robot alliance
Houston robotics company partners with Marathon Petroleum to scale fleet
Houston- and Boston-based Square Robot Inc. has announced a partnership with downstream and midstream energy giant Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC).
The partnership comes with an undisclosed amount of funding from Marathon, which Square Robot says will help "shape the design and development" of its submersible robotics platform and scale its fleet for nationwide tank inspections.
“Marathon’s partnership marks a major milestone in our mission to transform industrial tank inspection,” David Lamont, CEO of Square Robot, said in a news release. “They recognize the proven value of our robotic inspections—eliminating confined space entry, reducing the environmental impact, and delivering major cost efficiencies all while keeping tanks on-line and working. We’re excited to work together with such a great company to expand inspection capabilities and accelerate innovation across the industry.”
The company closed a $13 million series B last year. At the time of closing, Square Robot said it would put the funding toward international expansion in Europe and the Middle East.
Square Robot develops autonomous, submersible robots that are used for storage tank inspections and eliminate the need for humans to enter dangerous and toxic environments. Its newest tank inspection robot, known as the SR-3HT, became commercially available and certified to operate at a broader temperature range than previous models in the company's portfolio this fall.
The company was first founded in the Boston area in 2016 and launched its Houston office in 2019.