A self-driving truck startup called Ike has announced that it has raised $52 million in Series A financing. Ike notes that a number of factors such as a shortage of drivers, new regulations, growing accident rates, and the rise of ecommerce are having a major impact on the trucking industry, but the company believes that self-driving trucks can help solve these challenges. “We came together over a passion for trucking, and created Ike with a mission to make trucks safer, truckers more valuable, and trucking more efficient,” Ike says in a company blog post.

Known for developing Spectrum-Scan LiDAR for autonomous vehicles, a company called Baraja has announced a Series A investment of $32 million that it will use to scale production, hire talent and continue its mission to enable safer autonomous driving. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and with plans to grow its offices in San Francisco and Shanghai, Baraja recently launched a novel LiDAR system that creates powerful eyes for self-driving vehicles using prism-like optics and shifting wavelengths of light. Baraja says that since bringing its Spectrum-Scan LiDAR to market, it has worked with the world’s top autonomous technology companies.

Robotiq, which provides tools and software for the collaborative-robotics market, has announced that it raised $31 million in funding during its first round of institutional financing. The funding will be used to develop products, expand internationally, and enhance support of the company’s partner ecosystem. Robotiq develops equipment such as specially designed, plug-and-play “grippers” that can handle manufacturing tasks previously done by human hands. The company also develops force sensors, camera technology and related software, which can be used to help with a variety of manufacturing tasks such as picking up and placing certain components or products, light assembly, finishing, and quality testing.

​Automated drone startup Airobotics has announced a $30 million Series D round of funding, which brings its total capital raised to $101 million. Based in Israel, Airobotics says that it will use this round of funding to further scale its operations in the U.S. and Australia. Recently, Airobotics launched its North American headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona. From this location, Airobotics will run all North America, South America and Central America operations. The Scottsdale office will also become the company’s global headquarters as Airobotics continues to scale.  Airobotics will also use this latest round of funding to continue servicing the mining industry and other industrial facilities across the world.