Yesterday Grishin Robotics, an international venture capital firm launched in 2012 by Mail.ru Group’s CEO Dmitry Grishin, announced a new $100 million fund to invest in the USA and Europe. Originally focusing exclusively on robotics, the firm is now expanding its investment focus to such areas as collaborative and material handling robots, AI and data analytics, industrial IoT and other hardware or software innovation.
“Our vision is driven by the six pillars of the Hardware Revolution — cheaper components, ubiquitous connectivity, smartphone penetration, 3D printing, the disruption of supply chain, and crowdfunding. By 2020, the total value of the markets driven by these changes is estimated to reach $1 trillion,” Grishin Robotics stated.
The new fund will be primarily focused on Series A & B deals, with a certain amount of capital reserved for seed and later-stage opportunities. “Up to $10 million will be allocated over the lifecycle of the company, depending on the deal structure and investing position,” the firm announced.
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Dmitry Grishin has attracted a new partner, Verdi Israelyan, to help execute this strategy. Based in London, Israelyan has a PE and VC background from his DST and Goldman Sachs days. He also worked together with Grishin as Mail.Ru Group COO.
While Grishin self-financed the first fund — which amounted to $25 million — the second one is being backed by “a number of institutional and individual investors from Europe and the USA.”
In an exchange with East-West Digital News, Grishin Robotics Business Development Director Valery Komissarova declined to disclose the investors’ identity, but did confirm that Grishin and Israelyan contributed part of the funds as partners.
The new fund’s first investment went to Ring in a $61.2 million Series C round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sir Richard Branson. This California-based startup has developed a video doorbell which is presented as being “the smallest and most advanced on the market.”
Grishin Robotics’ first fund had invested in 12 US startups, including robotic video platform Swivl, connected pet device maker Petnet, audio hardware and software startup Boombotix, robotic toys manufacturer Orbotix and 3D sensing hardware and software maker Occipital. The fund’s portfolio also includes Double Robotics, LittleBits, Sphero, Spire, and Zipline.
There have been no exits yet, but “many of these companies raised follow-on financing rounds at higher valuations,” Komissarova told EWDN.
Just a few days before Grishin Robotics’ announcement, the Chinese media reported that Yuri Milner, the Russian billionaire behind Digital Sky Technologies (DST), invested in Chinese start-up Horizon Robotics. Founded in July 2015, the company previously received seed funding from Morningside Ventures, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital, GSR Ventures and others, according to its website.
