Jodell Robotics (钧舵机器人), a Suzhou-based robotic end effector developer, recently announced the completion of a Series B round of funding worth nearly 100 million yuan (US$14.48 million), 36Kr, a tech media outlet, reported today.
The company, which mainly primarily produces one-stop standardized electric servo end effectors, looped new investors Wens Investment, DH Capital and VenturesLab, following a 50 million-yuan Series A+ round in March 2022.
Wens led Jodell’s Series B, followed by DH Capital and VenturesLab. Its Series A+ round was backed by ShareCapital, Xinrui Venture, ZJ Venture and Wujiang Venture Capital.
Proceeds from the latest round will go into development of new products, deployment of new technologies and formulation of premium distribution networks at home and abroad.
Currently, robotic equipment on production lines at most factories are still driven by hydropneumatic mechanisms. This proves energy-intensive and costly.
Jodell hopes to replace hydropneumatic technology with electric servo systems, as it reduces energy consumption and passes on cost savings to users, among other benefits.
Committed to supply one-stop electric servo end effectors to industrial automation integration companies and equipment makers, Jodell, founded in 2018, came up with the company’s first electric gripper and has since developed an array of products to meet customers’ increasingly varied needs.
End effectors such as grippers are an important component of a robot, alongside controllers, gear reducers and sensors.
Jodell’s product line now comprises upwards of 50 types of electric end effectors, including industry-grade gripper, robotic gripper, modular gripper, rotating gripper, electric actuator, and electric vacuum end effector, making it a one-stop supplier of these effectors.
“Demands for better effectors have steadily kept pace with requirements on mass production capacity, and in industries that witness a spike in productivity, traditional effectors are unable to measure up to expectations,” said Dr. Jie Dangyang, founder and CEO of Jodell.
He added that in semiconductor and 3C industries, there lies a big opportunity to supplant imports with homemade alternatives, and also to disrupt the prevalent non-standardized integration solutions with standardized products.
Jodell Robotics entered the fast track in 2021, increasing its revenue by 2.5 times that of 2020. In 2020, its performance even grew almost tenfold compared to the level in 2021, making the company a recognized unicorn-in-the-making in its native Suzhou.
To date, Jodell has served more than 1,000 clients in lithium-ion battery, life science, 3C and semiconductor sectors, with its effectors performing over 50 million industrial movements a day, the firm claims.
