Ohio Startup Raised $370M to Solve Welder Shortage with AI

A robotics company born in a university workshop is tackling one of manufacturing's toughest challenges with artificial intelligence that welds as skillfully as veteran craftspeople.

Path Robotics, co-founded by Case Western Reserve University alumni brothers Alex and Andy Lonsberry, has raised $370 million to bring autonomous robotic welding systems to factories facing a critical shortage of skilled welders. The New York Times recently featured the Cleveland-born company as a symbol of Ohio's advanced manufacturing resurgence.

The journey started in an unlikely place. Alex and Andy began tinkering with AI-powered welding robots at CWRU's think[box], a campus innovation space that gives students access to tools, software and workspace most startups can't afford in their early days.

"Think[box] gave us our own space, the tools, the software—the foundational stuff we couldn't have afforded otherwise," Alex told CWRU Magazine. "We created the first version of everything there."

The brothers spent nearly two years in the think[box] business incubator perfecting optical sensors, computer vision models and robotic controllers. Their technology teaches robots to "see" welding surfaces and adapt in real time, mimicking the expertise of human welders who are becoming increasingly hard to find.

After launching in Cleveland, Path Robotics moved to Columbus in 2019 and now operates from a 200,000-square-foot facility. The company employs 175 people today, with plans to reach 300 employees by the end of this year.

The Ripple Effect

Path Robotics' success extends beyond one company's growth. Their technology helps manufacturers keep production lines running even as skilled trades face a workforce crisis, protecting jobs in connected industries and keeping American manufacturing competitive.

The company's roots in CWRU's entrepreneurship network, especially LaunchNET, helped connect Path with early investors and business mentors. Several CWRU alumni now work at the company, and the university has expanded its support for founders through the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship and the 11000 Cedar Startup Incubator.

What started as two brothers experimenting in a college workshop has become a blueprint for how university innovation spaces can launch companies that solve real-world problems.