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clean the exterior of edifice is a dirty occupation , and it ’s also dangerous . Lucid Botscame on the scene in 2018 with its Sherpa line of credit ofdrones to clean windowsin tall home , and now it ’s back to take on more labor - intensive tasks .
The Charlotte , N.C.-based company , which was part of Y Combinator ’s 2019 cohort , took on a new shape as a robotics companionship with a dissertation to build level-headed robots that are purpose - made to tackle the “ dirty ” jobs that people do n’t desire to do , Ashur enunciate .
“ We start with a very simple problem , and in pastime of wanting to make a dangerous job safer over the years , the true problem we ’re solving is this primal fact that people do n’t require to do business that are considered dull , unsportsmanlike , dangerous or humiliating , ” Andrew Ashur , beginner and CEO of Lucid Bots , told TechCrunch .
client , too , kept asking the company if its laggard had the ability to clean flat surface , like sidewalks and driveways , in addition to the edifice facade , windowpane and roof .
“ We had this inverse problem where the great unwashed are telling us , ‘ If you build this , we will pay you for it , ’ ” Ashur say . “ As you’re able to imagine for a flying object , a monotone airfoil and gravity are not friendly . ”
achieve a golem to do that was really easier than Ashur believe . Lucid Bots had a common form and common brain to its robots . All that was missing was attaching different tools or payloads to the robots so they can do unlike tasks . Well , and some wheels . Voila : a automaton that can clean a flat Earth’s surface . It ’s call Lavo Bot , a pressure - lavation robot .
Drones are an industry where some crowing players … vaporize in . Amazon has a lock on delivery drones , even though it isnot go to deliver in California anymore . GoogleandDoorDashalso test to get in on that . There ’s also all of the drones being used for aerospace and military role . In addition to Lucid Bots , some lesser - known companies , like Apellix , Prichard Industries and KTV have clean house drones . Ashur ’s finish is n’t to necessarily compete with the likes of Amazon — it is n’t focused on delivery , but rather “ build frontier technology for previous school industries , ” he said .
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Where Ashur believe Lucid Bots has an edge is that cleaning drones flee within regulation in urban and suburban surround , spaces where delivery drones ca n’t even test today , Ashur said .
Last twelvemonth , Lucid Bots did a proof - of - construct where a customer pay for two pitch drones of a certain size — a 20 - pound payload lifting delivery lagger that can take flight 10 kilometers autonomously . Lucid Bots look at its heart tech stack and product strategy and realized it could commit that off in less than a month . In fact , the fellowship ended up doing it in four day , Ashur said .
“ We ’re like an outlier in the robotics landscape painting , ” Ashur sound out . “ We ’re doing meaningful revenue . We ’ve make year of growth . We ’ve also arrive entree to this very unequalled information set of how you could fly in these environment where most drones are n’t able to fly today , which creates a destiny of long term economic value for us . ”
Meanwhile , Lucid Bots did just over $ 3.5 million in gross in 2023 , with Ashur saying the company “ has been on an exponential clip for the last three years , and I project to stay on that for as long as we can . ”
Now it wants to raise its portfolio of sovereign robotics , exfoliation operations and leverage its AI - aim software and sensor weapons platform to enlarge into new markets . It ’s doing that with a Modern $ 9.1 M in Series A support .
It was “ very interesting ” trying to fundraise for a frontier tech ship’s company , specially based out of Charlotte , Ashur said . There was often a gulf between investors who did n’t understand the outer space or the vision of what Lucid Bots was build toward . That was not the subject with Cubit Capital , he say .
Cubit Capital led the round and was joined by Idea Fund Partners , Danu Venture Group and exist investors , include Y Combinator ’s Growth Fund and Gratus Capital .
Cubit Capital ’s Philip Carson order in a written statement that Lucid Bots was able to achieve something “ unheard of in the cleansing robotics industry , ” impart products to market speedily and cost - consciously .
“ Lucid Bots has pioneered a model where it cost less to establish a drone domestically than it would to embark a drone from a manufacturer oversea , ” Carson said . “ These differentiated capabilities , compound with strong taxation growth and a proven team , bring us huge confidence in their ability to gain in this exciting , grow market . ”
