The following is an excerpt from an article published in the Toronto Star written by Sarah Liss
Vancouver’s Novarc Technologies owes its existence to creative problem solving.
In 2013, Reza Abdollahi, an engineer with three decades of robotics experience, had a client working in heavy industry who was searching for a safer way to tackle a tricky element of a pipe-welding project.
Abdollahi connected with Soroush Karimzadeh, an expert in industrial automation, and the two devised what became Novarc’s first collaborative robot, or co-bot.
Although industrial robots have been used in welding since the 1960s, Karimzadeh notes, there had been few novel iterations, and they decided to found the company.
Over the past 12 years, he and his colleagues have continued to develop new applications for their tech, most recently incorporating computer vision to create an AI-enhanced system that expands the autonomous capabilities of a range of robots.
That combo of collaboration, responsive agility and shrewd market foresight is key to the venture’s growth.
Novarc recently announced two major milestones: the successful closing of a $71.6 million Series B funding round led by Export Development Canada, which will help accelerate the commercialization of its tech, and a strategic partnership with Miller Electric, an American manufacturer of arc welding equipment, through which the two companies will combine their tech for more advanced autonomous welding products.
This move seems especially savvy in the current economic climate, as it will allow Novarc to access U.S. market opportunities that might otherwise have been out of reach.
As Karimzadeh explains, Novarc “always likes to take a very practical approach.”
Here, he shares more insights about how the company is maintaining a steady course through turbulent times:
How can Novarc’s tech help welders out in the field?
First off, there’s a big shortage of human welders — you’ll see a version of this happening in every market.
It’s not because we haven’t spent enough time recruiting or training new welders. Demand for welding is outstripping the supply, and the new generations are not necessarily interested in starting careers in welding.
So, with our NovEye tech, instead of holding a torch by hand and relying on their own brain and reactions, a human welder could direct the AI-enabled cobots to start the weld and after that, if there are variations in the process, the system can use its perception and react in real time.
This addresses the shortage issue by increasing the productivity of human welders — the process will not be as taxing, and in some cases, the tech helps automate industrial robots that could not address an application before.
I’d imagine the tariffs on steel and aluminum have ramifications for your customer base — and perhaps for Novarc, too. Have you observed any dramatic shifts so far?
We haven’t seen it yet. I think the price correction hasn’t quite been reflected in the market, given that a lot of customers have some inventory.
But we expect a general increase in prices, whether it’s going to be from the U.S. or from global inflation or local inflation — it has yet to be determined. We’re closely monitoring the situation for sure.
Does your partnership with Miller Electric provide you with a solid American base to work from as you try to navigate this uncertain trade landscape?
Absolutely. The distinction would be between our historical business unit, which is our full-solution robots, and the new one, which is NovAI. With the full-solution robots, we do have a strong presence in the U.S. market, with our own direct sales and marketing force.
With NovAI, it’s targeted at a much bigger total addressable market, with a lot of new segments we’re not currently in.
We’re taking an indirect approach with NovAI on cobots, where we can leverage Miller Electric’s market presence and their channels to reach customers.
It’s the same geography, but a different go-to-market strategy for the two different product lines.