When Instacart acquired Lindon Gao’s self-checkout shopping startup, Caper AI, for $350 million in 2021, it marked a big win for the founder in a competitive space led by Amazon through its checkout-free Go stores. Caper used sensors, computer vision, and other AI techniques to detect items in customers' shopping carts so they could avoid cashier lines.
Six months ago, Gao left his role at Instacart and Caper to tackle a new challenge—this time in robotics. His new company, Dyna Robotics, emerged from stealth on Tuesday with a $23.5 million seed round, co-led by CRV and First Round Capital, to build more affordable, easy-to-deploy AI-powered robots for brick-and-mortar businesses. The robots are intended to handle tasks ranging from dangerous to dull and dirty, including chopping food, loading dishes, folding laundry and cleaning toilets.
