Travis Kalanick's Atoms Raises $170 Million, Andreessen Horowitz Leads Round

Atoms, the robotics company founded by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, has completed a $170 million financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Ben Horowitz will join the company's board. According to PANews, the equity investors in the round also included Bain Capital, Fifth Wall, Chemistry, A*, K5 Global, Abstract, SV Angel, Alpha Square Group, and Uber. Horowitz said the investment thesis focuses on specialized robots rather than humanoid robots, and said specialized robots are better suited to most tasks in heavy industry.