Lucid Bots raises $20M to keep up with demand for its window-washing drones

Andrew Ashur, founder and CEO of Lucid Bots, presents a compelling contrast to the current robotics landscape. While many companies focus on humanoid robots and eye-catching demonstrations, Lucid Bots has carved out a practical niche by developing drones that tackle essential yet hazardous cleaning work.

"The sad truth is most are still selling a lot of hype and headlines, and we sell performance on the job site that shows up in our customers, profits, and losses," Ashur explained to TechCrunch. "We're not just in the lab and simulators. We've got dirt under our fingernails, and we're out on job sites getting work done."

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lucid Bots operates as a comprehensive robotics company, manufacturing and selling its Sherpa drones and Lavo robots to cleaning service providers. The company recently completed a $20 million Series B funding round, co-led by Cubit Capital and Idea Fund Partners, bringing total funding to $34 million.

The new capital will support expanded hiring efforts as the company struggles to meet surging demand. Ashur noted that their manufacturing facility has reached capacity, with even parking becoming a challenge.

"We have more requests for demos than we have hours in the day, so we need to scale up capacity and head count," Ashur said. "As a founder, when we don't have enough hours in the day to do all the demos, it gives me a little bit of heartburn."

The journey to this point required significant persistence. According to Ashur, it took five years to deliver the company's first 100 robots, and securing investor confidence proved challenging given his liberal arts background and lack of robotics experience.

The inspiration for Lucid Bots emerged during Ashur's junior year at Davidson College, where he was studying economics and Spanish. Observing the dangerous working conditions faced by window washers led him to envision a safer, more efficient solution through robotics technology.