Why We Invested in FORT Robotics
Productizing Asimov’s Laws; giving Robots a Lizard Brain
Last week FORT Robotics announced a $13mm fundraise led by Prime Movers Lab with participation from Prologis Ventures, Quiet Capital, Lemnos Labs, Creative Ventures, Ahoy Capital, Compound, FundersClub, and Mark Cuban.
I love that the Philadelphia Inquirer connected Philly based FORT Robotics’ mission to the iconic Three Rules of Robotics by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, the first rule being ‘a robot may not allow a human being to come into harm’. Asimov wrote that 75+ years ago during World War II, while working in a Navy Yard in Philadelphia.
The intervening 75 years have seen a Cambrian explosion in robotics; with dirty, dull and dangerous jobs now frequently augmented with our mechanical autonomous brethren. But a different type of ‘dangerous’ emerges when you have humans working side-by-side with five ton machines that are driving themselves. The part of the brain that protects animals without even an active thought, lives in each of us today. This lizard brain is responsible for “pan hot, pull hand away” type of reflexes. All living things on the planet today have this; it has been key to self preservation and species survival. Robots, however, haven’t had a lizard brain. Until now. FORT takes Asimov’s rule that robots won’t hurt people, and productizes it across a huge range of verticals.
Key in making this investment was speaking with a number of FORT’s customers in diligence and hearing first hand their need for wireless communication with functional safety (i.e. the lizard brain eSTOP shut-off). Never before in a diligence call had I heard this degree of pull through demand. FORT’s initial eSTOP product allows customers to proceed with confidence, knowing that they haven’t done anything to compromise safety.
Samuel Reeves, founder and CEO of FORT, has spent his career dedicated to improving human life through smart machines and is exactly the type of Prime Mover we seek to partner with. He founded his first company, Humanistic Robotics, a landmine removal business, in 2006. With this massive wave of industrial automation upon us, Samuel is rapidly scaling FORT to meet the market need to ensure that robotic systems are safely deployed across all industries.
Safety unlocks the pathway forward for robotics and is a huge impactful and investable opportunity. Increased automation assumes humans and machines / robots can work safely together. It is a ground rule for success, just as Asimov insisted. FORT is creating systems that will accelerate the rise of autonomous vehicles and robotics, making work safer and more productive. We are proud to partner with Samuel and his team and recognize that safe collaboration between humans and robots is synonymous with the workforce of tomorrow and will positively impact billions of lives.
Prime Movers Lab invests in breakthrough scientific startups founded by Prime Movers, the inventors who transform billions of lives. We invest in companies reinventing energy, transportation, infrastructure, manufacturing, human augmentation and agriculture.
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