A&K Robotics has raised C$8 million in Series A financing to expand production and research capacity for its autonomous passenger mobility systems for airports. The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company develops Cruz, a self-driving mobility robot designed to carry passengers through indoor environments such as airport terminals. Riders select a destination, and the vehicle uses onboard sensors and artificial intelligence to navigate around pedestrians and reach the selected location.
The financing was led by BDC’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund and Vantage Futures, the corporate venture arm of Vantage Group. Other investors included RiSC Capital, Grep VC, Nimbus Synergies and Dan Gelbart, co-founder of Creo and Kardium. A&K Robotics said the funding will support its move from pilot programs to permanent deployments, as well as increased production capacity and broader adoption across airport networks. The company said Cruz is already deployed with airport operators in North America and Europe, including Vancouver International Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport.
The company has also expanded its research and development operations with a rapid prototyping facility and is establishing a third facility in Surrey, British Columbia, at Manterra Technologies’ 55,000-square-foot site. A&K said the Surrey expansion is intended to increase manufacturing capacity from dozens to hundreds of autonomous vehicles per year.
“We’re bringing autonomy indoors,” said Jessica Yip, COO of A&K Robotics. “While others focus on roads, we’re tackling the harder problem — navigating dense, unpredictable airport crowds. Autonomous mobility is already standard in warehouses. We are bringing it into the most complex indoor environments: airports.”
