Next Generation Robotics, a start-up specialising in railway robotics and a spin-off of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, announces that it has completed its €4.5 million Series A financing round. The operation was led by CDP Venture Capital through the Digital Transition – PNRR fund, which uses the resources allocated by the EU through the NextGeneration EU initiative, with the aim of fostering the digital transition of supply chains and small and medium-sized enterprises, with the involvement of the ToscanaNext Fund, set up and managed by CDP Venture Capital and underwritten by Tuscany’s main banking foundations (Fondazione CR Firenze, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca, Fondazione Caript, Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena) to maximise investments in innovative local enterprises.
Also participating in the round were RIF-T, AVM’s Cysero Fund and Kilometro Rosso and SIMEST (as manager of F. 394/81) accompanied by Pariter Robotics and RoboIT, the National Technology Transfer Centre for Robotics and Industrial Automation set up on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital and Pariter Partners, the latter of which were already present in the previous EUR 1 million seed round.
With this deal, the start-up intends to consolidate its position in the railway robotics sector and transform the future of infrastructure maintenance by proposing new digitisation and intelligent automation technologies, through the development of devices that combine robotic platforms designed and built directly by Next Generation Robotics with advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence.
Next Generation Robotics, founded in 2020, now employs a team of 12 people, including 11 engineers, and is led by CEO and co-founder Massimiliano Gabardi (pictured with the team). The resources raised through this round will be used in particular to accelerate the company’s growth, through consolidation in the European market and expansion at an international level, working to push the frontier of digitalisation and AI in the railway sector further, thanks to the development of new-generation automated systems for the inspection and predictive maintenance of trains and rolling stock in general.
Thanks to a collaboration between Trenitalia and the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, and with the support from 2022 of the Polo RoboIT for technology transfer, Next Generation Robotics has developed a robot called Argo that is able to autonomously carry out the inspection of the underbody of trains, i.e. the lower part of the train that includes both the mechanical safety components such as brakes, calipers and discs, and the elements related to systems, such as connectors and piping, therefore all those parts of the train that require maintenance and must be inspected periodically by operators. Thanks to Argo, the operator can monitor the inspection remotely, no longer having to be physically under the train in the inspection pits, as is currently the case. This makes it possible to carry out the inspection by viewing the images remotely, or to take advantage of artificial intelligence algorithms that autonomously recognise faults and the need for intervention. This is a great advantage: with the robot, inspection data can be accessed and analysed retrospectively so as to evolve towards more and more punctual predictive maintenance logics. In addition, the operator’s work becomes safer, reducing the time spent in the inspection pit and exposure to associated risks, and allowing him to view the data from the comfort of his desk.
Massimiliano Gabardi, CEO and co-founder of the start-up, said in a statement: “We are very satisfied with this important milestone, which allows us to further highlight our flagship product, the ARGO robot, designed to automatically inspect the underfloor of trains and which is an enabling technology for the implementation of innovative predictive maintenance logics. Working with major industrial partners such as Trenitalia and Deutsche Bahn has enabled us to develop robotic solutions that meet the real needs of the industry. Thanks to the on-board availability of multiple sensors, including artificial vision systems, our robots can acquire real-time data aimed at training AI algorithms with an ever-increasing predictive capacity.
Underlining the importance of the operation is Antonio Frisoli, co-founder of Next Generation Robotics and professor of robotics at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna: “This is a big step forward for us in the robotics and railway maintenance sector, which confirms how it is possible in Italy to make innovation and technology transfer with impact in robotics and deeptech. Innovation in deeptech is more complex, but also deeper, with more impactful and longer-lasting results. The robots developed by NGR stand out for the originality of the solutions adopted and represent a key technology to enable automation and digitisation and thus the new paradigms of artificial intelligence in the railway sector.”
Enrico Filì, Head of CDP Venture Capital’s Digital Transition Fund, adds: ‘We are very pleased with this agreement with Next Generation Robotics, which as SGR we have followed from the early stages of Technology Transfer through the RoboIT robotics hub. The company has well positioned itself in the market as an excellent example of the application of deeptech solutions to industrial processes such as railway maintenance. Now with this new step, the goal is international expansion. Next Generation Robotics represents one of the success stories of RoboIT’s investment and technology transfer model, which includes, in addition to capital contributions, strategic support, led by Pariter Partners, for commercial and product development activities.
Paolo Vergori, innovation manager of Equiter, the exclusive advisor of RIF-T, a vehicle dedicated to investments in high-tech and innovative projects managed by Equiter, says: ‘This transaction reinforces our programme of scaling-up companies specialised in the development of advanced solutions at the service of infrastructures, with the aim of supporting the most mature technological stages, in order to generate a tangible and lasting impact on the national territory. The valorisation of intellectual property represents a strategic asset for the ecosystem of sustainable mobility, a sector in strong traction as confirmed by European development programmes. It is in this context that the decision to support the Next Generation Robotics initiative is made. Leveraging innovation to improve maintenance activities and guarantee ever higher standards of safety and efficiency is essential to boost rail transport, a form of collective, sustainable mobility and a market with great potential for development at global level.”
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