Sonair is an award-winning deep tech startup building a breakthrough, patented 3D ultrasonic sensor that enables true machine autonomy by making robots safe, affordable, and efficient. Sonair was spun out from a leading European independent research organization, SINTEF, to exploit deep science-to-tech advancements in ultrasonics and Micro-ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS).
Using this technology, the company is delivering a sensor that will transform a robot’s vision from 2D to 3D, offering a significantly improved safety performance over traditional vision systems while cutting costs by 50-80%. The company, based in Oslo, Norway, was founded in 2022 by an experienced team of serial entrepreneurs led by Knut Sandven, former CEO of GasSecure.
Making robots safe
The autonomous mobile robot (AMR) industry is growing at a 27% year-over-year rate. Sonair is making sure that these robots can safely navigate around people and obstacles by launching a groundbreaking sensor that -for the first time - uses ultrasound in the air to give robots safe spatial awareness in 3D.
In 2024 alone, up to 200,000 AMRs will be produced, it’s a $1.4B market. Industrial automation and autonomy will be key drivers of this growth, but the cost of sensors remains a friction point. Sonair’s innovations aim to resolve this challenge, unlocking even greater potential for the AMR industry.
Investment round
Sonair has raised a total of $6.8M, recently adding two leading venture capital investors in a $1.6M round: Skyfall Ventures and RunwayFBU. Read full article featured on TechCrunch here.
