Vantora, the venture builder formerly known as UP.Labs, has secured at least $100 million from Silversmith Capital Partners as it expands work on AI businesses built inside industrial companies. The investor announced the financing on September 16; TechCrunch reported further details of the strategy on September 18.

The company is shifting toward ventures that corporate partners can eventually absorb into their own operations. Partners invest, become the first customers and hold equity from formation, with an option to bring the resulting business in-house. That differs from building startups primarily intended to sell across a broader market.

Founder and CEO John Kuolt told TechCrunch that the approach allows Vantora to pursue sensitive physical AI projects it previously rejected because customers would not allow the technology to be sold to competitors. He described industrial companies seeking to retrofit machinery for autonomy while retaining ownership of the intelligence layer.

Founded in 2022, Vantora works across energy, aviation, logistics, manufacturing and automotive operations. Its named partners include Porsche, Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt and Wabash. According to the investor announcement, existing ventures address tasks such as manufacturing product configuration and airline maintenance planning.

The funding is the company's first outside investment. Vantora says it will support additional corporate partnerships, development of its COSMOS data ontology product and hiring in AI and commercial roles.

The financing backs a specific enterprise AI ownership model, rather than demonstrating a new robotics capability. Neither source establishes performance benchmarks for autonomous machinery or a timetable for the physical AI projects discussed.