Gather AI, maker of ‘curious’ warehouse drones, lands $40M led by Keith Block’s firm
Source: TechCrunch
Funding Round
Gather AI, a startup that offers an AI platform for warehouse cameras and drones, has raised a $40 million Series B funding round led by Smith Point Capital, the venture firm founded by former Salesforce co‑CEO Keith Block.
The Gather team first met Smith Point at a logistics conference a year ago, and “it took Keith and his team five minutes to get what we’re doing,” co‑founder and CEO Sankalp Arora told TechCrunch.
Technology
Gather AI’s founders met as PhD students at Carnegie Mellon University, where they built one of the first autonomous helicopters and tested it on the FBI training grounds in Quantico. (Block is a trustee for CMU.)
In 2017 they launched Gather AI, applying lessons from autonomous helicopters to warehouse automation. The system uses off‑the‑shelf cameras mounted on moving equipment such as forklifts, as well as off‑the‑shelf drones that fly around the warehouse. These cameras monitor floor operations and log findings into warehouse management systems.
“Curious” AI
The AI is designed to be “curious,” a concept Arora developed during his PhD work on making flying robots inquisitive. The drones and cameras actively seek out:
- Barcodes
- Lot codes
- Text and expiration dates
- Case counts
- Damages
- Occupancy levels
- Other relevant items
By gathering this information, the system can predict issues such as low inventory, misplaced stock, and workflow safety hazards.
Technical Approach
Gather’s underlying tech predates the era of large language models (LLMs). It does not rely on end‑to‑end neural networks. Instead, it combines classical Bayesian techniques with neural networks. These probability‑based methods allow the system to interpret visual data using prior knowledge, avoiding the hallucination problems common in LLMs. The AI “gets curious,” gathers information, and decides on the next action based on what it has learned.
Applications
The platform works in environments that are unfriendly to people, such as freezers and cold storage facilities. Customers include:
- Kwik Trip
- Axon
- GEODIS
- NFI Industries
Awards & Recognition
In December, Gather AI won the 2025 Nebius Robotics award for Vision AI and Streaming Video Analytics. Nebius, a Netherlands‑based AI infrastructure provider, recognized the startup’s contributions to embodied AI—robots that interact directly with the physical world, as opposed to purely virtual LLM interactions.
Team & Investors
Gather AI currently employs about 60 people. With the new $40 million round, the company’s total funding reaches $74 million. Other investors include:
- Bain Capital Ventures
- XRC Ventures
- Hillman Investments