XTEND lands $40 million Series B for robot and drone operating system

XTEND, which develops an AI-driven operating system for drones and robots, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $40 million in Series B funding, led by Chartered Group, with further participation from its existing and new strategic investors, including Clal-Tech.

Full list of Israeli high-tech funding rounds in 2024

CEO Aviv Shapira told Calcalist that the funding round was initiated before the start of the war in Gaza on October 7 and that since then the company has shifted its entire focus in developing systems for the IDF. This new focus has led the company to a decision to upgrade its activity in the military sector.

XTEND CEO Aviv Shapira.

XTEND’s human-supervised, AI-driven drone and robot operating system enables operators to perform highly complex and dynamic missions in any environment with minimal training. When drones and robots are controlled by XTEND's patented XOS operating system, it provides a new way for logistics, public safety, inspection, defense, and security professionals to interact with machines effectively from a safe distance.

"Robots and drones promise to transform everything from factories to our homes. However, a significant hurdle remains - equipping them with the common-sense abilities to deal with the unpredictable nature of real-world situations, understand their surroundings, and make decisions based on that information,” explained Aviv Shapira. “XOS uses AI to enable robots to learn from data and experience. Training them to identify objects, navigate complex environments, and interact with humans safely. We are unlocking the true potential of robotics in complex scenarios, including first response, search and rescue, logistics, critical infrastructure inspection, defense, and security."

XOS has been developed for multiple markets, including logistics, public safety, inspection, and security. The U.S. Department of Defense Special Forces and Israel's Ministry of Defense tier-1 units have also chosen XTEND for multiple multi-million-dollar programs.

XTEND employs 100 people, including 30 in Singapore and 20 in the U.S. It will expand its team significantly with the latest funding.

Matteo Shapira, co-founder, and CXO, added: "Unlike self-driving cars, which operate in a world with mostly known rules and scenarios, XTEND specializes in enabling operations in "hypervariable" environments. Take a last-mile delivery robot. It can navigate autonomously indoors and outdoors but might need human help finding an office building entrance or understanding floor layouts to reach the elevator or stairway. These environments present limitless situations with the potential for the unexpected, requiring human-level decision-making skills specific to each profession. XTEND's core technology, XOS, is built around this human-machine partnership. We are continually adding new "AI SKILLS" to our system, and those skills will allow robots to handle a growing portion of missions and tasks, freeing up human supervisors to manage more missions simultaneously, at scale."