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We are Founders & Seed Funders of innovative

Industrial Automation, Robotics and AI companies...

 that we build from the ground up

Learn more about Carnegie Foundry

Cementing Pittsburgh as the preeminent leader in seeding  

START-UPS IN ROBOTICS

Learn more about what drives us

Reimagining and accelerating the venture model for industrial automation

start-ups to scale-up

Learn about our novel approach

Cultivating Concepts. Seeding Development. Building Products. Operating Businesses.

Carnegie Foundry, backed by Fortune 500 investments from U.S. Steel and Oshkosh Corporation - and in partnership with the world leader in applied design of development of robotic systems, the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University - nurtures and stewards the most promising advanced technologies from concept to market. Our team scopes, launches, seeds, staffs, and manages home-grown industrial autonomation, robotics and AI startups in the most attractive verticals eager for game-changing innovation.

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Carnegie Foundry's Partnership with the National Robotics ENgineering Center (NREC) brings a strong Track Record of Robotics and AI Market Success to our ventures

$ 800 MILLION

in commercial sales directly tied to IP and inventions

30 COUNTRIES ON ALL 7 CONTINENTS

 house autonomous robotics built by NREC

$ 500 MILLION

in R&D value, leveragable by Carnegie Foundry

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Game Changing Robotic Technologies Demand Innovative Business Models

All great companies excel at business, operations, talent, and finance, though formulas and strategies are different to match industry. We’ve learned the unique ‘alchemy’ of building successful and sustainable robotics companies, and it starts long before the company launches.

 

Good Robotics is more than simply automating human tasks

The best robotics isn’t merely the automation of human tasks but a complete rethinking and reimagining of how to meet a challenging objective. A dozen robots from a dozen different providers each independently handling a monotonous, unsafe, or time-consuming task isn’t often the most ideal solution for companies. How to make the entire operation more “robotic” is where we start. That’s how we think.

Robotics is Hard. Autonomous Robotics is Harder. Autonomous Robotic Systems is Hardest… And is Our Specialty

The challenge building autonomous robotic systems is often vastly underestimated by investors, companies and even founders themselves. The best projections for time, money, facilities, and talent are thrown off when one technical challenge becomes two (and often more). Delays follow, as does higher cash burn, missed market opportunities and diminished investor returns. Our distinct advantage is the critical mass of expertise we bring to our startup companies - without burdensome overhead and cash burn - so that when technical and business challenges arise, we can address them quickly without the same pain and delay.

News & Perspectives

Our latest news, updates, and a peer into robotics, ai, and automation.

Latest News

Monday Mar 11th, 2024

U. S. Steel Makes Strategic Investment in Freespace Robotics, A Pittsburgh-Based Autonomous Warehousing Pioneer

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Monday Mar 4th, 2024

FIVES INTRALOGISTICS PARTNERS WITH FREESPACE ROBOTICS TO DRIVE THE ADOPTION OF HIGH SPEED & HIGH-DENSITY AUTOMATION IN WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS

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Tuesday Aug 22nd, 2023

Longtime Pittsburgh manufacturers diving into AI with Carnegie Foundry

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Monday Mar 27th, 2023

NFI Ventures Announces an Investment in Next-Generation Warehouse Automation Company Freespace Robotics

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Monday Feb 6th, 2023

VoxEQ makes a voice analysis breakthrough, surpassing previous state-of-the-art systems for ‘age-from-voice’ prediction

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Thursday Feb 2nd, 2023

Carnegie Foundry Launches Carnegie Capital Partners to Accelerate Early-Stage Investment In Autonomous Robotics

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Tuesday Nov 1st, 2022

Fortune 200 Executives join Carnegie Foundry Board to Accelerate Advanced Robotics, AI and Automation for Industry

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Tuesday May 31st, 2022

Carnegie Foundry CEO Rob Szczerba named an influential leader in Pittsburgh tech

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Sunday May 1st, 2022

Carnegie Foundry Announces Matt Wachter Joins the Executive Team

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Wednesday Feb 2nd, 2022

Carnegie Foundry named top venture start-up in Pennsylvania

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