Pittsburgh AI robotics startup raises $300 million
YES, WALNUT CAPITAL SAYS I AVENUE WILL HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON BAKERY SQUARE BEHIND ME AND THE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE SURROUNDING IT. I AVENUE IS A ONE MILE CORRIDOR FROM PENN AND FIFTH AVENUES AND LARIMER DOWN TO WHERE DUOLINGO IS LOCATED. WALNUT CAPITAL SAYS ABOUT 20 EMERGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COMPANIES WILL BRING MORE JOBS AND DEVELOPMENT TO THE LARIMER EAST LIBERTY NEIGHBORHOOD. WE SAW THIS NATURAL EMERGENCE OF COMPANIES THAT WERE INTERESTED IN TECHNOLOGY AND AI, AND WE THOUGHT THAT, YOU KNOW, WHY CAN’T WE START RECOGNIZING THAT FOR PEOPLE IN PITTSBURGH AND PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD, THE THREE NEWEST COMPANIES ARE PEARL STREET TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY, ROBOT, AND LOVELACE AI. THE AI AVENUE WORKING GROUP IS AN ORGANIZATION THAT LISTENS TO THE COMMUNITY DURING THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT. IT GOT A $2 MILLION GRANT THAT CONNECTS THE LARIMER EAST LIBERTY AREA TO AFFORDABLE RENTAL COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE ECONOMIC CORRIDOR. WALNUT CAPITAL INVITED THE COMMUNITY FOR THEIR INPUT. ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS WE HAVE IN THIS PENN AVENUE CORRIDOR IS THESE GREAT NEIGHBORHOODS AROUND US. THERE’S PROBABLY 5 OR 6 DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS THAT CONNECT TO PENN AVENUE, AND WE THOUGHT THAT BY HAVING THIS IMPORTANT GROWTH IN AI, WE CAN WE CAN HAVE IT FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL THE COMMUNITIES AROUND US. THE LARIMER CONSENSUS GROUP WAS ONE OF THE GROUPS WHO EXPRESSED INTEREST. SO PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE WON’T BE LEFT BEHIND. THAT AI IS SOMETHING THAT’S TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY IS ALWAYS BEEN IMPORTANT. THE FACT THAT GOOGLE SITS IN OUR COMMUNITY AND FORMER PITTSBURGH STEELER WILL ALLEN IS PART OF A FIRM THAT’S LOCATED ALONG A.I. AVENUE. THEY DECIDED TO MAKE THEIR OFFICES HERE AT BAKERY SQUARE. REALLY TO BE PART OF THIS ECOSYSTEM. AND I KNOW THEY FOCUS ON AI COMPANIES. WALNUT CAPITAL SAYS THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT EXPECTS TO FILL UP MORE OFFICE SPACE AND BRING ABOUT 3000 JOBS TO PITTSBURGH. AND WALNUT CAPITAL SAYS THOSE THREE NEW BUSINESSES ARE NOW
Pittsburgh AI robotics startup raises $300 million, including from Jeff Bezos
Updated: 10:36 PM EDT Jul 9, 2024
A Pittsburgh-based robotics company secured millions in a recent round of venture capital funding, with even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos chipping into the pot. Video above: Bakery Square becoming “AI Avenue”Skild AI announced on Tuesday it had closed a $300 million Series A funding round. The artificial intelligence startup, which also has headquarters in San Francisco, is focused on building a robotics model it says will be general purpose enough to work with many kinds of robots. This base model would work as a sort of artificial “brain” that could be adapted to different real-world needs.“From resilient quadrupeds mastering adverse physical conditions, to vision-based humanoids performing dexterous manipulation of objects for complex household and industrial tasks, the company’s model will enable the use of low-cost robots across a broad range of industries and applications,” Skild AI said in a news release.Series A funding rounds are geared toward venture capitalists looking for an established company with a chance for long-term financial success. To that point, SkildAI said in the release that this fresh capital would be “used to continue scaling the company’s model and training datasets for future commercial deployment of its technology.” This funding round brought Skild AI’s valuation up to $1.5 billion. “We believe Skild AI represents a step change in how robotics will be scaled and has the potential to change the entire physical economy,” company CEO and co-founder Deepak Pathak said.Among the investors were Bezos, through his firm Bezos Expeditions, and Softbank Group. Carnegie Mellon University, where Pathak and fellow co-founder Abhinav Gupta teach, also participated in this round.The startup employs a team from Meta, Nvidia, Google and other leading developers in artificial intelligence. Their local headquarters are in East Liberty, the growing nexus of Pittsburgh’s AI scene.
A Pittsburgh-based robotics company secured millions in a recent round of venture capital funding, with even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos chipping into the pot.
Video above: Bakery Square becoming “AI Avenue”
Skild AI announced on Tuesday it had closed a $300 million Series A funding round. The artificial intelligence startup, which also has headquarters in San Francisco, is focused on building a robotics model it says will be general purpose enough to work with many kinds of robots. This base model would work as a sort of artificial “brain” that could be adapted to different real-world needs.
“From resilient quadrupeds mastering adverse physical conditions, to vision-based humanoids performing dexterous manipulation of objects for complex household and industrial tasks, the company’s model will enable the use of low-cost robots across a broad range of industries and applications,” Skild AI said in a news release.
Series A funding rounds are geared toward venture capitalists looking for an established company with a chance for long-term financial success. To that point, SkildAI said in the release that this fresh capital would be “used to continue scaling the company’s model and training datasets for future commercial deployment of its technology.” This funding round brought Skild AI’s valuation up to $1.5 billion.
“We believe Skild AI represents a step change in how robotics will be scaled and has the potential to change the entire physical economy,” company CEO and co-founder Deepak Pathak said.
Among the investors were Bezos, through his firm Bezos Expeditions, and Softbank Group. Carnegie Mellon University, where Pathak and fellow co-founder Abhinav Gupta teach, also participated in this round.
The startup employs a team from Meta, Nvidia, Google and other leading developers in artificial intelligence. Their local headquarters are in East Liberty, the growing nexus of Pittsburgh’s AI scene.
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