When I met Joseph Nelson, CEO and founder of Roboflow, I asked a question I ask almost everyone: If we were to meet randomly at a party, how would you explain what your company does?
“I tell people that Roboflow makes tools for developers to create visual understanding,” Nelson told me. But, he added, depending on the person’s work, “then I’ll jump right in to give them an example that makes it real.”
Then, for the next ten minutes, Nelson happily took in the different trades and visual uses for Roboflow. For doctors, think medical imaging and diagnosis. Firefighters, how to detect wildfires early? If someone works in environmental research, Nelson points out that Roboflow is already being used to monitor coral reefs and underwater ecosystems. There are a lot of potential use cases for Roboflow, for a computer vision startup, because the company deals with something very basic, even fundamental: what we see.
Roboflow has raised $40 million for its Series B, luck has studied exclusively. The round was led by GV, along with Guillermo Rauch of Craft Ventures and Y Combinator Vercel, Jeff Dean of Microsoft, and Amjad Masad of Replit. Previous investors in the company include Lachy Groom, Sam Altman and Scott Belsky.
“It’s amazing that if you think of machine learning, you immediately think of technical teams, and that’s it,” Nelson said. luck. “But it’s true, the effect of that is almost everything else, everywhere else that wants to better understand the visual world.”
In short, Roboflow uses AI to make sense of what we see. There are many enterprise AI platforms, but Roboflow is directly connected to the tactile physical world. It’s a clear line for Nelson, who grew up hyper-aware of the relationship between technology and real-world environments. Nelson grew up in Iowa, where his family runs a traditional Midwestern row crop farm, growing primarily corn and soybeans. Even today, he returns to look for the harvest. When Roboflow signed on a major agricultural equipment manufacturer as a client, that’s when “my parents realized we had a real, genuine company,” Nelson says. (He declined to say who exactly, but some web debugging suggests it’s probably John Deere).
The company said luck More than 25,000 organizations build with Roboflow, including more than half of the Fortune 100. In the last 30 days, Roboflow has had its open source packages downloaded more than 1 million times.
And those downloads suggest a huge number of customer use cases playing out right now. For example, you have Pella Windows & Doors, which uses the Roboflow platform to scan products for defects. Automaker Rivian also uses Roboflow for quality control, and broadcasters Wimbledon and the US Open are leveraging the company’s models to track players and the ball. BNSF Railway, another Roboflow customer, uses the platform to literally keep the trains running. The company uses computer vision to maintain real-time yard inventories, reducing search times and optimizing loading and delivery at yards that can hold up to 10,000 containers. A Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary and one of the largest U.S. freight railroads, BNSF also uses Roboflow for real-time safety inspections.
The world is “full of images and things to see, and people make decisions based on what they see,” said GV senior partner Crystal Huang, who will join Roboflow’s board. Huang believes that solving these kinds of physical problems represents a huge “greenfield” opportunity, and sees potential in verticals such as manufacturing, logistics, retail, healthcare and hospitality.
Nelson knows the inherent challenge of so many use cases; after all, if you’re famous for everything, you might as well be famous for nothing.
However, there is an almost overwhelming sense of reach that makes me think about how much we see every day and how much of it is our primary source of information. There are many ways to view it, some more complete than others. And if you can help people see more clearly, there’s a market for that.
“As humans, our vision predates our use of language,” Nelson said. “The ability to live, understand and synthesize the world is inherent to the mind. And if you think about it, so much software that exists in the world doesn’t make that sense, right? So much is unseen and unknown. But the promise of visual AI is that these things can be improved and better understood.”
We are so back…ServiceTitan has filed its S-1 for its planned IPO on Nasdaq. Some key numbers include the software company’s net loss of $35.7 million on revenue of $193 million for the quarter ending July 31. View the file here. As always, love to hear your thoughts.
ICYMI…My colleague Jason Del Rey exclusively He spoke with Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas about the company’s new acquisition tools.
until tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
Submit an offer for the Term Sheet newsletter here.
Nina Ajemian made the offers section of today’s newsletter. Subscribe here.
DANGERS
– CongThe San Francisco-based developer of cloud API technologies raised $125 million in Series E funding. Tiger Global and Balderton They took turns to join Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, 137 Risksexisting investors Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, CRVand others.
– SuperAnnotationThe San Francisco-based provider of software for creating and managing AI datasets, raised $36 million in Series B funding. Partner Ventures led the round and joined NVIDIA, Databricks Ventures, Play Time Venturesand existing investors.
– QPLIXThe Munich-based provider of wealth management software for family offices and private banks raised 25 million euros ($26.5 million) in funding. Partech.
– See HealthAlhambra, a California-based senior care provider, raised $22 million in Series A funding. 8VC led the round and joined Base set, Primetime partners, Virtueand Astrana Health.
– Light syncBoston-based developer of quantum interconnect technology solutions, raised $18 million in Series A funding. Cerberus Ventures led the round and joined Murata Electronics North America, IAG Capital Partners, Safar partnersand others.
– Public HealthThe San Mateo, Calif.-based consumer healthcare AI platform raised $15.5 million in seed funding. Transformation Capital led the round and joined Wavemaker 360 and angel investors.
– the agencyThe New York City-based content ad platform for sponsored creators raised $12 million in Series A funding. Reference led the round and joined existing investors Craft Companies and AlleyCorp and others.
– FlipturnThe New York City-based EV charger and fleet management platform raised $11 million in Series A funding. CRV led the round and joined quickly.
– REBADenver-based data analytics and intelligence platform for the property management industry, raised $10 million in Series B funding. Blueprint Equity.
– Jimin HealthThe New York City-based AI-assisted mental health platform raised $8 million in pre-seed funding. Zetta Venture Partners, LionBird, PsyMedand others.
– The firstThe free-to-air telecommunications provider, based in Amsterdam, raised 5.1 million euros ($5.4 million) in seed funding. Speedinvest led the round and joined Dutch Founders Fund and others.
– Calvin RiskThe Zurich-based AI risk management platform raised $4 million in seed funding Batu Capital and seed + speed Ventures.
– Heim HealthThe London-based home healthcare software platform raised £2.2 million ($2.8 million) in seed funding. Heal Capital led the round and joined Form Ventures, Portfolio Venturesand Houghton Street Ventures.
PRIVATE EQUITY
– PSG Equity He has invested 15 million dollars CommBoxGlil-Yam, an Israel-based AI omnichannel customer experience platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Stone peak acquired Fleet companiesA Memphis based trailer dealer and rental company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
OUTPUTS
– MidOcean partners acquired Arnott IndustriesA Merritt Island, Fla.-based developer of automotive suspension technology Calera Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Sentinel Capital Partners acquired NSI IndustriesHuntersville, NC based supplier of electrical and HVAC products from here Odyssey Investment Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
– ServiceTitanThe Glendale, Calif.-based provider of business management software to service contractors has filed for an IPO on the Nasdaq. The company earned $685 million in the year ended July 31, 2024. Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, ICONIQ Growthand TPG back to the company
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
– INITIATIVE ventureThe San Francisco-based venture capital firm raised $45 million for its first fund targeting companies at the intersection of health, life sciences and technology.
PEOPLE
– B CapitalAn investment firm based in Los Angeles, he added Timur Akazhanov as the main partner. He was there before HIG Capital.
– Wireframe VenturesA venture capital firm in San Francisco, sponsored Lily Bernicker to be a partner
