Andrew Ashur, founder and CEO of Lucid Bots, often remarks that his company represents the opposite of current robotics trends. While many firms focus on humanoid robots or flashy demonstrations of acrobatics, Lucid Bots deploys drones to tackle mundane and hazardous tasks—like window cleaning—making them safer and more efficient. “We’re not just working in labs and simulators,” Ashur notes. “We have dirt under our fingernails and are actively getting things done on job sites.”

Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Lucid Bots operates as a full-stack robotics company, selling its Sherpa drones and Lavo robots to cleaning companies for use in the field. The company designs and manufactures its robots in the United States and recently secured a $20 million Series B funding round, co-led by Cubit Capital and Idea Fund Partners. This investment brings Lucid Bots’ total funding to $34 million.

The new capital will support hiring efforts to meet growing demand, though Ashur humorously points out they’ve already run out of parking at their manufacturing facility. “We receive more demo requests than there are hours in the day, so scaling our capacity and team is essential,” Ashur explains. “As a founder, it’s a bit stressful when we can’t accommodate every demo inquiry.”

Ashur recalls that early interest from customers and investors was limited. It took five years to ship the first 100 robots, and convincing venture capitalists to back a founder with a liberal arts background and no prior robotics experience required considerable effort. The original idea for Lucid Bots came to Ashur during his junior year at Davidson College, where he studied economics and Spanish. After witnessing window washers on a windy day—their swing stage slamming dangerously against a building—he began considering how technology could improve safety. “Built infrastructure is the world’s largest asset class, but we face three compounding challenges,” Ashur observes. “Aging structures, newer infrastructure that’s larger and harder to maintain, and a shrinking workforce willing to do this work. Drones and robots are necessary to bridge that gap.”

Lucid Bots launched in 2018, initially operating as a cleaning contractor to better understand the industry. After two years—and a few cleaning chemical burns—the team had a clear vision for their drone’s requirements. Sales have accelerated recently: while reaching 100 units took five years, the company is now approaching 1,000 units sold.

Continuous product improvements help sustain sales momentum. Data gathered by the robots feeds into the company’s software, enhancing both the Sherpa and Lavo models. Lucid Bots is also developing a tool to expand into adjacent applications such as painting, waterproofing, and sealing. “We recently waterproofed a large university stadium that was showing its age, using the same core technology as the Sherpa,” Ashur says. “We moved into this area because existing customers were pulling us in, and we were receiving around 50 inbound leads per month for painting and coating—even before we started marketing that capability.”