More money going into a prominent robotics startup today: Boston-based Rethink Robotics has raised an additional $13.4 million led by Wellington Management Company.
That brings Rethink’s Series D venture haul to an even $40 million, with GE Ventures and Goldman Sachs being the other big, recent investors in the company.
Rethink Robotics has raised a total of $113.5 million, making it one of the more heavily funded private tech companies in New England. The startup recently unveiled a new robot for manufacturing called Sawyer, to go along with its first robot, Baxter.
Sawyer is designed to do things like electronics assembly and testing—and do it in factories worldwide.
Rethink Robotics, which got its start in 2008 (originally called Heartland Robotics), is led by founder and CTO Rodney Brooks and chief executive Scott Eckert.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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