Path Robotics raises $300m at a $2.45bn valuation for welding AI

Path Robotics, an Ohio startup that builds AI to let robots weld, has raised $300m in a Series E round at a $2.45bn valuation. Georgian, an AI-focused growth equity firm, led the round, the company said. The deal nearly quadruples Path’s valuation, Bloomberg reported.

Existing investors Addition, Drive Capital, IronArc Ventures, Tiger Global and Yamaha Motor Ventures joined the round. So did new backers D. E. Shaw Ventures and Naver Ventures. Georgian partner Emily Walsh will join the board. Path was founded in 2018 and has now raised more than $610m.

The round comes two weeks after Bedrock Robotics raised $600m for its self-driving excavators, and after Formic raised $50m for factory robots.

From welding to the whole factory

Path’s AI model, Obsidian, lets robots find weld joints, plan the welds and adjust as conditions change, instead of following fixed programs. The company says its annual recurring revenue grew 17-fold in the past 18 months. Customers include shipbuilder HII, Lockheed Martin and Saronic, which makes autonomous vessels for the military.

“Our goal isn’t to automate one step, but to automate the entire factory,” said Andy Lonsberry, co-founder and chief executive of Path Robotics.

The money will fund new manufacturing tasks, new types of robots, and the data and compute to train its models. Lonsberry told Bloomberg the company also plans to expand into industries such as defence and energy infrastructure.

Robot dogs that weld

One new form is Rove, which puts Obsidian on a Boston Dynamics quadruped so it can weld parts where they stand. Path is working to fill 50 preorders for Rove, Lonsberry told Bloomberg. The robots will start working alongside human welders in shipyards, construction sites and heavy industrial sites next year.

Path also signed a $600m performance-based production agreement with HII for US Navy shipbuilding earlier this year. Its staff grew 97% in a year, and it plans to reach 400 employees by the end of 2026.

‘Never fired a welder’

Lonsberry said the robots add capacity rather than replace workers.

“None of our customers have ever fired a welder because of a task robot,” Lonsberry told Bloomberg.

Welders are also in demand elsewhere. In June, Google said it would fund training for electricians and welders to build AI data centres.