San Diego Startup Week 2018

San Diego is full of exciting, life changing ideas. But taking an idea, turning it into reality and scaling it into a global business is no easy task. Brain Corporation, a San Diego-based AI company specializing in the development of autonomous navigation technology for commercial applications, knows first-hand what goes into successfully scaling a startup in SD.

Launched in 2009, Brain Corp had a clear vision of the potential for robots to work with and care for people. The company began building robots, but soon realized the true market need wasn’t for the physical robot, but rather for its “brain.” The resulting innovation was a software operating system that brings manual objects to life.

The initial use for Brain’s AI platform has been to empower OEMs (industrial floor-scrubber manufacturers) who provide commercial floor care machines to airports, malls, warehouses and big-box retailers. The BrainOS AI platform has become a cost-effective way to transform manual floor cleaners into autonomous robots, equipping them with seeing, thinking and self-driving capabilities.
After years perfecting its technology stack, Brain needed a capital partner to expand its capabilities and effectively commercialize its product offerings. The company pursued funding from one of the world’s largest tech investors, Softbank. In June 2017, it secured $114 million in Series C funding, allowing the company to expand its R&D efforts to develop multiple types of robots for various industries. Brain Corp envisions its model of autonomy-as-a-service to be the way of the future, eventually decreasing the cost of robots and helping expand them into every industry.