Vantora raises $100 million and shifts focus to physical AI — TechCrunch
Vantora, formerly known as UP.Labs, has raised $100 million from Silversmith Capital Partners and changed its approach to building startups for enterprise clients, TechCrunch reports. The company is increasingly focusing on physical artificial intelligence startups designed exclusively for its partners.
A model for partners
Vantora builds startups for corporate partners that invest in these projects and become their first customers. Under the new model, partners will have the option to integrate the startups created into their core businesses and retain the developed solutions for their own use.
Vantora founder and CEO John Kuolt described this approach as a proprietary M&A pipeline. According to him, the company previously passed on ideas that were strategically important to partners but too sensitive to bring to the broader market.
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Focus on physical AI
Kuolt said that the model change makes it possible to work on major physical AI use cases. As an example, he cited Fortune 100 industrial companies that need to retrofit equipment and machinery for autonomous operation and independently control their intelligent technology layer.
The company also considered using AI to develop the business of its partner J.B. Hunt. According to Kuolt, Vantora previously did not pursue this idea because the solution could not be offered to other companies, while the new model allows it to work on such projects.
UP.Labs was founded in 2022, and Porsche became its first corporate partner. Since then, the company has launched several startups for Porsche, reached agreements with Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash, and TDG, the parent company of Ashley Furniture, and also works with unnamed clients in manufacturing and the oil and gas sector. Silversmith Capital Partners' investment was Vantora's first external investment.
