Azalea Robotics

Azalea Robotics is a Berkeley, California company building autonomous robotic systems that automate baggage handling at airports, with mobile units that load both ULDs and bag carts in any bagroom setup. Founded by David Millard and built by alumni of NASA, Google X and United Airlines, the company applies what it calls physical AI so that vision-guided robots lift, sort and track bags between belts, carts, ULDs and containers to speed turnarounds, cut injuries and keep flights on schedule.

ARC 1

• Introduced in January 2026 as the world's first mobile, fully autonomous baggage manipulator cobot, able to handle a large variety of bags and load carts and ULDs alike
• Needs no additional safety infrastructure, with collaborative motion and e-stops designed for ramp rules; when a bag cannot be manipulated, handlers work alongside the robot without operational delays
• Rolling out in airports, with demonstrations available on request

Capabilities

• Automated handoffs across inbound and outbound belts and ULD operations with tag and barcode reading and real-time validation to reduce misloads
• Tracking and operational efficiency tools through baggage source message (BSM) interoperability and AI-powered routing
• Compatibility with ULDs, narrow-body carts, individual carrier systems, flat belts and carousels
• Deployments that scale up or down with the operation and no fixed capital expenditure

Funding

In April 2025 Azalea closed a $3.5 million seed round led by infra-tech venture firm Zero Infinity Partners, with participation from Vantage Futures, the corporate venture arm of Vantage Group, Y Combinator, SOMA Capital and strategic angel investors, to accelerate deployments in the $20 billion aviation ground operations industry. The company presented at Y Combinator Demo Day S24 and has been covered by TechCrunch, and it says its systems address labour shortages and physically demanding processes for airports, airlines and ground handlers.

Shows

Azalea Robotics appears in the exhibitor lists of FTE Global 2027 and the World Aviation Festival 2026.

Contact

Berkeley, California, United States
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