Embedd raises $2.7 million to scale AI platform

A London-based deep tech start-up has raised $2.7 million to tackle a software bottleneck facing the rapidly growing physical artificial intelligence sector.

Embedd has secured the pre-seed funding in a round led by Seedcamp, with backing from investors including Cocoa, Connect Ventures, 2100 Ventures, Vesna Capital, U.ventures and Common Magic.

The company is developing infrastructure designed to make it faster for software powering technologies such as robots, vehicles and medical devices to communicate with different semiconductor chips.

Traditionally, engineers can spend significant time working through technical documentation and writing code to integrate individual components.

Embedd instead creates a digital twin of the hardware, providing its AI agents with the information needed to automate integration and generate the required code.

The company says its technology has enabled customers to deliver production-ready chip software up to six times faster.

Founded by Ukrainian technology entrepreneurs Michael Lazarenko, Maxim Gorinov and Valentin Gololobov, Embedd was inspired by challenges encountered at their previous hardware company.

Chip shortages during Covid and disruption following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced the founders to repeatedly source alternative components and rewrite software around them.

Michael says the investment will enable Embedd to accelerate development of its platform, deepen partnerships with semiconductor companies and scale its technology as growing investment in robotics and intelligent machines drives demand for the infrastructure underpinning physical AI.

Michael said: “The next wave of AI will power factories, vehicles, robots and critical infrastructure, but today, every change in hardware creates huge complexity for software teams and that friction is already massively slowing innovation. 

“We built Embedd to address exactly that, and we’re thrilled to have the backing of Seedcamp as we scale.

“The promise of physical AI is enormous, but today’s hardware fragmentation is slowing innovation. 

“This funding enables us to expand our platform and help more semiconductor companies bring their devices into emerging software ecosystems.”

Since launching commercially in April, Embedd has secured contracts with several semiconductor businesses.

They include Microchip Technology, where the startup is supporting the integration of the Zephyr operating system.

Rodger Richey, vice president of development systems and academic programs at Microchip Technology, added: "The competitive question in embedded is no longer whose silicon is fastest, it’s whose silicon is easiest to build on. 

“Our work with Embedd is about meeting developers inside the software ecosystems they’ve already committed to, rather than asking them to come to ours.”

Carlos Eduardo Espinal MBE, general partner at Seedcamp, added: “AI’s next chapter will play out in the physical world, but today’s software stack was never designed for that reality. 

“Embedd is tackling one of the fundamental challenges facing industries from robotics and manufacturing to healthcare and automotive, and we’re excited to back Michael and the team as they build the infrastructure underpinning the next generation of intelligent machines.”

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