Destro AI, a Brooklyn startup, has raised an $8 million seed round co-led by Base10 Partners and Bonfire Ventures, with CoFound Partners joining. The company sells software that coordinates warehouse work across robots from different makers and the people working beside them. Destro will use the funding to expand enterprise deployments, build out its two software products and hire engineers.
“Everyone is building capable robots. We believe the next breakthrough won’t come from another robot. It will come from the intelligence layer that enables any robot to work together,” said CEO Manthan Pawar, who founded the company less than a year ago.
A warehouse operator adding robots now chooses between one vendor's fleet software and a separate layer that dispatches work across several brands.
Destro's MothershipOS runs in the cloud and decides which robot or person does which task, where and when, across a workflow. Destro says it works regardless of robot hardware. VisionOS runs on the robot itself, using AI models trained from human demonstrations to help robots see and grasp objects.
Yusen Logistics Americas uses Destro's software to coordinate cart moves in transload operations. Pallet moves and AI checks of workflow steps come next. The deployment uses autonomous mobile robots and mobile manipulators.
DHL Supply Chain runs a similar layer from SVT Robotics. Its SOFTBOT platform connects robots from different vendors to DHL's warehouse management system at 30 sites, with more than 100 planned within three years. Symbotic bought UK software maker ARMS Innovations this summer to offer a similar layer that coordinates people, robots and workflows above a warehouse management system.
