A&K Robotics, a mobility technology company, has raised $8 million CAD in Series A funding to expand deployment of its self-driving airport transport system.
The round is intended to support the transition from pilot installations to permanent infrastructure across North America and Europe.
What The Company Does
A&K Robotics develops autonomous “mobility pods” designed to transport passengers through large, complex indoor environments such as airports. Its flagship vehicle, Cruz, is a compact electric self-driving pod built to assist travellers—particularly those with reduced mobility—by providing autonomous transport through airport terminals.
The system is already in operation at Vancouver International Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport, where it is used to help passengers navigate long distances in crowded terminal environments.
Beyond the vehicle itself, A&K integrates an AI-driven navigation system called Kinesos AI, which processes real-time environmental data to guide movement through dynamic indoor spaces. The platform combines inputs from cameras, sonar, and LiDAR to create a continuously updated understanding of surroundings, allowing the system to adapt to changing crowd conditions.
The company’s focus is not only on autonomous driving, but on enabling safe navigation in environments where unpredictable human movement is the primary challenge.
Advertisement
Market Context / Industry Background
Airports globally are facing increasing pressure to improve accessibility and passenger experience as travel volumes rise and populations age. Demand for mobility assistance services is growing, but many existing solutions—such as manually operated carts and staff-guided transport—are limited in scalability.
At the same time, airports are becoming key testing grounds for autonomous systems due to their controlled environments and high passenger density. Success in these settings is often seen as a step toward broader deployment in other indoor mobility contexts, including transit hubs and large public infrastructure.
The challenge for autonomy in these environments is less about basic navigation and more about safely operating in dense, constantly shifting human traffic.
In addition, regulatory requirements and strict safety standards play a critical role in shaping how autonomous mobility systems are designed and deployed within airport infrastructure. Integration with existing operational workflows is also essential, as these systems must coexist with human staff, security protocols, and dynamic passenger flows. As a result, reliability, predictability, and real-time responsiveness are becoming key benchmarks for evaluating performance in these environments, particularly as airports continue to explore automation to improve efficiency and service quality.
Founder / Investor Commentary
Matthew Anderson, co-founder and CEO of A&K Robotics, said the company is focused on addressing the growing gap between rising demand for mobility assistance and the limited scalability of current airport systems.
He noted that airports were selected as a proving ground because solving autonomy in such complex environments demonstrates broader applicability across other infrastructure settings.
Anderson emphasized that the core technical challenge is not navigation itself, but operating safely within dense crowds. He explained that A&K’s system is designed to interpret human movement patterns, anticipate flow, and adjust behaviour in real time rather than simply reacting to obstacles.
Growth Plans / Use Of Funds
The new funding will be used to scale A&K’s production capacity, advance R&D efforts, and support the rollout of permanent deployments in additional airports. The company is expanding its manufacturing capabilities from producing dozens of units per month to potentially hundreds, supported by a new R&D and prototyping facility and an additional hub in Surrey, British Columbia.
A&K is also working closely with airport operators to integrate autonomous mobility systems into existing infrastructure, moving beyond pilot programs toward long-term operational use.
About A&K Robotics
A&K Robotics is a Vancouver-based autonomous mobility company founded in 2015. The company develops self-driving indoor transport systems, including its Cruz mobility pod, powered by its Kinesos AI navigation platform. Its technology is designed to enable safe, human-aware autonomous movement in complex indoor environments such as airports, with a broader ambition to expand into other large-scale public infrastructure systems.
