Stuttgart-based company Sereact has secured €25 million in funding to advance the application of its Vision Language Action Model (VLAM) in robotics. This fundamental model accelerates the deployment of AI-enabled robots in warehousing and manufacturing.
The investors include prominent names such as former Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg, Mehdi Ghissassi (ex-Google DeepMind), Ott Kaukver (Skype), Lars Nordwall (ex-neo4j), Torsten Reil and Niklas Köhler (Helsing).
Robots equipped with VLAM can be used, for example, in e-commerce warehouses to pick items fully automatically. In logistics, they can independently sort goods, perform quality checks, and automate inventory management. This holds enormous potential for increasing productivity, addressing the skilled labor shortage, and creating new industries.
Sereact has played a pioneering role in the development of embodied AI for robots. Sereact was the first company to combine visual zero-shot reasoning, which enables robots to perform tasks without prior specific training, with natural language chat instructions. These features allow robots to perform tasks for which they have not been explicitly trained and to be operated on-site by non-technical users. Sereact's AI solution can be implemented within a day and delivers immediate cost savings.
“With our technology, robots act situationally instead of following rigidly programmed processes. They adapt to dynamic tasks in real time, enabling an unprecedented level of autonomy”says Ralf Gulde, CEO and co-founder of Sereact.
Photos: Sereact
Sereact began by automating warehouses and has successfully partnered with customers such as BMW Group, Daimler Truck, Bol, MS Direct, and Active Ants. According to the manufacturer, deploying the technology in the real world provides the system with valuable data to learn and become increasingly intelligent on its own, which distinguishes it from systems primarily trained with synthetic data.
The new funding will be used to expand R&D efforts to support additional robotics hardware platforms, such as mobile robots and humanoids, and to develop solutions for more complex tasks outside of logistics and manufacturing. Sereact also plans to expand its presence in the US through partnerships and a growing local team.
“In a few years, we want to be the leading platform for robotics applications that will sustainably change the daily lives of people and businesses”says Gulde. “The fact that we were able to secure €25 million in funding within just a few weeks demonstrates how compelling our technology is.”
www.sereact.ai/de
