Propagator Ventures

We are #hiring! Join Intrepid Labs, a visionary and rapidly growing AI x Biotech startup, based at Johnson & Johnson Innovation Labs (#JLabs) in the heart of the #MaRS Discovery District in #Toronto. Riley Hickman Dr. Christine Allen Alán Aspuru-Guzik Dario Jeginovic, MSc

We’re known for our ‘hands-first’ approach. I actually think this is the **only** way to create a general purpose robot that can actually do valuable work in the world. Here’s why. Robots have been able to walk on two legs since Honda’s ASIMO in the 80s, but this hasn’t unlocked useful work. This is because legs are just a tool to get our hands to where the work needs to be done. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, fine manipulation of the hands is required for 98.8% of all work. Put simply: hands are what allow us to change the world. The lack of human-like hands and the control systems that make them move is the main reason why there’s a massive gap between what people can do and what robots can do today. As well as dexterity, robots also need to be able to feel and assess items through touch. You don’t want a robot which holds your grandma’s hand with the same force it grabs a metal rod. If you aren’t prioritizing creating hands that are as close to a person as possible, you will end up creating a special purpose tool. Don’t get me wrong – this is great for a narrowly defined specific set of work tasks like tote and box moving in a warehouse, but it can’t help with the worsening labor shortages that manufacturers are facing.

In March, Accenture announced a strategic investment in Sanctuary AI. The news featured in a great article from Mike Oitzman at The Robot Report, which noted our unique ‘hands first’ approach. Learn more about this, and our recent announcements here: https://lnkd.in/ghsFxekA #AI #Accenture

It is a real privilege to be an early backer of Axiomatic_AI alongside lead investor Kleiner Perkins. MIT´s professor Dirk Englund and his stellar team of founders, including our own chief scientific adviser professor Alán Aspuru-Guzik, are on a mission to bring AI to where it may make its biggest impact on the advancement of science and economic productivity. More detail on this latest investment for our recently opened Fund 2: English version: https://lnkd.in/dXEHqJgT Norwegian version: https://lnkd.in/dhYqT_WW Dirk Englund Marin Soljacic Frank Koppens Alán Aspuru-Guzik Axiomatic_AI Kleiner Perkins Anders G. Frøseth Eirik Talleraas Andreas Emblem

🚀 Intrepid Labs: Better medicine, fast. We are really excited about our recent investment in Intrepid Labs, a groundbreaking Canadian startup that is revolutionising the drug development process. It is one out of three investments made so far from our recently established Fund 2. Spun out of the University of Toronto in 2023, Intrepid Labs combines machine learning, robotics, and pharmaceutical science to address critical bottlenecks in drug formulation, making the process faster, more efficient, and less costly. Intrepid Labs' proprietary tech leverages advanced AI and robotic automation to optimise drug formulations with unprecedented speed and precision. Their innovative approach not only accelerates the development of life-saving therapies but also opens up new possibilities for personalised medicine and the rescue of previously abandoned drug candidates. We are proud to support Intrepid Labs' visionary founders, Dr. Christine Allen, Dr. Alán Aspuru-Guzik, Dr. Pauric Bannigan, and Dr. Riley Hickman, as they lead the charge in transforming the future of drug development. Their self-driving labs represent a significant leap forward in the pharmaceutical industry, much like how machine learning is accelerating design cycles in other complex product categories. At Propagator Ventures, our mission is to back transformative deep-tech solutions that tackle grand global challenges. Intrepid Labs' technology aligns perfectly with this vision, and we are excited to see the impact they will make in the $1.4 trillion pharma value chain. More details here on why we invested in Intrepid: https://lnkd.in/gzmmxnqS #IntrepidLabs #MachineLearning #AI #Robotics #PharmaceuticalScience #DrugDevelopment #Investment #DeepTech #Healthcare #BiotechnologyResearch #DrugFormulation

🤖 The industrial AI revolution has landed at MarketSite. Zapata AI is officially listing on Nasdaq, trading as $ZPTA! 🛎️ 🌟 Founded in 2017, Zapata AI is an industrial #generativeAI company, transforming how enterprises solve complex problems with its powerful suite of gen #AI software. A big welcome to the entire Zapata AI team and partners, including Co-Founder & CEO Christopher Savoie, alongside investor & friend of the company, auto racing legend, 🏎️ Mario Andretti. We’re proud to be your partner and are excited to support your continued growth as a #NasdaqListed company!  🎉

«Building on the foundation of Large Language Models (LLMs), Sanctuary AI is making progress towards "Large Behavior Models" (LBMs) that ground AI in the physical world by enabling systems to understand and learn from real world experience. Sanctuary AI is taking advantage of these models for Carbon™, the AI control system for its Phoenix robots. Carbon is designed to enable the robot it controls to do complex tasks, due to its foundation of high quality behavioral data. Sanctuary AI will take advantage of Microsoft Azure infrastructure for training, inference, networking, and storage.»

Exciting progress from Sanctuary AI Their newly unveiled 7th generation humanoid robot Phoenix is a leap forward, with human-like dexterity and the ability to learn new tasks in under 24 hours.   As investors, we're exited to see the rapid advancements #Sanctuary is making in general-purpose robotics and artificial intelligence. With real-world deployments already underway through partnerships Magna International, Sanctuary is at the forefront of making intelligent, versatile robots an industrial reality.   Congrats to Geordie Rose and the entire Sanctuary team on this milestone!   https://lnkd.in/dArmgKBX   #AI #robotics #automation #FutureofWork

Congratulations to Propagator Ventures portolio company Sanctuary AI. This is huge!