Mecka AI, a robotics data startup with most of its staff in Toronto, has raised a US$60-million Series B round led by Sequoia Capital, BetaKit reported Oct. 7.
The amount is about $86 million in Canadian dollars. Mecka confirmed the round to BetaKit by email. Bloomberg first reported the financing and said Nvidia, Qualcomm and Microsoft’s venture arm M12 also took part, according to BetaKit.
The company is about two years old and describes its goal as building “the data and deployment layer” for physical AI. It collects real-world data from body sensors and iPhones, including first-person video, in settings such as home kitchens, chemistry labs, and metal fabrication and leather shops. It then converts that footage into training data for robotics labs and large technology companies, BetaKit reported.
Mecka is based in the United States for corporate purposes, BetaKit reported, but three of its four co-founders are Canadian and most of its employees work in Toronto. That makes the round a notable one for the Toronto robotics and AI scene, even though the company is not a Canadian corporation.
The new round follows earlier financing. Mecka raised a US$25-million Series A last November and closed a US$35-million extension over the summer, for a combined US$60 million before this round. Investors in those rounds included Framework Ventures, Menlo Ventures, SV Angel and Kindred Ventures, according to BetaKit.
TechCrunch reported in September that Mecka was raising at a valuation of about US$500 million. BetaKit said it could not confirm that figure, and Canada News Media has not independently verified it.
Mecka has also acquired Docula, a small, bootstrapped Vancouver startup, BetaKit reported. Terms of that deal were not detailed in the report.
The round lands as global investment in robotics climbs. BetaKit said the Canadian Robotics Council has seen a rapid increase in the number of robotics startups in the country. Other Canadian robotics companies named in the report include A&K Robotics, NorBot, TetraGen Robotics and Mecademic.
For Canadian readers, the story points to a familiar pattern. Canadian founders and engineers are building companies in a fast-growing field, while the largest cheques and the corporate headquarters often sit south of the border. Industry groups raised a related concern this week, BetaKit reported, calling on Ottawa for tax incentives and a capital gains rollover aimed at keeping business value in Canada.
This story is developing. The funding details rest largely on BetaKit’s reporting and Mecka’s email confirmation, and Bloomberg’s original report was not reviewed by Canada News Media.
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Via BetaKit.
