One of Bossa Nova's robots working in a Walmart. Robotics startup Bossa Nova, which is a spinoff of Carnegie Mellon University, announced Tuesday that's its closed a $17.5 million Series B round, bringing its total funding to date to $41.7 million. The round was led by Paxion. Other investors include Intel Capital, WRV Capital and others. Bossa Nova's focus is on creating robots that can handle one of the most mundane and exasperating tasks in retail - making sure the shelves are fully stocked. "When you carry hundreds or thousands of SKUs in a store, it's hard to keep up," said Bossa Nova's Chief Business Officer Martin Hitch. "The process is all manual, which means constant interruptions." The company's robots are fitted with cameras and other sensors that simply collect data in the store - looking to ensure shelves are stocked, as well as ensuring the prices are correctly marked and that the shelves are properly labeled. The data the robot collects is sent to store management, who can then dispatch people as needed to take care of reshelving, relabeling, etc. The company has had its robots out in the field learning the ropes of the retail business since 2013. Its most prominent customer is currently Walmart, which announced earlier this month that it's expanded its use of Bossa Nova's robots to 50 stores. "We have worked closely with Bossa Nova to help ensure this technology, which is designed to capture and share in-store data with our associates in near real time, works in our unique store environment," John Crecelius, a VP at Walmart, said in a statement. "This is meant to be a tool that helps our associates quickly identify where they can make the biggest difference for our customers." The primary goal of Bossa Nova's current round of financing is simply talent acquisition, Hitch told me. The company currently has 80 employees and it wants to expand that by at least 50%, which isn't easy in a job market that's become increasingly competitive. Another portion of the funding will go to things like deployment and infrastructure. "Artificial intelligence is the most competitive skillset in Silicon Valley," said Hitch. And though the company has offices in both San Francisco and Pittsburgh, Hitch says that both locations are currently on the hunt for the right talent. "Pittsburgh has gotten competitive. Apple has an office there, Google has an office there, Uber has an office there," Hitch continued. "Silicon Valley has arrived and they're hiring at Silicon Valley compensation. It's an incredible challenge." Still, the company is confident that the work it's done so far will allow it to scale up production and make further inroads into brick-and-mortar retail, in part because its robots allow customers to begin getting the same kind of data that retailers can get from online shoppers. "We're giving retailers the tools to build a seamless, omnichannel experience," says Hitch.
Robotics startup Bossa Nova has seen its initial to - date funding raised climb to $ 41.7 million after a series funding round led by Paxion closed off at $ 17.5 million . Bossa Nova 's robotic products are deployed in retail stores such as Walmart , which recently announced that it 's expanding its use of Bossa Nova 's robots to 50 stores , to check that shelves are fully stocked and prices are accurate . Commenting on the round , Bossa Nova 's Chief Business Officer Martin Hitch said that the goal behind the round was talent acquisition , as Bossa Nova hopes to expand its 80-strong workforce by 50 % .