Rerun Launches Game-Changing Open Source AI Platform for Robots, Drones, and Cars with $17M Seed Funding Boost
As the landscape of generative AI expands into the physical realm through robotics, vehicles, and drones, the challenge of aligning cloud-based AIs with real-world environments becomes increasingly critical. Rerun, a Stockholm-based developer tools startup, has recently raised $17 million in seed funding to facilitate this transition, marking a significant step in the development of what is known as “physical AI.”
Rerun Secures Funding to Enhance Physical AI Development
Founded in 2022, Rerun has now raised a total of $20.2 million, with this latest funding round led by Point Nine, a prominent venture firm based in Germany.
Innovative Solutions for Physical AI
Nikolaus West, co-founder and CEO of Rerun, spoke with TechCrunch about the rapid growth of AI technologies operating in the physical world. He emphasized that Rerun’s database and cloud platform is meticulously designed for managing physical AI data and workflows, which include:
- Video streams
- 3D scenes
- Tensors
The startup’s unique multimodal data stack offers enhanced visual debugging, enabling developers to trace their bots’ movements and identify issues more effectively. This system allows for the importing of real-world sensor data to support spatial visualization and analytics.
Overcoming Challenges in Physical AI
West pointed out that existing data infrastructures for AI are not fully equipped to handle the complexities of physical AI data. He noted, “Old-school robotics tools are not built for the machine learning world, leading to data inconsistencies and friction for development teams.”
He also discussed a potential “data flywheel” effect that could emerge, where smarter systems lead to more robotics deployments, generating more data to further train AI models, ultimately leading to improved outcomes.
Open Source Contributions and Collaborations
Rerun’s open-source platform has already been integrated into various projects by major companies such as Meta, Google, Hugging Face, and Unitree. The team at Rerun comprises industry veterans from leading companies like Apple, AWS, and Unity, with CTO Emil Ernerfeldt being the creator of egui, a prominent open-source GUI framework in Rust.
Investment Recognition and Future Prospects
Ricardo Sequerra Amram, a partner at Point Nine, highlighted Rerun’s commitment to open source as a key factor in their investment decision, stating, “Rerun’s work on open source has allowed them to gain the trust of some of the most ambitious companies in the world of physical AI.”
In addition to Point Nine, the seed round attracted investments from Sunflower Capital, as well as existing investors Costanoa Ventures and Seedcamp.
As Rerun continues to innovate in the space of physical AI, the startup is poised to play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between cloud-based systems and real-world applications.
