Clearpath Robotics raises $14M in venture capital

Kitchener's Clearpath Roboticshas raised $14 million in funding, part of which will be used to improvesoftware that could potentially turn regular vehicles into self-driving cars.

The company, which was started in 2009 by four University of Waterloo graduates, received the funds from RRE Venture Capital, with support from iNovia Capital.

"It means we're much more able to invest in the potential we've seen in robotics," said co-founder and CTO Ryan Gariepy. "We've seen a lot of potential for robotics to bring moreto really change the way people work, and with this funding we're nowable to accelerate how we can get that stuffdone."

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Clearpath makes unmanned robotic vehicles, including land vehicles like the Husky and the Grizzly andaquatic vehicles like the Kingfisher. It's clients includethe Canadian Space Agency and the Department of National Defence.

LatelyClearpathhas also been focusing on software development,which can openup new markets according toGariepy,.

"For companies, as you could imagine, in mining, in agriculture, or even in materials handling,who have dump trucks who have tractors, who have forklifts, that they already have the vehicles, now we can just provide them the software to make their existing vehicles the equivalent of self-driving cars for instance," Gariepy said.

The company currently employs 80 people. With the additional funding, Gariepy said he expects to hire up to anadditional 50, about half of which will be engineers, and add StuartEllman,RRE'smanaging partner, to theboard of directors.

In a release, the company reiterated its commitment to ethical robot production and emphasized a focus on increasing quality of life. This comes afterClearpath joined Human Rights Watch in August to take a standagainst killer robots, also known as autonomous weaponized robots.