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- Clearpath Robotics
Clearpath Robotics Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors
Clearpath Robotics was acquired by Rockwell Automation for $620M in September 2023, a 8.3x multiple on $75M of revenue.
Clearpath Robotics revenue at acquisition
$75M
Last twelve months · Sep 2023
Clearpath Robotics revenue multiple at acquisition
8.3x
EV/Revenue · Sep 2023
Cumulative funding Clearpath Robotics raised
$76M
across 4 funding rounds
About Clearpath Robotics
Clearpath Robotics is a Kitchener, Ontario-headquartered provider of autonomous vehicle platforms and self-driving technologies serving over 500 global customers in research and industry. Through its Clearpath Robotics division, it offers robotic platforms for academia, logistics, and defense applications, while OTTO Motors specializes in autonomous forklifts and pallet trucks for warehouse automation. In September 2024, Rockwell Automation completed its acquisition of the company for $225 million to bolster industrial automation capabilities. Additional resources available at clearpath.ai.
Founded
2009
HQ
Website
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2B & B2G
Revenue model
Product sales
Revenue
$75M (Sep 2023)
Valuation
$620M (acquired Sep 2023)
Clearpath Robotics Acquisition
Clearpath Robotics was acquired by Rockwell Automation for $620M on 5 September 2023.
The acquisition price implies a 8.3x revenue multiple on $75M of revenue.
Before the acquisition Clearpath Robotics had raised $76M across 4 funding rounds.
Clearpath Robotics, founded in 2009 by University of Waterloo mechatronics graduates in Kitchener, Ontario, develops unmanned vehicle robotics for research and development across mining, military, agriculture, aerospace, and academia, serving over 500 brands in 40 countries; its OTTO Motors division, launched in 2015, provides autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for industrial material handling in warehouses and manufacturing, targeting dull, dirty, and deadly jobs with annualized revenue of $50-75 million USD at acquisition. Rockwell Automation, the world's largest industrial automation and digital transformation company (NYSE: ROK) based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, signed a definitive agreement on September 5, 2023, to acquire Clearpath, completing the deal in late 2023 (Rockwell's Q1 fiscal 2024) for $550-600 million USD upfront, potentially exceeding $600 million with performance targets, funded by $822 million from its PTC stake sale. The acquisition integrates Clearpath's research and OTTO Motors divisions into Rockwell's Intelligent Devices segment, enabling end-to-end autonomous production logistics solutions that orchestrate material movement via AMRs and PLC-based controls for safer, more efficient factories in automotive, consumer goods, and hybrid industries. Strategic rationale focuses on supercharging Rockwell's Connected Enterprise, optimizing operations amid pressures to do more with less, connecting automation islands, and accelerating digital transformation; Clearpath CEO Matt Rendall highlighted expanding Rockwell's material handling leadership, while Rockwell CEO Blake Moret emphasized realizing plant managers' dreams for workforce optimization. The deal keeps operations in Waterloo area, earned Clearpath RBR50 Innovation Award 2023, and features OTTO at Rockwell's Automation Fair, with prior investors like McRock (from 2020 Series C), Caterpillar, Mitsubishi, EDC, BDC, and Kensington.
| Acquirer | Date | Type | Price | EV/Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Sep 2023 | Strategic M&A | $620M | 8.3x |
Clearpath Robotics Funding History
Clearpath Robotics has raised a total of $76M across 4 funding rounds.
Clearpath Robotics' first fundraising round was a $11M Series A in March 2015. The most recent completed round was a $5M Series C in September 2020.
Clearpath Robotics funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2020 | Series C | McRock Capital (lead) | $5M | Clearpath Robotics, based in Kitchener, Canada, develops autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for industrial applications, including AI navigation software for automating material handling tasks in factories, warehouses, and harsh environments. The company targets mission-critical operations for Fortune 500 clients such as GE, Toyota, Nestle, and Berry Global, with over 70% of its robots installed in such enterprises. Founded by University of Waterloo graduates, it grew to employ around 350 people by 2023, operating globally including Antarctica. In September 2020, McRock Capital led an extension to Clearpath's Series C funding round with a $5 million USD investment, bringing the total round to $34 million USD. McRock joined existing investors including Kensington Private Equity Fund, BMO Capital Partners, EDC, iNovia Capital, and RRE Ventures. Whitney Rockley from McRock joined the board. The funds supported expansion of the industrial AMR division Otto Motors, focusing on autonomous vehicle technology, global delivery partner networks, and enterprise customer growth amid accelerated automation demand during COVID-19. Clearpath was later acquired by Rockwell Automation in October 2023, marking a successful exit for McRock and other shareholders. |
| Jun 2020 | Series C | Kensington Capital Partners Limited (lead); Export Development Canada; RRE Ventures; Inovia Capital; BMO Capital Markets | $30M | Clearpath Robotics, a Waterloo-based robotics company founded in 2009, develops autonomous mobile robots for research and industrial applications through its divisions, including Otto Motors focused on materials handling in warehouses and factories. The company announced a Series C funding round on June 2020, initially raising $40 million CAD ($29 million USD) led by Kensington Capital Partners, with participation from BMO Capital Markets, Export Development Canada, Inovia Capital, and RRE Ventures. The funds were earmarked for expanding Otto Motors' autonomous vehicle technology, growing a global network of delivery partners, and accelerating enterprise customer deals amid surging demand accelerated by COVID-19. The Series C was later extended in 2020 with an additional $6.6 million CAD ($5 million USD), bringing the total to $45 million CAD ($34 million USD). More than 70% of Clearpath's robots were installed in Fortune Global 500 companies like GE, Toyota, Nestle, and Berry Global at the time. Investors such as Rick Nathan from Kensington and Whitney Rockley from McRock joined the board. |
| Oct 2016 | Series B | Inovia Capital (lead); Eclipse Ventures; RRE Ventures; Hedgewood; Silicon Valley Bank; GE Ventures; Caterpillar Ventures | $30M | Clearpath Robotics, a Kitchener, Ontario-based provider of self-driving vehicle solutions founded in 2009, completed a $30 million USD (CAD $39 million) Series B funding round announced on October 5, 2016, led by iNovia Capital with participation from Caterpillar Ventures, GE Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, RRE Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank. The funding followed a prior $11.2 million USD Series A in January 2015 led by RRE Ventures, bringing total equity funding to about $41.5 million USD. The capital was earmarked to expand the OTTO Motors industrial division, launched in 2015, focusing on autonomous vehicles for material transport in controlled indoor environments like factories and warehouses. Clearpath's OTTO vehicles target 'dull, dirty, and deadly' jobs in manufacturing, differentiating through software for navigation in environments with roads, traffic, intersections, and pedestrians. Unlike outdoor self-driving car developers like Google, Tesla, and Uber, which were still testing, Clearpath's solutions were commercially available and deployed by major clients including GE and John Deere. The company planned to scale sales and marketing, increase manufacturing capacity, and grow its team from 155 to 250 people over the next year while maintaining its research-focused autonomous vehicle division for mining, defense, and agriculture, which remained profitable. Positioned in the growing autonomous materials handling market, Clearpath competed with Fetch Robotics, Seegrid, and ADAM Robots, drawing comparisons to Kiva Systems, acquired by Amazon for $775 million in 2012. Investors highlighted Clearpath's world-class team, technology, and customer base to pioneer AI-driven automation, with potential to integrate software across industries like airports and mining. The factory floor's controlled setting was seen as ideal for scaling self-driving tech, enabling new business models in autonomy and automation. |
| Mar 2015 | Series A | RRE Ventures (lead); Inovia Capital | $11M | Clearpath Robotics announced a $14 million CAD ($11.2 million USD) Series A funding round on March 18, 2015, led by RRE Ventures with participation from iNovia Capital. The Kitchener, Ontario-based company develops autonomous service robots designed to automate industrial tasks described as the three "D"s: dull, dirty, and deadly work. RRE co-founder Stuart Ellman joined Clearpath's board as part of the investment. The company planned to use the funding to expand its robotics portfolio for industrial applications and accelerate development of its newly launched OTTO product line for autonomous materials handling in manufacturing and industrial facilities. Founded in 2009, Clearpath had previously raised $360,000 in angel funding in 2010 and was recognized as the first robotics company to join the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, reflecting its focus on ethical development practices. |
Who has invested in Clearpath Robotics?
11 investors have backed Clearpath Robotics across its funding rounds, including RRE Ventures, Inovia Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Eclipse Ventures, GE Ventures and Export Development Canada.
Lead investors include McRock Capital, Kensington Capital Partners Limited, Inovia Capital and RRE Ventures.
Clearpath Robotics Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Lead | Mar 2015 | ||
| 3 | Lead | Mar 2015 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2016 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jun 2020 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2016 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2016 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2016 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Oct 2016 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Sep 2020 | ||
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Start Free TrialClearpath Robotics Competitors
Clearpath Robotics competitors include listed companies like UBtech Robotics and Kodiak AI, and private ones like Dyna Robotics, Agibot, CoLab and Collaborative Robotics.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $298M | ($108M) | $5.1B | 9.5x | ||
| Private | - | - | $600M | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $574M | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $4M | ($577M) | $768M | 98.7x | ||
| Private | - | - | $500M | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $500M | - |
Clearpath Robotics Public Comps
Clearpath Robotics is no longer listed, but its public comps include Reconova Technologies, RoboStrategy, Huayan Robotics, Kodiak AI, ECARX Group, Swarmer, Volatus Aerospace, Palladyne AI, DOF Robotics and Seeing Machines.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $66M | ($8M) | 10.0x | - | (82.0x) | - | |||
| - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| $58M | ($4M) | 12.8x | 9.5x | (184.5x) | (3194.4x) | |||
| $4M | ($577M) | 233.9x | 98.7x | (1.5x) | (6.6x) | |||
| $848M | ($23M) | 1.1x | 0.9x | (40.7x) | 60.0x | |||
| $310K | ($8M) | 1023.2x | 101.7x | (37.3x) | (29.1x) | |||
| $25M | ($8M) | 12.5x | 11.1x | (37.6x) | (38.6x) | |||
| $5M | ($27M) | 47.8x | 13.0x | (9.4x) | (7.8x) | |||
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Common questions about Clearpath Robotics
| When was Clearpath Robotics founded? | Clearpath Robotics was founded in 2009. |
| Where is Clearpath Robotics headquartered? | Clearpath Robotics is headquartered in Kitchener, Canada. |
| Is Clearpath Robotics publicly listed? | No, Clearpath Robotics was acquired by Rockwell Automation in September 2023. |
| Who acquired Clearpath Robotics? | Clearpath Robotics was acquired by Rockwell Automation in September 2023. |
| How much was Clearpath Robotics acquired for? | Clearpath Robotics was acquired for $620M in September 2023, a 8.3x revenue multiple. |
| How much funding has Clearpath Robotics raised? | Clearpath Robotics has raised $76M across 4 funding rounds. |
| What was Clearpath Robotics' last funding round? | Clearpath Robotics' last funding round was a $5M Series C in September 2020, led by McRock Capital. |
| Who are Clearpath Robotics' investors? | Clearpath Robotics' investors include RRE Ventures, Inovia Capital, Eclipse Ventures, Export Development Canada, Hedgewood, Silicon Valley Bank, GE Ventures, Caterpillar Ventures, McRock Capital, Kensington Capital Partners Limited and 1 other. |
| Which companies are comparable to Clearpath Robotics? | Companies comparable to Clearpath Robotics include UBtech Robotics, Dyna Robotics, Agibot, Kodiak AI, CoLab and Collaborative Robotics. |
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