Sheffield robotics business BOW seals £4m seed investment through Northern Gritstone

Yorkshire robotics business BOW is set for growth after sealing a £4m investment.

Sheffield University spin-out BOW (Bettering our Worlds) has developed a software platform which handles the technical complexities of robotics, freeing up developers to focus on innovation and creativity.

The firm has secured seed round investment from Northern Gritstone, the investment business focused on science and technology businesses in the North of England, and co-investors Finance Yorkshire, and NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance, which is managed by Praetura as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.

BOW says that its software development kit (SDK) bridges the gap between diverse robotic systems, enabling its use across multiple platforms, regardless of operating system or manufacturer. The investment comes as the robotics market is predicted to reach $260bn by 2030, yet some areas are hampered by the complexity and cost of programming robots.

Last month, the company announced that Raspberry-Pi co-founder Liz Upton had joined the company as chair and it is currently working with OEMs, software development houses and research and development teams to address the core issues of portability between different makes and classes of robots. It said the seed investmen