A robotics company that started at McMaster University is looking to recruit a team of passionate engineers to pioneer “made in Canada” humanoid robots.

AXIBO Inc. has raised $12 million to develop advanced humanoid robotics, with the goal of unveiling the first prototype early next year.

Anoop Gadhrri, Sohaib Al-Emara and Reiner Schmidt founded the company in 2019 as undergraduates in the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster.

Their shared passion for robotics inspired them to embark on an entrepreneurial venture together and, with the help of McMaster’s business incubator, the Forge, they launched AXIBO.

“The Forge was very helpful for us when going from technical development to actual market and real customers,” Gadhrri said. “Our lead mentor, Eric Spearin, and the team at the Forge were constantly there to provide us with guidance.”

Their first commercial success was an AI-powered robotic camera system that has since been used on productions with Netflix and Apple. The technology automates the video production process by capturing a 360-degree view of the action through automated shooting angles and precise object tracking.

While the camera technology has been massively successful, it’s not the ultimate goal for Gadhrri and his cofounders.

“We sort of ended up in cinema through a passion for robotics, not a passion for cinema,” Gadhrri explained.

He said AXIBO was working on humanoid robots three years ago but needed to raise capital to build a prototype. After selling thousands of its robotic cameras worldwide, AXIBO is now set to return to its original mission.

“This pivot back to humanoids is a pivot back to our core passion, the thing that we really love doing. It’s the purest embodiment of what a robot is. When you think about a robot, you think about a humanoid.”

AXIBO’s vision is for the humanoid robots to be used in settings where work could be hazardous for people, or to assist in industries that are experiencing labour shortages.

Gadhrri and his co-founders credit the mentorship of adjunct professor Ishwar Singh in the Faculty of Engineering for encouraging them to strive for success with their own company.

“He was very supportive of our creative growth in engineering, whether it was funding-related or creating the space for us to do experiments, doing these projects where we would make a device from scratch, seeing how that device would come together,” said Gadhrri.

Those projects included developing mobile robots and software that are now used by students in the School of Engineering Practice and Technology (SEPT) Learning Factory, a cutting-edge facility in the Engineering Technology Building where students work with emerging manufacturing tech.

The trio also developed McMaster’s first-ever autonomous vehicle for their capstone project under Singh’s guidance.

“I think he saw something in us early on,” said Gadhrri. “We would not have accomplished the things we’ve accomplished today if it wasn’t for him. I wouldn’t be the person I am if it wasn’t for him.”

Singh, who is now retired, helped create and design the faculty’s joint Bachelor of Technology program with Mohawk College, as well as the SEPT Learning Factory, and is also a recipient of funding through the Future Skills Centre to support skills development among students to keep up with a changing labour market.

He said he’s thrilled to see the AXIBO founders chasing their dream and hopes it will inspire other students to follow in their footsteps.

“It’s the hands-on experience that they got working at the Learning Factory and, of course their entrepreneurial spirit, that has well prepared them well for this success that they have,” said Singh.

The $12-million investment in AXIBO includes $11 million from private external investors and an additional $1 million from the founders themselves and is the largest amount of funding acquired by any Forge client.

A significant portion of the funds will be used to grow the team to as many as 30 from its current eight, Gadhrri said. He’s hoping to appeal to robotics enthusiasts from the rich talent pool at McMaster and other universities to ensure AXIBO is a driver of homegrown innovation.

“A future where robots are integrated in our everyday reality is going to happen, whether we’re involved or not,” said Gadhrri.

“Canada has a lot of bright people and a lot of raw materials and resources, but it seems like there isn’t much of a push for innovation in robotics locally, and we want to change that. We hope to be one of the leading companies providing and manufacturing humanoids in the future — and we want to be doing it with a really strong Canadian supply chain.”