Scout AI, a startup specializing in unmanned vehicle manufacturing and autonomy software, has successfully raised $15 million in seed capital to emerge from stealth mode. The company was launched by Colby Adcock and Collin Otis in August 2023 with the aim of integrating artificial intelligence and robotics technologies for defense missions.
In an announcement made on Wednesday, Scout AI highlighted its robust backlog of multiple contracts from the Defense Department and its flagship foundation model called Fury. This model is designed as an embodied AI system capable of perceiving the physical world, interpreting natural language, and issuing real-time motor commands to intelligent and autonomous robotic vehicles.
Colin Otis stated, “Achieving warfighter-level versatility in robotic systems requires grounding AI in physical reality.” He emphasized the importance of training their system on human-level behavior to develop an AI that mirrors the situational, physical, and adaptive intelligence of warfighters.
The seed funding round was led by Align Ventures and Booz Allen Hamilton’s venture capital arm, which focuses on investing in promising tech companies with potential applications for government use. Booz Allen Hamilton views the Fury system as instrumental not only in powering new autonomous systems but also in modernizing existing ones. Their goal is to improve the integration of advanced AI into defense robotics for a more physical form of AI.
James Gadea, a leader at Booz Allen Ventures, remarked on Scout AI’s approach, stating, “Leveraging vision-language-action (VLA) models, Scout AI’s approach to autonomy enables versatile robotic systems that better handle the long tail of edge cases present on the battlefield while also offering a more human-centric user experience for robotic control.” The investment was motivated by the belief that physical AI could significantly enhance capabilities for the Department of Defense and advance human-machine collaboration.
In addition to the lead investors, other participants in the seed round included Draper Associates, Decisive Point Ventures, Perot Jain, Sigmas Group, Evolution VC, BVVC, Habitat Partners, Piedmont Capital Investments, FJ Labs, Revelry Venture Partners, Monte Carlo Capital, Expansion VC, and Gaingels.
Scout AI’s prototypes, the G01 unmanned ground vehicle and the A01 unmanned aerial vehicle, are currently operating autonomously at the company’s proving grounds located in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, both powered by the Fury system.
Colby Adcock stated, “Physical AI is the most decisive military advantage of the century. Our vision is one warfighter commanding many robots — seamlessly integrated into a unified team.” He emphasized that to achieve true force multiplication, it is essential to have an AI brain like Fury that comprehends a commander’s intent and can think, move, and collaborate like experienced operators.
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Scout AI plans to utilize the new investment to further develop the Fury system and its vehicles, as well as to expand its manufacturing capacity and workforce.
