Manufacturing robotics startup GrayMatter Robotics Inc. is looking to kickstart a wave of factory automation after closing on a new $45 million funding round today.

The Series B round was led by Wellington Management and saw participation from other new investors, including NGP Capital, Euclidean Capital, Advance Venture Partners and SQN Venture Partners, plus existing investors 3M Ventures, B Capital, Bow Capital, Calibrate Ventures, OCA Ventures and Swift Ventures.

Founded in 2020, GrayMatter is the developer of a series of highly specialized robotic cells for the manufacturing industry. Its robots are powered by artificial intelligence and carry out a range of tasks in manufacturing operations, such as grinding, sanding, spraying, polishing, coating and finishing surfaces. These tasks have traditionally been extremely labor intensive and ergonomically challenging, and their intricate nature has prevented them from being automated — until now, says the company.

There’s a growing need for automation, GrayMatter says, as the $2.5 trillion U.S. manufacturing industry grapples with a severe labor shortage. According to the startup, there are more than 3.8 million unfilled jobs in the manufacturing sector. One of the problems is the hazardous and demanding nature of these jobs, which require extensive training. As a result, around half of all manufacturers’ orders are said to be on hold, waiting to be fulfilled.

GrayMatter wants to help manufacturers overcome these labor shortages with an army of intelligent robots that it says can work alongside humans. The robots are said to be powered by the startup’s proprietary GMR-AI technology, which enables them to self-program and adapt to a range of high-mix manufacturing environments, while delivering consistent high-quality work. The company says that, in the past two years, its robots have been deployed across North America in industries such as aerospace, defense, specialty vehicles, recreation, marine and general manufacturing, processing more than 7.5 million square feet of surface area.

GrayMatter co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ariyan Kabir told SiliconANGLE that the company chose to focus on the half-trillion-dollar global surface treatment and finishing market because, prior to his company’s emergence, robots that can perform high-mix, high-variability tasks in this area simply did not exist.

“There are so many parts, variations, and variabilities that a traditional robot cannot handle, so we’re bridging the gap with our technology for companies facing a minimum of two-year production backlogs,” he added.

GrayMatter’s robots can handle these intricate, variable tasks thanks to its properietary, physics-informed AI system, GMR-AI, which enables autonomous robotic cells to program themselves from a high-level task description, Kabir said. He explained that its process parameters can be adapted based on observed performance, so they can be fine-tuned to deliver consistent high quality.

The CEO claims that its robots not only perform these intricate tasks to the same level as humans, but they can do it faster too, up to two to four times as fast as humans. Moreover, whereas a human worker typically takes up to six months to train, its robots can learn how to perform new tasks in less than a day.

“Our AI-powered smart robotic cells increase productivity, improve process consistency, eliminate waste, reduce ergonomically challenging work, compress cycle times, and expand production capacity,” Kabir insisted.

This means manufacturing companies can roll out a new, intelligent workforce rapidly, while improving their sustainability efforts, reducing consumable waste by up to 30%, with lower energy consumption, he added.

GrayMatter is making its robots are available under a robot-as-a-service model, where manufacturing firms pay a monthly subscription fee. The company installs the robots and maintains them regularly, and it says all the customer has to do is show them what to do and flip the switch to get them up and running.

One customer is Melanie Protti-Lawrence, president of Lawrence Brothers Inc., which is an industry leader in battery tray fabrication. She said GrayMatter’s robots were able to replace human workers in some of the most challenging, labor-intensive jobs at the company’s factories.

“We’re able to provide a life that is focused on not living to work, but more on working to live,” she said. “Their robots are not just tools but enablers of growth, and they allow our workers to engage in more meaningful and less physically taxing tasks.”

GrayMatter said it’s planning to expand its Los Angeles headquarters, accelerate the development of its AI-powered robots, and hire more staff. According to Kabir, the company’s mission is to improve not only productivity, but also the well-being of workers.

“With our physics-based AI-powered systems, we are fulfilling our mission while unlocking new levels of efficiency and productivity,” he said. “With our investors’ support, we are making a real difference for shop workers and addressing the critical labor shortages in manufacturing today.”

Images: GrayMatter