External - Local robotics company founded by mechatronics alumni secures more backing

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Waterloo Engineering alumni company Clearpath Robotics has secured an additional US $5 million to fuel global growth of Otto Motors, its industrial division.

The investment boosts the total of its latest round of financial backing to US $34 million following the announcement in June of US $29 million.

It adds McRock Capital, an Internet of Things venture capital fund based in Toronto, to several other backers. Whitney Rockley, a co-founder and managing partner of McRock, has also joined the Kitchener-based company’s board of directors.

OTTO Motors provides autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling in manufacturing facilities and warehouses. More than 70 per cent of its AMRs are in use at Fortune Global 500 companies.

Clearpath was founded in 2009 by Waterloo mechatronics engineering graduates Matthew Rendall, Ryan Gariepy, Patrick Martinson and Bryan Webb. OTTO Motors was launched in 2015.