Vantora raises $100 million to build physical AI startups

Vantora, formerly known as UP.Labs, has raised $100 million from Silversmith Capital Partners as it shifts its focus toward physical AI startups built for corporate customers.

The company launched in 2022 with Porsche as its first corporate partner. It has since launched several startups for Porsche and reached agreements with Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash, and TDG, the parent company of Ashley Furniture. Vantora also works with unnamed industrial manufacturing customers and companies in the oil and gas sector.

Founder and CEO John Kuolt told TechCrunch that Vantora is moving toward a “proprietary M&A pipeline.” Corporate partners invest in the startups and become their first customers. They can also bring the companies into their own operations instead of allowing the products to be sold broadly.

Kuolt said the model lets Vantora pursue projects that are strategically important but too sensitive for the wider market. He gave the example of a Fortune 100 industrial company that might want to retrofit hardware and machines for autonomy while keeping the resulting intelligence layer under its own control.

Vantora was previously associated with venture firm Up.Partners, although the companies were never financially linked. Kuolt said Vantora remains a separate entity.