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Teleo announced this week that it has secured a Sequence A extension funding of $16.2 million. The newly secured funding will be leveraged to accelerate customer adoption of semi-autonomous heavy equipment, expand into new sectors beyond construction, and enhance the company’s artificial intelligence prowess.
Teleo, a Palo Alto, California-based company, recently secured new orders for 34 machines from nine new clients across the pulp and paper, logging, port logistics, munitions clearance, and agricultural sectors. The company aims to expand its operations into new markets, including airports, waste management and recycling, logistics, and warehousing, among others.
The Sequence A extension arrived in two parts. In April 2024, the company secured a significant $9.2 million funding extension, led by UP.Companions and featuring notable investors Trousdale Ventures and F-Prime Capital in this strategic partnership. The second deal, valued at a $7 million extension, was successfully concluded this week, with UP Companions playing a leading role in the transaction. The firm included Triatomic Capital alongside returning traders. Founded in 2019, Teleo has secured $29.8 million in funding to date.
“Our confidence in Teleo’s solution stems from the profound impact their expertise in remote and autonomous operation of heavy equipment has had on several of the world’s largest operators.” According to Adam Grosser, Chairman and Managing Partner at UP.Partners, Teleo’s creation of vital productivity benefits also yields a profoundly positive impact on the workforce, where chronic skill shortages plague the industry. “By leveraging Teleo’s expertise in retrofitting, operators can enjoy increased job accessibility and safety, while buyers reap the benefits of improved profitability as previously idle machines are revitalized.”
Transforms a wide range of heavy machinery, including bulldozers, wheel loaders, and excavators, into semi-autonomous and remotely operated robots. This approach, commonly referred to as supervised autonomy, enables a single operator to oversee multiple machines operating in tandem. The operator can control complex tasks from a centralized command centre, regardless of its proximity to the actual location – be it just nearby or thousands of miles away.
Numerous sectors rely heavily on industrial machinery to perform routine and foreseeable tasks consistently. Teleo’s expertise provides a solution, especially during critical labor shortages. According to the National Association of Home Builders, a staggering 91% of construction companies face significant staffing shortages, leading to increased costs and project delay challenges.
“As the CEO of Teleo, Vinay Shet emphasized the substantial value proposition of their expertise across multiple sectors reliant on heavy machinery, with a primary goal of fulfilling and expanding their existing order pipeline.” There exists a broader, unexplored realm of sectors where Teleo Supervised Autonomy can deliver immediate value. We will utilize these funds to further leverage and amplify our expertise, thereby enabling us to effectively address lingering labor shortages and convey a positive impact.
I recently visited the Teleo headquarters in Palo Alto and had the opportunity to attend an impressive live demonstration of their innovative driving force station, developed by Sheetro. While operating a 20-mile-distant articulated loader from his remote workstation in Fremont’s Bay, he worked diligently. Efficiently navigating the car across the website, we successfully operated the raise bucket to switch out dusty materials.
Remote operators from the control room’s command center enjoy an immersive experience through their first-person view screens, expertly navigating operations using intuitive foot pedals and dual joysticks. | Credit score: Teleo
The teleoperator station boasts a cluster of enormous screens displaying multiple digital camera feeds alongside vital vehicle statistics, accompanied by dual joystick controls and precision foot pedals. Onboard the distant autonomous vehicle, a cutting-edge notion engine deploys a comprehensive 360-degree envelope, alerting the teleoperator to potential hazards – including pedestrians – that may lie within the vicinity of the vehicle.
Teleservice equips remote cars with a comprehensive command center featuring a suite of cameras and sensors, providing the operator with a 360-degree panoramic view of the vehicle. | Credit score: Teleo
Individuals can physically operate the distant equipment’s settings, including loading/unloading and excavation functions. Despite traversing vast digital terrain, operators can effortlessly switch to autonomous mode and utilize their vehicle for hauling or repositioning tasks, liberating them from tedious journeys. Meanwhile, the teleoperator remains stationed, continuously tracking the vehicle’s advancement.
The operator can teleport into another vehicle at the location, monitoring and managing its mission parameters. The system empowers a lone operator to manage and control an entire armada of self-driving vehicles. Operators can execute this operation from a trailer-based workstation on-site, or remotely, via a secure cloud connection.
Teleo’s global supply partner network, established in 2023, comprises a diverse group of partners located across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The corporation showcased its cutting-edge technology by orchestrating the world’s longest supervised autonomous operation to date, where operators in Dallas remotely controlled equipment at a site in Finland, spanning an impressive distance of over 5,000 miles.
Aggressive market
In recent times, Teleo has faced increasing competition in the development sector, emanating from multiple sources, including established players like and OEM tool manufacturers. As innovation gains momentum, the accumulation of expertise matures, and the connectivity infrastructure for seamless access to remote vehicles and operators continues to evolve. With this strategic pivot, Teleo is poised to accelerate its momentum and expand its market presence.
