A startup that builds other startups raised $100M, and is all-in on physical AI | TechCrunch

Vantora, formerly UP.Labs, raised $100 million from Silversmith Capital Partners and is refocusing on building startups exclusively for its corporate clients, with a lean toward physical AI and a proprietary M&A pipeline that allows partners to fold the ventures into their own businesses. Since launching in 2022 with Porsche, Vantora has expanded to work with Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash, and TDG, shifting toward creating autonomous, sovereign AI solutions for large industrial customers.

A startup that builds other startups raised $100M, and is all-in on physical AI | TechCrunch Image Credits: Piper Ferguson # A startup that builds other startups raised $100M, and is all-in on physical AI Kirsten Korosec 4:25 PM PDT · September 18, 2026 Four years ago, a startup lab launched that wasn’t quite an incubator, accelerator program, or venture firm. UP.Labs, as it was called then, built startups designed to solve problems for corporate customers such as Alaska Airlines and Porsche, as well as for the outside world. The firm still has the same mission — albeit with a critical addition to its approach, a new name, and a $100 million investment from Silversmith Capital Partners. Vantora, as the firm is now called, continues to work with its corporate customers, including some new ones in industrial manufacturing that it declined to name, and in the oil and gas sector. But now, it’s more focused on building startups solely for its corporate customers, and not for the broader market. Founder and CEO John Kuolt told TechCrunch that Vantora is moving toward a “proprietary M&A pipeline.” This means Vantora will still build startups for its corporate partners, which invest in the ventures and serve as their first customers. But those corporate partners now have the option to fold the startups into their core businesses — and essentially keep them to themselves. That shift has influenced Vantora’s increased focus on physical AI startups, according to Kuolt. In the past, Vantora would end up spiking ideas that were strategic to its corporate partners, but to…

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