Autonomous industrial vehicle maker Ati Motors raises $3.5M in pre-Series A round

Ati Motors will use the capital to manufacture and deploy a large fleet of autonomous vehicles in factories and warehouses in both domestic and global markets.

Bengaluru-based all-electric autonomous industrial vehicle maker Ati Motors has raised $3.5 million (about Rs 26.12 crore) in a funding round led by Exfinity Venture Partners & Blume Ventures, among others.

The pre-Series A funding will be deployed for manufacturing and deployment of a large fleet of autonomous vehicles in factories and warehouses, in both domestic and global markets, the company said on Wednesday.

MFV Partners and a syndicate on LetsVenture led by Livspace founder Ramakant Sharma also participated in the round, Ati Motors said.

Founded by Saurabh Chandra, V Vinay, and Saad Nasser, Ati Motors is a full-stack autonomous platform for material movement in industrial environments.

Ati Motors autonomous cargo vehicle Sherpa uses a technology approach similar to that used in driverless cars (the likes of Tesla and Google) and is more versatile than warehouse or humanoid robots.

While Sherpa Tug, a one-tonne trolley puller, has been deployed in tough manufacturing environments with very rough conditions, Sherpa Lite has found uptake in ecommerce warehouses for order fulfilment.

The Sherpa Tug has been successfully deployed at a multinational auto OEM's manufacturing unit in Chennai, it said.

"Their (Ati Motors) ready-to-deploy Autonomous Mobile Robots will not just be helpful in manufacturing floors but also be transformational in many more use cases like warehousing and outdoor mobility," said Nihar Ranjan, Venture Partner at Exfinity.