A coalition of Canadian investors has established a new investment committee dedicated to supporting homegrown robotics companies, emphasizing that billions of dollars are necessary to transform them into globally competitive players.
Formation of the Investment Committee
The committee, formed under the Canadian Robotics Council (CRC), includes founding members such as RBC Dominion Securities Inc., the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), and Inovia Capital Inc. Collectively, these organizations manage over $12 billion in total venture assets.
So far, they have invested $150 million into the Canadian robotics sector, with notable examples including BDC's January investment in Raquel Urtasun's self-driving startup Waabi Innovation Inc., as well as investments in Clearpath Robotics Inc., Robotiques Haply Inc., and Kindred Systems Inc.
The Need for Significant Capital
Kory Jeffrey, a partner at Inovia Capital, described the $150 million as merely the "tip of the spear". He stated, "We need to have capital that understands the opportunities, how to underwrite that and drive companies forward, and that's what this group is about."
Aditya Aggarwal, a partner at BDC, framed the challenge as a "billions-of-dollars challenge." He noted that while the $150 million has been critical for seeding innovation and proving technical viability, scaling robotics companies is capital-intensive "in a way that most digital sectors aren't."
Committee Objectives
The committee aims to help founders, robotics manufacturers, and other businesses access capital, connect entrepreneurs with specialized funding and supply chains, and support investors in due diligence for "high-risk, high-reward" ventures. It will also facilitate sharing experiences and identifying patterns in the nascent sector.
Aggarwal pointed out that the majority of Canadian robotics startups are at pre-seed or seed stages, requiring more capital to grow rapidly and scale from prototyping to global competitiveness, managing manufacturing capacity, global sales, regulatory approvals, and long sales cycles.
Targeting Larger Investments
Ryan Gariepy, chair of the CRC and vice-president at Rockwell Automation Inc., said the committee will identify Canadian companies capable of responsibly and rapidly scaling with capital injections ranging from $100 million to $2 billion. He added, "It's not only about robotics startups, but also about companies working in other spaces like drug manufacturing, resource extraction or dual-use technology where robotics can help them as well."
Gariepy emphasized that stronger government support could mobilize additional capital, drawing parallels to artificial intelligence and quantum sectors where government designation as a critical national priority spurred investment. He noted, "The government has not yet considered physical AI a priority, yet capital is already coming in, showing how much of an opportunity this is."
