Hybrid Robots Take Flight and Roll: Revolute Robotics Raises $1.9M to Deploy Next-Gen Inspection Drones
Funding Boost for Ground-and-Aerial Inspection Bots
On 10 October 2025, Revolute Robotics announced it had secured US 1.9 million in new funding (often rounded to $2 million) to fast-track deployment of its hybrid driving-flying robot systems. The round was led by ANIMO Ventures and Ascend, with contributions from angel investors. The startup also received US $100,000 in non-dilutive support from the Mass-Robotics Accelerator, along with mentorship and network access.
With this capital injection, Revolute is preparing pilot deployments with major industrial clients—particularly in oil & gas and critical infrastructure sectors—and scaling its small team (currently five employees, planning to grow to eight).
What Makes These Robots “Hybrid”?
The novelty lies in their dual-mode capabilities: they can drive on the ground for efficient traversal and switch to flight mode when obstacles or terrain demand aerial movement. This hybrid design dramatically extends mission endurance (ground mode uses far less energy than constant flight), while enabling operation in confined, complex, GPS-denied, or obstructed environments.
Equipped sensors include visual cameras, thermal imagers, gas and radiation detectors, LiDAR mapping, and ultrasonic testing modules. Use cases span industrial inspection (oil & gas, power plants), security perimeter monitoring, defense tasks (patrol, ISR, vehicle inspection), and emergency scenarios like search and rescue. The platform supports swarm coordination and customized payloads to suit diverse missions.
Why This Advancement Matters
- Consolidation of “robots as a swiss army tool”: Instead of deploying separate drones, rovers, and crawlers, clients could rely on one flexible “non-human worker” adapting modes mid-mission.
- Risk reduction & cost savings: Hybrid robots reduce the need to send humans into dangerous environments, and lower complexity of operations by reducing the number of systems to manage.
- Expanded reach: In many sites today, conventional drones or ground vehicles cannot reach every nook or cranny—these AI Employees can bridge that gap, especially in tight, blocked, or subterranean spaces.
- Scalability and growth potential: Backed by funding and accelerator support, Revolute is positioning its machines toward broad enterprise adoption.
Next Steps & Outlook
Revolute plans to shift resources toward product development, securing early revenue, and scaling operations. Pilot deployments with large industrial clients are imminent, and interest from inspection service providers has already produced a waitlist.
If successful, this move could signal a broader shift in how industries deploy voice AI agents, non-human workers, and robotic inspection systems—integrating autonomy, mobility, and multi-sensor capability in a single platform.
Key Highlights:
- Revolute Robotics raised US 1.9 million on 10 October 2025 to back hybrid ground-and-air robots
- Their robots can drive when possible (to save energy) and fly when needed (to bypass obstacles)
- Equipped with vision, thermal, gas/radiation sensors, LiDAR, ultrasonic modules
- Use cases include industrial inspection, security, defense, search & rescue
- Funding also includes $100,000 non-dilutive support + accelerator access
- Pilot deployments with large enterprise customers underway; service providers already on waitlist.
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