Karl Iagnemma, an early pioneer of the autonomous vehicle industry who recently left his post as president and CEO of Hyundai-backed Motional, is back in the AV and robotics game . Vecna ​​Robotics, a Massachusetts-based startup that uses robots to handle materials in warehouses, has hired Iagnemma as CEO.

The robotics startup, which has developed autonomous pallet transporters such as forklifts as well as software to help companies manage their operations, also announced Wednesday that it had raised an additional $14.5 million from existing investors. The startup said the funds would be used to accelerate its automation technology and improve its products for the automotive, general manufacturing and high-volume warehousing sectors. Vecna ​​has raised $179 million to date.

Vecna, backed by Tiger Global Management, Proficio Capital Partners, Blackhorn Ventures and Highland Capital Partners, to name a few, raised $50 million in 2020. Two years later, the company raised $65 million in a Series C round that was extended earlier this summer with $40 million in new funding, including equity and debt.

Iagnemma, who has dedicated most of his career to self-reliance, told TechCrunch that he sees plenty of opportunities for Vecna ​​to grow commercially. He saw promise in this startup very early on; Iagnemma was an angel investor in Vecna ​​in 2020.

Iagnemma compared automated logistics to the current state of robotaxis. “There is a huge market opportunity but little market penetration,” he said. “What excites me most is the combination of Vecna ​​having the best technology in the industry and the secular tailwinds in material handling and automation, especially due to the hand supply -labor and increased labor costs.

Iagnemma surprised industry insiders in September when he left autonomous vehicle technology company Motional, which was trying to commercialize a robotaxi service. The former CEO had a long career in the AV industry, first in academia and then as a founder. Iagnemma led the Robotic Mobility Group research lab at MIT for 10 years. During this time, he would meet Daniel Theobald, an MIT alumnus and founder of Vecna ​​Robotics.

Iagnemma and Emilio Frazzoli founded the startup Nutonomy in 2013. Four years later, he was acquired by Delphi – now known as Aptiv – for $450 million. When Hyundai and Aptiv formed a $4 billion joint venture called Motional in 2019 to commercialize autonomous vehicles, Iagnemma took on the leadership role.

Motional has made progress, but was faced with an existential moment earlier this year when Aptiv – the other half of the joint venture – said it would do so. no longer allocate capital towards the effort. Hyundai stepped forward and in May agreed to invest Another $1 billion in Motional. However, a restructuring took place, which resulted in the dismissal of around 550 people, suspend business operationsand delaying plans to launch a robotaxi service with its next-generation Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis until 2026.

Iagnemma said he still believes in what Motional is working towards. “I actually think Motional is in a good position,” he said. He acknowledged that although commercialization of AV technology would still take some time, he believed Motional was poised to be part of this booming industry.

“If anyone thinks there’s only one winner in this, that’s crazy talk,” he said.