The people
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Working at Kindred AI
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On the TechVancouver stage
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About
Kindred Systems set out to build machines that could learn to handle the messy variety of real warehouse inventory rather than a fixed set of parts. Suzanne Gildert started it in 2014 after leaving D-Wave and invited Geordie Rose, then D-Wave's CTO, to join as CEO — a sequence Rose confirmed on the TechVancouver stage in 2017, where he credited Gildert with founding the company. The team was spread across Vancouver, Toronto and San Francisco. In 2018 Kindred spun out its artificial general intelligence research division, and Rose and Gildert left to co-found Sanctuary AI. Kindred kept commercializing SORT, its piece-picking robot, and Ocado announced its acquisition on 2 November 2020 for approximately US$262M. Kindred no longer operates as an independent brand — kindred.ai no longer resolves and the technology sits inside Ocado's automation business.
Backers
Data Collective and Eleven Two Capital, with well over US$10M raised as of September 2016 — investor names and that figure are from IEEE Spectrum's reporting. Later rounds and total raised before the Ocado acquisition are not confirmed.
Quick answers
What did Kindred do?
It built SORT, a piece-picking robot system that used deep reinforcement learning and computer vision to grab individual items out of mixed bins in warehouses — work that is much harder for robots than handling identical parts. Retail customers included Gap and American Eagle.
Who founded Kindred?
Suzanne Gildert founded it in 2014 after leaving D-Wave, alongside James Bergstra and George Babu, and invited Geordie Rose — her former boss and D-Wave's CTO — to join as CEO. Rose credited Gildert with founding the company from the TechVancouver stage in 2017.
What happened to Kindred?
Ocado acquired it for approximately US$262M in a deal announced on 2 November 2020. Kindred no longer operates as an independent brand. Earlier, in 2018, its AGI research division was spun out and became Sanctuary AI, co-founded by Rose and Gildert.