Startup studio Vantora raises $100M, shifts focus to physical AI

Vantora, formerly known as UP.Labs, has received a $100 million investment from Silversmith Capital Partners. The startup studio builds companies for corporate partners and said it is now focusing more heavily on physical AI, with a shift toward a “proprietary M&A pipeline” that lets corporate clients absorb the startups into their core operations.

Founder and CEO John Kuolt said the shift has helped Vantora unlock large physical AI use cases. In the past, ideas that were strategically important to corporate partners but too sensitive to take to market were often shelved. Now, Vantora can pursue those projects. He cited an example involving J.B. Hunt: the firm had an idea to use AI to advance J.B. Hunt’s business, but the partner said it could not be offered to the outside world, so the project was previously passed over.

Vantora was launched in 2022 with Porsche as its first corporate partner. It has since started several companies for Porsche and struck deals with Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash, and TDG, the parent of Ashley Furniture. It is also working with unnamed new clients in industrial manufacturing and oil and gas.

Kuolt said that large industrial companies retrofitting hardware for autonomy need to own that intelligence layer rather than rely on a third party. Vantora was once connected to VC firm Up.Partners, though not financially, and now shares office space with the California-based firm while operating as its own entity. The Silversmith investment is Vantora’s first outside funding.