The Air Force and MIT partner on AI research. Meeting room tech raises more dough. “Autopilot” for 3D printers. And robot companies teaming up to fill your next ecommerce order. Read on for more of what went down this week in Boston tech news.
—Robin Powered, a Boston startup building workplace desk- and meeting room-booking software, closed a $20 million Series B funding round led by Tola Capital and joined by previous investors Accomplice and FirstMark Capital and new investor Allegion Ventures. Its platform is used by more than 1,300 businesses including DraftKings and HubSpot. Robin says it plans to invest the funds from the round in marketing and sales, hiring, and expanding its Boston headquarters. The company raised a $7 million Series A funding round back in 2016.
—3D printing company Markforged rolled out an artificial intelligence system this week to reprogram and error-correct production from its metal and carbon fiber printers. The system, called Blacksmith and touted as a sort of “autopilot” for manufacturing, creates a continuous feedback loop by scanning pieces in production and auto-adjusting in order for printers to produce more accurate parts. In March, Watertown, MA-based Markforged raised $82 million in a round led by Summit Partners, boosting its total capital raised to $137 million.
—Private equity firm ParkerGale Capital has purchased a majority stake in networked storage company EditShare, as the Watertown, MA-based company also hired former Cisco executive Conrad Clemson to take the helm as chief executive. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. EditShare founders Andy Liebman and Tara Montford hold the next largest stake in the company and will stay at the company.
Read Complete Article