Investment Fund Management Co.
All of Clobotics’ four co-founders — Yan Ke, Claire Chen, Zhao Li and Yan — are former executives at Microsoft. The company is headquartered in both Bellevue and Shanghai, with an additional office in Beijing.
