Google has made a new move in the field of robotics, investing in the company Savioke, which is based in Silicon Valley.
Specifically, Savioke announced yesterday that it has raised $2 million in seed financing from Morado Venture Partners, AME Cloud Ventures, Google Ventures and individual investors. The money will be used to further develop its “maiden” robot, which will focus on the service industry.
The company was formed in 2013. Its CEO, Steve Cousins, was previously president and CEO of Willow Garage, where he oversaw the creation of the ROS robot operating system, the PR2 robot, and the open source TurtleBot.
The Savike team includes a variety of experts in robotics, business and design, according to the announcement. The robot, which is expected to begin testing later this year, will build on and expand on the capabilities of ROS.
It is worth noting that Google has made a series of acquisitions in the robotics sector over the past year. This particular investment seems relatively small, but it is expected to increase confidence in the sector.
