What Clobotics does

Clobotics is a private computer vision technology company founded in November 2016 by four ex-Microsoft executives (George Yan, Claire Chen, Yan Ke, and Zhao Li) and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington with engineering offices in Shanghai and Esbjerg, Denmark. The company operates two distinct verticals on a shared AI/ML and cloud-analytics platform. In wind energy, Clobotics Wind Services provides autonomous drone-based blade inspections using the proprietary IBIS system (built on a customized DJI Matrice platform with Sony ILX-LR1 cameras), the Crawler internal blade robot, the Sparrow robotic leading-edge repair system deployed by heavy-lift drone, and the IRIS cloud portal built on Microsoft Azure for defect annotation, leading-edge erosion analysis, and AEP loss estimation. In retail, Clobotics Retail Services sells SmartView Cooler, Freezer, and Shelf IoT cameras and a Retail Insights as a Service (RIaaS) subscription that delivers SKU-level availability, price compliance, planogram adherence, and promotional execution data to CPG and retailer customers via the Retail Execution Assistant smartphone app.

The company monetizes wind services through quote-based multi-year enterprise inspection contracts, project-based blade repair engagements, and usage-based Drone as a Service (DaaS) fees paid by trained partners such as ArthWind (Brazil), Susol (Turkey), and Zupson Service (Romania). Retail revenue is generated through subscription and usage-based pricing for SmartView hardware-plus-software deployments, with anchor customers including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Walmart, and Wushang, and over 1.5 billion on-shelf SKUs tracked. Clobotics has raised more than $53 million in disclosed funding across rounds in 2017, 2019, and 2021, with institutional backers including Tiger Management Fund, GGV Capital, KTB Network, Sanxia Xintai, and CDIB Capital. Between April 2020 and October 2021, the company executed three European acquisitions, AtSite, Finetune ApS, and Danish Blade Service ApS, vertically integrating into wind O&M repair services and adding principal engineering talent from Vestas, MHI Vestas Offshore, Suzlon, Envision, and Nordex. The platform serves enterprise customers across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, with regional sales teams, ISO-9001 certified blade repair operations, and an Achilles Certificate covering safety, health, environmental, and quality practices.

Name

Clobotics

Legal name

Clobotics Corporation

Website

https://clobotics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Clobotics provides computer vision and AI-powered solutions for two verticals: wind turbine blade inspection, repair, and maintenance services, and retail in-store execution analytics for CPG companies and retailers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Computer Vision Inspection Technology

NAICS

Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing (334511), Security Systems Services (56162), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Search, Detection, Navagation, Guidance, Aeronautical Sys (3812)

akta.pro primary industry

Autonomy Software, AI & Mission Management (UAS/UXV) (IMABAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) & Multirotor Drones (IMABAIAA), Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK), AI/Analytics Video Surveillance (Detection, LPR, People Counting) (HSAHACAF)

Keywords

• Wind turbine inspection
• Computer vision services
• Drone inspection systems
• Retail shelf analytics
• Blade repair services

Headquarters

HQ city

Bellevue

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Wind Turbine Inspection Services: Drone-based autonomous blade and tower inspections for wind turbine operators and manufacturers. Services include IBIS drone inspections, structural inspections, and advanced blade inspections. Revenue generated through per-inspection fees or annual service contracts.
2. Blade Repair and Maintenance: Full-scope blade repair services including structural repairs, material technology (UV curing, LEP materials), vortex generators, and spare parts. ISO-9001 certified. Revenue through project-based repair contracts.
3. Drone as a Service (DaaS): Training customers and partners to use Clobotics IBIS technology for autonomous inspections. 2-day training program. Partners conduct inspections and upload data; Clobotics processes data and returns results via IRIS portal within 3-5 days. Revenue from training fees and per-use processing fees.
4. Retail Insights as a Service (RIaaS): Hardware-software solutions for retail execution including availability monitoring, shelf analytics, price compliance, branded asset tracking, promotion execution, and new product detection. Revenue through subscription or usage-based pricing for CPG companies and retailers.
5. SmartView IoT Devices: Sale and deployment of SmartView cameras (Cooler, Freezer, Shelf) for in-store monitoring. Devices capture images uploaded to IRIS platform for analysis. Revenue from device sales and ongoing service fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Clobotics provides computer vision solutions combining AI/machine learning with proprietary hardware (autonomous drones, inspection robots, IoT devices) for two distinct verticals: wind turbine inspection, repair, and maintenance services, and retail in-store analytics for CPG companies and retailers. Their offerings include the IBIS autonomous blade inspection drone, IRIS cloud-based data portal, Sparrow and Crawler inspection/repair robots, and SmartView IoT devices for retail shelf monitoring.

Product overview

Clobotics is a computer vision technology company offering two distinct service platforms: Wind Services and Retail Services. The Wind Services platform centers on the Clobotics IBIS™ autonomous drone inspection system and Clobotics IRIS™ cloud-based data management portal, complemented by repair robots (Sparrow, Crawler™), Raven documentation technologies, and comprehensive blade maintenance services (inspections, repairs, optimization). The Retail Services platform provides Retail Insights as a Service (RIaaS) utilizing SmartView™ IoT devices (Cooler, Freezer, Shelf cameras) and the Retail Execution Assistant app, enabling CPG companies and retailers to monitor shelf availability, pricing, promotions, and asset conditions. Both platforms leverage computer vision, AI/machine learning, and cloud analytics to deliver data-driven insights.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Clobotics IBIS: Autonomous drone-based inspection system for wind turbine blades
• Clobotics IRIS
• Clobotics Raven
• Clobotics Crawler
• Sparrow
• SmartView Cooler
• SmartView Freezer
• SmartView Shelf
• Retail Execution Assistant (REA)
• RIaaS (Retail Insights as a Service)
• Drone as a Service (DaaS)

Products and services

• Clobotics IBIS™ Autonomous drone-based inspection system for wind turbine blade visual inspections. Performs detailed inspection of all 4 sides of all 3 blades in 18-25 minutes. Delivers results within 3-5 working days with defects labelled and categorized.
• Clobotics IRIS™ Cloud-based online portal for managing, viewing, annotating, and collaborating around wind turbine inspection results. Built on Microsoft Azure, hosts visual blade inspection data, enables defect labeling, generates reports, and provides repair planning functionality.
• Clobotics Raven Hardware and software package for collecting repair and inspection documentation data. Enables field technicians to capture and submit data to online portal for quality oversight and client access to repair progress tracking with full traceability.
• Clobotics Crawler™ (KIWI) Purpose-built robot for visually inspecting the inside of wind turbine blades. Features two high-resolution HDR cameras, LED lighting, and tethered retrieval. Delivers 26 megapixels resolution with 100% image coverage of up to 2/3 of blade length.
• Sparrow Remotely operated robotic repair system for leading-edge blade repairs. Delivered to the blade by heavy-lift drone. Performs surface preparation and leading-edge protection application without technicians working at height.
• Blade Repair Service Full-scope blade repair services including structural repairs, material technology (UV curing, LEP materials), and spare parts. ISO-9001 certified. Led by in-house blade experts for wind farm operators.
• Blade Optimization Service Services for maintaining and optimizing turbine blade performance including vortex generator application, pitch and yaw adjustment, and aerodynamic enhancements. Maximizes energy yield through aerodynamic optimization.
• Structural Inspections Inspection services for wind turbine towers, nacelles, foundations, and transition pieces. Uses IBIS drone in Americas and EMEA or trained rope access technicians. 10-year track record in offshore substructure inspections.
• Advanced Blade Inspections Comprehensive inspection services including internal blade inspections using ROV, LPS testing, uptower inspections, and specialist-led close-up assessments. Combines drone overview with hands-on specialist inspection.
• Drone as a Service (DaaS) Training program enabling customers and partners to perform autonomous blade inspections using Clobotics IBIS technology. Two-day training covers operation, maintenance, and data delivery. Partners conduct inspections and upload data; Clobotics processes and returns results via IRIS portal.
• Retail Insights as a Service (RIaaS) Comprehensive retail intelligence platform using computer vision and IoT devices to transform physical retail data into actionable insights for CPG companies and retailers. Enables near real-time visibility into store conditions.
• Retail Execution Assistant (REA) Smartphone application supporting smart devices for collecting in-store scenes including main shelf, special displays, cold vault, and point of sale materials. Processes data and returns results in as fast as 10 seconds.
• SmartView™ Cooler Door-mounted internet-connected camera for cooler doors. Tracks cooler location, temperature, door activity, purity, stock level, and offtake. Links execution and results to improve sales per door open.
• SmartView™ Freezer Camera solution for freezer monitoring that tracks stock level and purity. Uses computer vision to generate stock level reports and replenishment suggestions based on real-time monitoring.
• SmartView™ Shelf Shelf monitoring solution using camera images at designated intervals to detect out-of-stock items, misplaced SKUs, and missing price tags in real time. Supports plan-o-gram compliance.

Quantifiable outcome

• Blade inspections completed in 17-25 minutes per turbine (down from hours for manual rope access)
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and strategic.

• Enterprise SingaporeminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025CEO Kim Lorentzen participated in industry panel hosted by Enterprise Singapore discussing robotics and digital technologies in wind turbine operations and maintenance.
• SonycoreTechnology or Integration · 11 April 2024IBIS 4.8 leverages Sony ILX-LR1 commercial camera featuring full frame sensor, 61 megapixels resolution, faster shooting interval and focus adjust speed. Sony SDK allows Clobotics complete control over camera capabilities.
• ArthWind TechnologiesstrategicChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 11 April 2024Deployed Clobotics IBIS drone hardware in inspecting more than 10,000 wind turbines in 2-3 years. Excited by innovation and performance enhancement of IBIS 4.8 release.
• ArthWindstrategicChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 12 May 2022Strategic DaaS partnership for Brazilian blade inspection market. ArthWind is the market leader in blade inspection and consulting services in Brazil, having inspected over 27,000 wind turbine blades. Clobotics trained ArthWind technicians to use IBIS drone technology.
• MicrosoftcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017IRIS platform is based on and delivered via Microsoft Azure cloud computing and storage. Ensures safe data handling, fast response time, and energy efficient solution. Featured in Microsoft news case study about digitalizing the physical world.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Aerones: Aerones offers robotic wind turbine blade maintenance, including cleaning, de-icing, and leading-edge repair using heavy-lift drones and ground-based robots, directly competing with Clobotics' Sparrow repair system and blade repair services in EMEA and the Americas.
• Trax: Trax is a leading retail computer vision company providing in-store shelf monitoring and execution analytics to CPG companies and retailers, competing directly with Clobotics' SmartView and RIaaS platform. They share the same tier-1 CPG customer base (P&G, Coca-Cola, AB InBev).
• Pensa Systems: Pensa Systems uses computer vision and autonomous drones to provide retail shelf intelligence including out-of-stock detection and planogram compliance, directly competing with Clobotics' SmartView Shelf and Retail Execution Assistant products in the CPG/retail market.
• BladeBUG: BladeBUG builds small tethered robots that crawl inside wind turbine blades to perform internal inspections, directly competing with Clobotics' Crawler (KIWI) internal blade inspection product. Both target the same customer pain point of inspecting blade interiors without manual entry.
• Perceptual Robotics: Perceptual Robotics provides fully autonomous drone-based wind turbine blade inspections with AI-driven defect analysis, competing directly with Clobotics' IBIS offering particularly in European markets. They share a similar product positioning combining autonomous capture with machine learning defect classification.
• SkySpecs: SkySpecs provides autonomous drone-based wind turbine inspections and asset performance analytics globally, competing head-to-head with Clobotics' IBIS service across onshore and offshore markets. It is the closest U.S.-headquartered direct competitor in autonomous wind blade inspection.
• Simbe Robotics: Simbe Robotics builds Tally, an autonomous retail shelf-scanning robot, providing real-time inventory and shelf intelligence to retailers. They compete with Clobotics' SmartView IoT shelf monitoring in the retail execution space, though primarily at the retailer (rather than CPG) side of the market.
• Sulzer & Schmid: Sulzer & Schmid provides drone-based inspection services for wind turbines and other industrial assets, with proprietary data processing software for defect analysis. They are a direct competitor in the autonomous blade inspection market, especially in EMEA.

Broad incumbents

• Skydio: Skydio is a leading U.S. autonomous drone manufacturer used across industrial inspection, public safety, and defense applications. While not a wind or retail specialist, their increasingly autonomous commercial drones compete with the underlying hardware layer of Clobotics' IBIS platform and are used by some inspection service providers competing in the same end markets.

Emerging players

• Raptor Maps: Raptor Maps provides drone-based asset inspection and analytics primarily for solar farms but has expanded into wind, sharing Clobotics' drone-plus-AI inspection model. They are an adjacent competitor in computer-vision-driven renewable asset management with overlapping customer profiles.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cloboticseurope
• Xx.com/clobotics
• Facebookfacebook.com/clobotics

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clobotics