Co-founders of Inbolt. From left: Rudy Cohen, Louis Dumas, Albane Dersy. Photo credit: Inbolt
French startup Inbolt is giving robots "eyes and a brain" through cutting-edge 3D vision and AI technology. Their innovation is designed to automate complex tasks across industries like automotive and aerospace, allowing robots to adapt to environments originally designed for humans. This game-changing technology has not only attracted major clients like Stellantis, Ford, and Beko but also helped Inbolt secure €15 million in Series A funding in September.
Earlier this year, Albane Dersy, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of the startup won the 2024 VivaTech Female Founder Challenge, a milestone that boosted the company’s visibility with investors and showcased Inbolt’s leadership in robotics.
Between meetings in Italy, London, and Detroit, we caught up with Albane to hear more about their solution and what’s been going on with the startup since May.
The Beginnings of Inbolt
Inbolt’s journey began when Albane Dersy and her co-founders Rudy Cohen and Louis Dumas met during their final year of a double degree program at Berkeley. It was a hands-on experience in a bus maintenance shop that sparked the idea behind Inbolt. "We were sent to see how things were done and identify a problem," Albane shared. "One of the things we saw was how hard it was for the manufacturing industry to hire, and their solution was often using robots."
However, robots come with limitations. "Robots are just blind machines," she explained. "You have to constrain the environment around them, but we wanted to add flexibility, so robots could work in environments designed for humans." This vision became the foundation for Inbolt’s 3D vision and AI-powered technology, making automation more accessible and adaptable for industries.
Inbolt’s 3D vision and AI for robot guidance. Photo credit: Inbolt
Five Years of Growth
In the first few months of running the Inbolt, Albane and her co-founders attended every event and startup competition they could find. In their first year, they exhibited with Thales at VivaTech 2019. “We wanted to gain more visibility and meet as many people as we could,” Albane explained. For a newly founded startup, understanding the market and identifying potential customers was critical.
Fast forward five years, and Inbolt has grown significantly. The French startup has adapted its technology to fit market needs and secured contracts with major players in the automotive industry. With their success building momentum, Albane applied for the Female Founder Challenge at VivaTech 2024, an initiative designed to spotlight women-led startups and provide networking opportunities with venture capitalists.
“I think the Female Founder Challenge is one of the best platforms we have in France in terms of marketing, communication, and visibility for female founders,” Albane shared. “The exposure before, during, and after is just so intense and there are so many things that you get out of the experience.”
On stage at VivaTech, Albane had the opportunity to share Inbolt’s vision with the crowd. “It was my time to give my biggest and grandest speech,” she recalled. Thinking back on their journey from exhibiting as a new startup in 2019 to standing on the main stage in 2024, Albane emphasized how far they had come. “We’ve grown so much in the past five years. We have customer traction and we know our market really well, and our target was the investors in the crowd. We made sure to take full advantage of that moment!”
Albane Dersy pitching onstage at VivaTech 2024. Photo credit: VivaTech 2024
Journey to Series A Success
And the investors in the crowd were listening. Albane reflected on their progress since May, saying, “I remember the end of my pitch at VivaTech—‘we’re currently raising a Series A,’ which at the time was 11 or 12 million. In the end, it’s more, so we’re really happy!” Securing €15 million in Series A funding was the result of months of dedicated effort.
This funding marks a major milestone for Inbolt, enabling them to meet the skyrocketing demand from clients in the automotive industry, including giants like Tesla, Volvo, and Beko. “We’re rolling out our solution in 20 factories across Europe, the U.S., and Japan,” Albane shared. “We’re opening an office in Detroit, Michigan this year, and in 2025, we’ll launch one in Tokyo, Japan. We have big customer requests, and we need to be there for them.”
While these new offices will help Inbolt stay connected with clients, they also bring challenges. “For us, it's really important to have local points of contact, which means hiring local teams. So it's a lot of remote hiring at the moment, but I'm moving out to the US to manage the American office,” she explained.
She also noted that R&D remains a key focus. “Our product is great, but it can’t do everything we envision on the factory floor yet. We’re constantly working on R&D and adding new capabilities to our AI to solve more automation challenges.”
Looking Ahead: A Path to Global Impact
Inbolt’s journey from a university project to securing €15 million in Series A funding is a testament to their innovation and resilience. With rapid expansion plans and a commitment to advancing its AI-driven robot guidance technology, the startup is poised to revolutionize industries on a global scale.
Albane Dersy’s leadership has been instrumental in driving Inbolt’s success and positioning the startup for continued growth and impact. We wish this Female Founder Challenge winner all the best in the years ahead and look forward to witnessing Inbolt’s next milestones.