CynLr Raises USD 4.5M to Build “Universal” Factories of the Future

CynLr, a deep-tech startup fundamentally re-inventing a dynamic vision enabled robot to make ‘universal factories’ of the future a possibility, has raised USD 4.5 million in funding. The Visual-Robot Platform eliminates the painful trap of machinery customization that Manufacturing - from Electronics to Automotive to Consumer as well as Warehouses - endure today. CynLr envisions its Visual-Robots or Object Computers to ‘simplify’ manufacturing, just as the computers simplified data processing.

CynLr will be establishing its business presence in the US, scale their team to 50+ members and build capacity to address the current pipeline of customers and deliver 100 Robots annually.

Notable industry leaders including Srivats Ram (MD, Wheels India, TVS Group), Shriram Vijayaraghavan (President, Wheels India, TVS Group), Arvind Vasu (former Asia Head, ABB Technology Ventures), Nalin Advani (former CEO, Asia Pacific, GreyOrange Robotics) and Jayaram Pillai (former MD - India, Russia, Arabia, NI) also participated in the round.

Today, every industry that deals with physical parts and objects is choked by the need for machines that are ‘tailor-made’ to the dimensions of objects. This inability in adapting to variations has stunted the Robot Automation market to just $48 billion, while Global Manufacturing alone is a $12.8 trillion industry. Nikhil Ramaswamy and Gokul NA launched CynLr in 2019 to simplify and eliminate this need for tailored-machines to handle objects - from Manufacturing to Warehousing & Logistics to even Industrial Kitchens.

“CynLr’s Machine Vision and Intelligence stack empowers businesses to build factories out of universal LEGO-like Robotic Units, instead of complex custom machinery. CynLr’s visual robots can instantaneously pick any object of any size, shape, weight, or material regardless of orientation and place with limited to no pre-training. This is the stepping stone in creating Universal Factories - a factory so standardized that any product - from cars to phones to probably even your food, can be manufactured under the same roof, and is just a-click-of-a-button away.” says Nikhil Ramaswamy, Co-founder & CEO, CynLr.

“The universalization of Data processing that Computers brought, made Data the new Oil. Yet everything that we consume is physical - from food, water, air to gadgets. The revolution that data witnessed is yet to happen for Manufacturing (Object Processing), held back by one factor: Custom Machinery. When it comes to adapting to unforeseen changes in manufacturing objects, Human Vision and Hands are the only universal solution that we have. CynLr fills this void in current AI & ML, by looking at how Intelligence evolved along with Vision in animals, over a billion years. This we believe will make Objects the new Data.” says N A Gokul, Founder, CynLr.

Vishesh Rajaram, Managing Partner, Speciale Invest added, “CynLr is pioneering universal and adaptable micro-factories by enabling robots’ to be dynamic beyond pre-programmed simple tasks, which will expand the $48B robotic-arm market to over $200B. We at Speciale have been privileged to have ringside seats witnessing the unfurling of some of the deepest frontier tech stories in new India. We are convinced that the convergence of Gokul and Nikhil’s deep tech prowess in vision (eye) and object intelligence (brain), will prove to be the genesis of a fundamental AI disruption that changes the way humanity makes, transports, and consumes all things material.”

“CynLr is solving a 4-decade long unmet need in the fast-growing industrial robotics space. With their intelligent Vision Stack for  robots, they solve a myriad of challenges in hyper-automating manufacturing and warehouse space. As a firm believer in the deep tech space, we are excited to support CynLr in building intelligent learning robots that will further enable the creation of micro-factories and ultimately, universal factories,” says Sheetal Bahl, Managing Partner, grow^X Ventures.

Shriram Vijayaraghavan, President, Wheels India, an early believer in CynLr’s technology, said, “In our business, we just cannot afford to have any variations in output. Wheels India deals with a large variety of parts with varying designs, materials, and manufacturing processes to meet the stringent requirements of the automotive, agriculture, and off highway segments. However, the current cost-effective robotic options fumble to handle even minor variations. Our experience has taught us that we are past the age of simple robots. This drives demand for industrial robots that can “see” and “comprehend” like humans but with the precision and accuracy of a machine.  I look forward to partnering with CynLr to grow the capability of robots and their evolution as a fundamental technology company that can deliver natural object processing capabilities.”

Madhavi Chandrashekar, Executive Director, Ace Designers Limited, with whom CynLr has signed its first OEM partnership said, “At Ace Designers, as we move up the value stream, we see an increasing demand for standardized yet flexible solutions. Ace Designers is excited to partner with CynLr to augment each other’s strengths to build such win-win solutions for a wide range of industrial applications. We believe that the visually intelligent robots will do away with many months of turnaround time that even minor tweaks in components or assembly processes demand. This would further unclog the efficiency and cost bottlenecks from manufacturing processes, thereby creating more value for each entity in the value chain. ”

Prior to this round, CynLr had secured seed funding of about USD 775K in 2019, led by Speciale Invest & co-led by Arali Ventures, and this round of funding brings the total funding raised by the company to USD 5.25M.