Path Robotics, a Columbus, Ohio, developer of robotic welding systems whose customers include shipbuilders HII and Saronic, announced Nov. 10 that it raised $300 million in Series E financing. The round, led by growth equity firm Georgian, valued Path Robotics at $2.45 billion after the investment.
The company said it will use the funding to expand deployments of its welding systems, develop robots for other manufacturing tasks and invest in computing capacity and AI model training.
Earlier this year, Path Robotics announced a $600 million performance-based production agreement with HII to deploy its technology across U.S. Navy shipbuilding programs. Eric Chewning, HII’s executive vice president of maritime systems and corporate strategy, said the shipbuilder is using the partnership to automate more of its fabrication work and increase production throughput. Path also lists Lockheed Martin among its customers.
Path’s welding software, called Obsidian, uses data from production welds to help robots identify joints, plan and execute welds, and adjust as conditions change, according to the company. Path recently introduced Rove, a four-legged mobile robot that uses the same welding software.
“We started with welding because it is one of the hardest jobs on the factory floor to automate, and we’ve proven that our technology can succeed in real production environments,” said Andy Lonsberry, Path Robotics’ CEO and co-founder. He said the company plans to develop systems for work that takes place before and after welding.
Path said its annual recurring revenue grew 17-fold over the past 18 months as it expanded deployments in North America. The company said its workforce grew 97% from a year earlier and that it plans to reach 400 employees by year’s end.
Emily Walsh, a partner at Georgian, will join Path’s board of directors. Existing investors Addition, Drive Capital, IronArc Ventures, Tiger Global, and Yamaha Motor Ventures and its affiliates participated in the round, along with D. E. Shaw Ventures and NAVER Ventures.
