Automata Funding, Investors & Competitors

Omron Corporation, founded in 1933 and headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, is a leading global manufacturer specializing in automation, sensing, and control technologies. The company operates through diverse business segments, including industrial automation, healthcare, social systems, device & module solutions, and data solutions. Its offerings range from factory automation equipment, electronic components, and social infrastructure systems to medical devices and healthcare data analytics. With operations across Japan, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and other regions, Omron plays a pivotal role in advancing industrial productivity, healthcare innovation, and social infrastructure, guided by its mission of “improving lives and contributing to a better society.”

Medrobotics is a medical robotics firm commercializing the Flex Robotic System, a steerable and shapeable endoscopic platform. The system enables minimally invasive access to complex anatomies like the throat, lung, and prostate through a single small incision, surpassing rigid tool limitations.

ABB supplies electrical equipment and automation products. Founded in the late 19th century, the company was created out of the merger of two old industrial companies: ASEA and BBC. Its products include electrical equipment, industrial robots, and equipment used for industrial automation, sold via approximately 19 business divisions. ABB is the number-one or -two supplier in two-thirds of its product segments.

Following Johnson Controls’ divestiture of its residential and light commercial HVAC businesses to Bosch in 2025, nearly all of its revenue comes from commercial HVAC (60%) and fire and security products and services (40%). A 2016 merger joined Johnson Controls’ HVAC and Tyco’s fire and security businesses with the premise that there is synergy in offering a broader variety of automation products and solutions to commercial buildings. We estimate Johnson Controls’ pro forma revenue mix will be one-third products, one-third installation, and one-third services.

Merck KGaA operates in three main segments: life science, electronics, and healthcare. The life science segment provides laboratory consumables and instruments to researchers in academia and applied fields, including the biopharmaceutical industry. The electronics segment offers specialty materials to manufacture a variety of products, such as semiconductors and flat-screen televisions. In the healthcare segment, Merck develops, manufactures, and sells branded pharmaceuticals with significant therapeutic concentrations in oncology, multiple sclerosis, and fertility. In 1995, the E. Merck family publicly sold part of the company, resulting in the current 30% public ownership of the firm.

Honeywell traces its roots to 1885 with Albert Butz’s firm, Butz Thermo-Electric Regulator, which produced a predecessor to the modern thermostat. Other inventions by Honeywell include biodegradable detergent and autopilot. Today, Honeywell is a global multi-industry behemoth with one of the largest installed bases of equipment. It operates through four business segments: aerospace technologies, industrial automation, energy and sustainability solutions, and building automation. Recently, Honeywell has made several portfolio changes to focus on fewer end markets and align with a set of secular growth trends. The firm is working diligently to expand its installed base, deriving around one third of its revenue from recurring aftermarket services.

With roots tracing back to the early 1900s, Rockwell Automation is the successor to Rockwell International, which spun off its avionics segment in 2001. It is a pure-play industrial automation company that operates through three segments. Its largest segment by revenue, intelligent devices, sells factory floor-level devices such as motors, drives, sensors, relays, and actuators. Its software and control segment sells visualization, simulation, and human-machine interface software and control products such as programmable controllers, computers, and operator terminals. Its smallest segment, lifecycle services, offers digital consulting, engineered-to-order services, and other outsourced services such as remote monitoring, cybersecurity, and asset and plant maintenance and optimization.

Carrier Global, spun out of United Technologies in 2020, manufactures and services commercial and residential HVAC systems and transportation refrigeration solutions under its flagship Carrier brand, as well as Bryant, Payne, Heil, and others across various price points. In 2024, Carrier acquired Viessmann Climate Solutions to expand its footprint in Europe with heat pumps, boilers, and solar PV equipment. Proceeds from the sale of Carrier’s fire and security (Honeywell) and commercial refrigeration (Haier) businesses reduced debt and focused the company on global HVAC and refrigeration solutions. Carrier generates 75% of sales from equipment and 25% from parts and services. The company derives 50% of revenue from the US, 30% from Europe, and 20% from the Asia-Pacific region.

Illumina provides tools and services to analyze genetic material with life science and clinical lab applications. The company generates over 90% of its revenue from sequencing instruments, consumables, and services. Illumina’s high-throughput technology enables whole genome sequencing in humans and other large organisms. Its lower throughput tools enable applications that require smaller data outputs, such as viral and cancer tumor screening. Illumina also sells microarrays (9% of 2024 sales) that enable lower-cost, focused genetic screening with primarily consumer and agricultural applications.

Fanuc's primary products include industrial robots, computerized numerical control systems (CNC), and compact machining centers (Robodrills) globally. The company had its beginnings as part of Fujitsu developing early numerical control systems and commands the top global market share with its CNC systems and industrial robots.

Switzerland-based Schindler is a top-four global supplier of elevators and escalators. The business generates revenue in three ways: selling new elevators and escalators, modernizing old equipment, and servicing existing installations. Most of the company's profit comes from the last activity, where contracts are rolled over annually with built-in price increases. Ninety percent of its business is in elevators, which are more numerous globally than escalators. Its business model is similar to that of closest competitors Otis, Kone, and TK Elevator.

Sartorius AG is a leading provider of bioprocessing solutions. Its bioprocess division sells equipment and consumables for upstream and downstream manufacturing of biologic drugs, and has a focus on single-use technology. Its laboratory products and services division offers a wide range of products for laboratory use, including scales, pipettes, and filtration equipment. As of 2024, the bioprocess and LPS divisions contributed 80% and 20% of revenue, respectively. Bioprocess is housed in its subsidiary Sartorius Stedim Biotech, of which Sartorius AG has a 72% ownership and 83% voting control. The business is geographically diverse, with revenue across Europe, Middle East, and Africa (41% of 2024 sales), the Americas (36%), and Asia-Pacific (23%). We estimate China revenue to be around 10%.

ABB India Ltd enables a more sustainable and resource-efficient future with the technology leadership in electrification and automation. It energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, and sustainable by connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation, and motion portfolio. The company's revenue is split between its four operating segments: Robotics and Discrete Automation, Electrification, Motion, and Process Automation. The company has several manufacturing sites located in India, and the majority of its revenue is generated in India.

Fuji Electric Co Ltd is a Japanese electrical equipment manufacturer and distributor. The company operates through four segments. The Energy segment covers geothermal, hydro, thermal, fuel cells, photovoltaic, wind power, substation equipment, storage systems, UPS, and control equipment. The Food Distribution segment provides vending machines, store equipment, and money-handling systems. The Industry segment includes inverters, FA components, sensors, FA systems, nuclear power systems, railway and ship systems, electrical works, air conditioning, and ICT equipment. The Semiconductor segment focuses on industrial and automotive power semiconductors, while Others includes financial services, real estate, insurance, travel, and printing services.

Belimo Holding AG is engaged in the development, production, and sales of field devices for the energy-efficient control of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system. The focus of the core business is on damper actuators, control valves, sensors, and meters, such as fire damper actuators, valve actuators, globe valves, throttle valves, duct sensors (air), and outdoor sensors (air), among others. The company, along with its subsidiaries, has four reportable operating segments: EMEA, Americas, Asia Pacific, and Shared Services. Maximum revenue for the company is generated from the Americas.

Hadrian is a Los Angeles-headquartered precision manufacturing firm automating factories for aerospace and defense sectors. It deploys software-controlled robotic systems producing high-tolerance metal components such as turbine blades, satellite brackets, and rocket engine parts from materials including titanium and Inconel. Founded in 2020, the company equips facilities for clients building SpaceX rockets, Boeing jets, and Joby Aviation eVTOLs, reducing lead times from weeks to days through AI-orchestrated machining centers.

Intrepid Labs is a biotechnology firm spun out of the University of Toronto in 2022. The company applies artificial intelligence and robotics to automate drug formulation processes, speeding up therapeutic development for pharmaceuticals. Its platform optimizes solid oral dosage forms by predicting formulation outcomes and reducing trial-and-error iterations. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Intrepid Labs partners with contract development organizations to enhance efficiency in early-stage drug manufacturing pipelines.

Benchling is a San Francisco-headquartered cloud platform for biotech R&D launched in 2012 that supports molecular biology workflows including DNA design, CRISPR editing, and experiment tracking. Adopted by Pfizer, Regeneron, and Moderna for vaccine development, it serves over 200,000 scientists at more than 3,000 organizations worldwide.