Robot Guard Dogs Help Asylon Raise A $26m Series B

Philadelphia-based robotics institution Asylon announced Tuesday that it raised a $26 cardinal Series B led by Insight Partners, pinch information from Veteran Ventures Capital, Allegion Ventures, and nan GoPA Fund.

Asylon began arsenic a drone institution for securing facilities. It’s champion known for a drone that has a robotic limb that tin alteration its ain batteries.

But it besides has a robotic defender canine work called DroneDog. Asylon takes nan famed Boston Dynamics robot canine Spot and modifies it for defender activity and to merge pinch its command-and-control Guardian software. Asylon offers nan drones, dogs, and package arsenic its robotic security-as-a-service (RaaS).

A tract tin beryllium secured pinch crushed patrols via robot dogs and flying cameras that screen much areas than stationary cameras. DroneDogs can beryllium sent to places unsafe for humans aliases existent dogs. And they tin execute almost canine sniffing-like tasks specified arsenic detecting state leaks aliases vulnerable chemicals. 

The company, which was founded successful 2015, hasn’t raised overmuch task superior anterior to this compared pinch different drone and robotics companies. It antecedently raised astir $21 million, positive immoderate authorities grants, bringing its full raised to astir $45 million, founder CEO Damon Henry told TechCrunch.

While Henry described fundraising arsenic hard, aft nan sidesplitting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson successful December, companies person accrued spending on CEO location and installation security, specified arsenic DroneDog. Its RaaS tin costs astir $100,000 to $150,000 a twelvemonth — akin to hiring a quality bodyguard service.

“I went to an arena past summer, a New York Tech Week event, and I hap to person met each investor that’s successful nan information astatine that event,” Henry said. When he decided to raise, he already had lukewarm intros pinch investors who were alert that information spending is rising.

Henry and his 2 cofounders, Adam Mohamed (CTO) and Brent McLaughlin (COO), were dorm roommates astatine MIT. But dissimilar nan classical Silicon Valley story, they did not driblet out. They went to activity arsenic aerospace engineers aft graduation for companies for illustration GE Aviation, Boeing, and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

In 2015, nan 3 friends saw Amazon denote its drone transportation work and were inspired. They discontinue their jobs and founded Asylon. By 2019 they had their first customer: Ford.

And successful 2021, nan startup almost suffered a swift death. Ford had agreed to fto them do a unrecorded demo arena showing really their drones worked astatine its facility. A group of Fortune 500 had signed up to spot nan demo, Henry recalled. 

The nighttime earlier nan event, nan drone collapsed and was destroyed. Henry saw his institution flash earlier his eyes: a ruined reputation. No customers. The end.

A dedicated worker drove each nighttime to present different drone, but nan founders had precious small clip to get it running. Miraculously, they did, and it worked flawlessly during nan event.

“The strategy flew consistently, perfectly each time long,” he said. “It won america our adjacent 3 customers — Fortune 500 customers. And past nan aforesaid time simultaneously, we really won our first DoD statement for nan drones.”

The founders person been cautiously increasing nan institution ever since. Asylon now employs 65 and has systems deployed successful 15 states, he said.