XTEND secures $40M Series B funding round to advance AI-driven robotics

XTEND, the developer of the AI-driven XOS operating system, recently announced a $40M Series B round, led by Chartered Group, with further participation from its existing and new strategic investors, including Clal-Tech.

With the new funding, XTEND will look to further develop its proprietary XOS operating system and its application in various time-consuming, dangerous enterprise and security scenarios worldwide. XTEND will also ramp up global sales of its own drones and robotics products.

Human, AI-driven drone and robot OS

XTEND provides a human-supervised, AI-driven drone and robot operating system that 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 - which fuses human intelligence and machine autonomy – it provides a new way for logistics, public safety, inspection, defense and security professionals to interact with machines effectively from a safe distance.

XTEND’s team believes that as the use of drones and robots become more prevalent, professional human oversight remains crucial, and therefore developing a seamless collaboration between humans and AI, where each play to their strengths for optimal results, is vital.

"Robots and drones promise to transform everything from factories to our homes,” said Aviv Shapira, co-founder, and CEO of XTEND. “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. 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."

Hundreds of XTEND's drone and robotics systems are already operationally deployed worldwide, and the company is continuously developing its XOS operating system and those platforms to deliver more human-machine teaming. XOS is hardware agnostic, which allows it to control all sorts of platforms, including third party devices, complement existing technology or create entirely new systems from scratch. XOS’s open architecture means that it can host applications developed by other companies, too.

"Our XOS operating system is based on "Practical Human Supervised Autonomy" which empowers drones and robots to handle specific tasks autonomously – entering buildings, scanning floors, or even pursuing suspects,” Shapira added. “However, crucially, it allows the "common sense" decisions - like judging situations or adapting to unforeseen circumstances - to remain in the hands of human supervisors.”

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 to develop and deliver its systems for operational evaluation.

"We believe that the companies bringing the value of AI to massive and complex industries, such as robotics and drone operations, will be the tech giants of the 21st century,” said Eyal Agmoni, founder and chairman of Chartered Group. “Having observed XTEND's remarkable achievements thus far, we truly believe in the company's potential to become the world leader in robotics and drone operations, and AI."