Rethink Robotics (formerly Heartland Robotics), founded by iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks to develop a new class of manufacturing robots, today announced that it had secured $30 million in Series C financing. The funding round was led by Sigma Partners, with participation from all prior investors as well as a new investor, Draper Fisher Jurvetson. The funds will be used to launch the company's new robot product, begin development of new product lines, and expand sales, marketing, and services operations.

Rethink Robotics is developing a new generation of robots to improve productivity in manufacturing environments. The robots will be intuitive to use, capable of autonomously sensing and adapting to their environment, versatile, and flexible. They'll be easy to buy, train, and deploy and will be much less expensive than traditional industrial robots.

"Rethink Robotics has made great strides toward completing their flagship product, an entirely new category of manufacturing robot," said Paul Flanagan managing director at Sigma Partners. "Their timing could not be better, as recently businesses have expressed powerful reasons that they want to re-shore their manufacturing operations."

"We are excited to join Rethink Robotics as they create robot products that implement a remarkably compelling market vision -- one that will overturn conventional wisdom about how and where manufacturing should be done," said Steve Jurvetson, managing director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

"This investment propels our first product to completion as well as gives us a head start on new products," said Rethink Robotics president and CEO Scott Eckert. "The company has the unique challenge of driving the state-of-the-art in both hardware and software technologies simultaneously. We have a strong team in place and will use this funding to recruit the best talent in embedded and application software, controls, mechanical and electrical engineering as well as a wide range of business roles."

About Rethink Robotics

Rethink Robotics, Inc. is developing a revolutionary new generation of intelligent robots to increase productivity and efficiency in manufacturing environments. Introducing robots into places that have not been automated before will make manufacturers more efficient, their workers more productive, and keep jobs from migrating to low-cost regions. Based in the Innovation District of Boston, Massachusetts, the company is funded by Charles River Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Sigma Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Bezos Expeditions, the personal investment company of Jeff Bezos. For more information about Rethink Robotics, please visit www.rethinkrobotics.com .