Calgary-based robotics startup Attabotics has closed its doors and filed a notice of intention (NOI) to make a proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.
An NOI for both its Canadian and American operations, dated July 2, was posted on the website of its trustee, business consulting firm Richter. An NOI does not necessarily mean a company has filed for bankruptcy or is in receivership, but alerts creditors to financial difficulties and grants a stay on claims and proceedings in order to craft a proposal to creditors with a trustee’s assistance.
Multiple former Attabotics employees have taken to LinkedIn announcing they are now open to work following the startup’s closure, while CEO Scott Gravelle describes himself in his profile as a “recovering visionary” who is “taking a long deserved break.”
Attempts to raise a Series D round stalled when investors expressed concern over cash flow challenges, according to filings.
According to filings posted on Richter’s website following publication, Attabotics posted a net loss in three consecutive years, culminating in a nearly $50 million CAD net loss in 2024. The losses are attributed to the company’s inability to generate enough revenue due to macroeconomic factors, like higher interest rates and constrained consumer spending, as well as company-specific factors like delayed projects.
While the documents state Attabotics began to see increased demand in late 2024 and early 2025, securing approximately $30 million in new business, attempts at raising a Series D round stalled when investors expressed concern over the company’s cash flow challenges. Without more working capital, Attabotics could not see through its secured business commitments.
The filings state that Attabotics’ assets represent almost $32 million while its liabilities are approximately $73.5 million. Its single largest creditor is crown corporation and investor Export Development Canada (EDC), which is owed just over $46 million. Another crown corporation, the Business Development Bank of Canada, is owed $2.8 million through a credit facility.
The Calgary Herald reported that employees were seen leaving the startup’s Calgary office while wheeling out personal items, and that the insolvency notice had been posted to its front door. The notice informed employees that, unless they had been told otherwise, their employment was terminated as of June 30, 2025, and that they would be not allowed on the premises from then onward. According to the filings, Attabotics has reduced its headcount from approximately 200 employees to 12 “key personnel” meant to assist during the 30-day stay granted by the NOI.
The startup has raised north of $200 million CAD from venture capital and government sources in its lifetime, including $34 million from the federal government’s Strategic Innovation Fund in 2020. Attabotics’ most recent funding round was held in 2022, when it raised a $95-million CAD “Series C-1” led by EDC, with support from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board through Teachers’ Venture Growth.
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Founded in 2015, Attabotics had described itself as “the world’s first 3D robotics supply chain system for modern commerce.” The startup looked to reduce warehouse needs and enable retailers to place robot-powered fulfillment centres closer to urban areas. With more than 300 employees at its peak, Attabotics had fulfillment centres across North America, having been adopted by apparel, food, and home goods brands like Nordstrom, which declared bankruptcy itself in 2023.
Attabotics had found itself in multiple legal battles in recent years. Attabotics filed a patent infringement claim against Boston-based Urbx in 2021, which was settled in 2023, and later sued business partner Canadian Tire in 2023 over a warehouse fire at a distribution centre in Brampton, Ontario.
Attabotics alleged that the fire was a direct result of Canadian Tire’s conduct, while Canadian Tire filed a counterclaim seeking damages from Attabotics. The startup had been working with Canadian Tire as part of a project funded by Scale AI, a federally-funded artificial intelligence innovation cluster. Canadian Tire announced a settlement in February 2024.
Feature image courtesy Attabotics.