MFV Partners

Tesla's unveiling of its #Optimus #robot in October was met with a rightful dose of skepticism, as many of the capabilities the robots demonstrated were found to be powered by human teleoperation rather than large language models #LLMs. However, despite the human assistance in this case, the scenes that were displayed aren’t that far away from being produced by #AI-powered, #humanoid robots 🤖. While I don’t think this means you’ll be seeing humanoids in your 🏡 or at a restaurant anytime soon, we’ll see these types of robots being deployed across factories in #2025. ☑️ From turbocharging production to enabling us to finally solve some of #robotics' biggest challenges, such as dexterous hands 🤚, we're looking at a 🔟X leap in robotics innovation with the latest AI breakthroughs. ☑️ Meanwhile, AI-driven simulations of the countless scenarios robots encounter are slashing development hours and costs while making humanlike machines more realistic than science fiction. However, to understand how this innovation will finally enable us to unlock the true promise of robots in 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣5️⃣, we must first understand where the robotics industry is coming from. Within this piece, I look at how the current AI-driven sea change in the robotics market compares to previous technological breakthroughs that ushered in the first two generations of robotics, and why we'll be ushering in a third generation of humanoid robots with AI in 2025. ➡️ #deeptech #AMRs #AGVs #hardware #software

What a way to end the year (ok, there are still 3 weeks to go)! Congratulations Agility Robotics on being recognized by TechCrunch - 51 Most Disruptive Startups of 2024 #humanoid #robotics #deeptech

Quantum technology may seem like science fiction. But researchers and tech companies are getting closer to making this powerful method of computing a reality. With significant hurdles ahead, will the costs be worth the benefit? Our Managing partner Karthee Madasamy shares his insights with The Daily Upside. “Once we deploy it, in terms of the benefits it's going to provide, I have no qualms about the ROI. It's not just a pure science project, let's put it that way. We’re beyond that.” With the sheer amount of computing power being gobbled up by tech developments like AI, the tech industry may have no choice but to forge ahead with quantum as we’re “getting to the end of Moore’s Law with the classical [computing]. We don't have the fundamental technologies to be able to keep up with [our computation needs]. So, what is the next step?” The article also features our portfolio company PsiQuantum, which announced plans in July to build a campus in Chicago to create and operate the first “US-based, utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer,” bringing $1 billion in investments to the city. Nat Rubio-Licht https://lnkd.in/gaVPS-Tj

Recent events, especially COP29 and the Trump transition, show the need for rethink in the #climate segment. Our Managing Partner Karthee Madasamy provides actionable insights on how #climatetech investors and founders, especially #deeptech startups, can navigate this phase for long-term success. Key take-away - Solutions must not just be greener but be better, cheaper or lighter. Featured in Fortune online and Karthee's LinkedIn. LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gSvizrJa Fortune: https://lnkd.in/gmkVM_5G

Exciting news from Rescale! We are thrilled to announce a groundbreaking collaboration between Rescale and NVIDIA, bringing AI-driven, real-time simulation capabilities to engineers and designers. This industry-first integration of Rescale’s cloud-native platform with the NVIDIA Omniverse Blueprint sets a new standard for AI-based CAE acceleration. Read the full press release to learn more about how this collaboration is transforming engineering simulations: https://lnkd.in/gjVFeK57 Key highlights include: • Real-time physics simulation with GPU-accelerated computing • Interactive visualization through NVIDIA Omniverse API integration • AI-powered models that automate development and fine-tuning • Scalable cloud resources reducing infrastructure costs This innovation is set to revolutionize industries such as automotive, aerospace, energy, life sciences, and more by significantly reducing time to market, cutting costs, and increasing design accuracy. #Rescale #NVIDIA #AI #Engineering #Simulation #Innovation #CloudComputing

Big news from our portfolio company Agility Robotics!

Humanoid robots are very much a reality. Hear our Managing Partner Karthee Madasamy share about the current capabilities of humanoids, their cost and maintenance requirements, and how far off we are from seeing humanoids become more commonplace in manufacturing environments, in this podcast with David Greenfield for Automation World. Karthee says that that humanoids are the most complex systems to build, from an engineering perspective. "This is why we are not seeing lot of companies showcasing them. Because of the complexity and challenge, it is a big feat to accomplish" He says that there are enough use cases for humanoids. "There are tasks in manufacturing which are often many small repetitive things. It does not lend to an automation solution. Humanoids will be a good fit to do these", he notes. Karthee does not see RoI as an issue in adoption. "Robot as a service are priced at $4K-$10K per month based on if it is dual shift, complexity of task and such factors. Around that price band, humanoids can be profitable for users and robotic companies. The economics make sense even today and prices will go down with more volume, plus more advanced capabilities will be added", he explains. "A humanoid is a complex piece of machinery, with a lot of mechanical components. Well-engineered robotics company will do much better than those that are not. It requires ensuring that you have good tolerance level, and the design is modular to replace parts. And providing first level of maintenance support by working with system integration partners", he elaborates, giving Agility Robotics as an example. Karthee predicts that 2025 will see a lot more announcements of actual use cases beyond pilots. "There is a lot of work happening in the background. It takes time as it is a physical product. But in 2 to 5-year time frame, we will see humanoids as more mainstream". "Humanoids are not a human replacement but it augments the human work environment. It is a tool, an automation tool that has a different form factor than others we have used. But the idea is the same. If that is missed in the discussion, it leads to friction and we are not doing the deployment right". https://lnkd.in/gha8DJ55

Deep tech founders often face the question of finding the right balance between optimizing early and overlooking scalability. Our Managing Partner Karthee Madasamy shares his thoughts on this problem and other insights on early-stage robotics startups in the podcast with Nicola Marchese, MD of The Scenarionist

Our Managing Partner Karthee Madasamy's comments on Quantum Computing - “Even supercomputers cannot solve many of these problems — it’ll take them thousands of years to solve a problem that can be done in a few minutes [with quantum],” said Madasamy. “I have not seen any other technologies that can leap from current trends of computing to newer things that we can achieve.” “We came to the edge of Moore’s law a few years ago,” said Madasamy. “This is really the next generation of computing.” Solving the cooling problem is key to quantum computing, and the patent discussed provides a path. Check out the article. Nat Rubio-Licht #QuantumComputing https://lnkd.in/gAk3Z4HZ

What is the right emotion when your portfolio company is on the front page of Time as one of the year's best inventions? Proud! Well deserved! Agility Robotics is a generational technology company founded by Damion Shelton and Jonathan Hurst. We are proud and humbled to be a part of their journey! Great things to come! Peggy Johnson Melonee Wise MFV Partners