Venture Capital (VC) Funding for Robotics in 2011 @ Hizook via Chris.

‘ve been tracking venture capital (VC) funding of robotics companies for the better part of two years.  Based on my (limited) data, VC funding in robotics exceeded $160 Million for 2011.  This is just a rounding error compared to VC funding of Internet (web-based) companies, which hit a decade-long high of $6.9 Billion in 2011.  My hope is that robotics will get more love in the next year(s), but getting VC funding for robotics is a decidedly tough nut to crack.  Robotics companies have large capital requirements for robot hardware, few potential acquirers, and almost no “Google-scale” breakout success stories (ie. IPOs).  I mean, c’mon… one of the best known robotics companies, iRobot, has a market cap of just $700 Million.  This makes robotics a difficult sell to your typical VC firm.  My hope is that this list can give others courage to pursue “swing for the fences” type projects along with a source for robotics-friendly VC firms.