Canadian company Rigid Robotics will have a chance to work with Hitachi Construction Machinery, now Landcros, to broaden commercialisation of its automation technology and gain exposure to Founders Factory’s investor network after taking out the Smarter Machines award in the 2026 Landcros Innovation Studios Mining Challenge in Australia.
Rigid Robotics was among 10 finalists in three award categories in Brisbane this week to pitch their value case.
Landcros and Founders Factory got together last year to launch the awards, which drew 135 start-up applicants.
Other winners were England-based IntelliSense.io (Smarter Mine Sites) and Australia’s Clear Carbon (Low Impact & Sustainable Mining).
Thirteen-year-old Rigid Robotics beat off another Vancouver company, Green Edge Computing Corp (GECCO), and Israel’s Dig Robotics, with its final pitch to judges, Landcros’ Isao Osato and Alicia Lenis from Chrysalix.
“This is important external validation of what our team has built and achieved,” a Rigid Robotics spokesperson said.
“Rigid Robotics is building AI that understands mining operations in real time, delivers actionable operator guidance today and creates a foundation for more autonomous excavation tomorrow. For us this recognition affirms the strength of the product, validation in live production environments, and the real-world relevance of the problem we are solving.”
Intellisense.io, which was recognised as Best Scale-up company in InvestMETS.com’s 2024 Global Mining Technology Awards, also came out ahead of high-calibre competition in Canada’s NTWIST and US-based Strayos to win its category.
And ditto for Clear Carbon, which edged out Chilean firm COSMOS Save Energy and Kuartis from Turkey.
Landcros mining business president Eiji Fukunishi said at the awards ceremony the global Mining Challenge was launched to “challenge ourselves to co-create the future of mining together with outstanding start-ups from around the world”. Challenge partner Founders Factory, working worldwide with many industrial tech start-ups, had been instrumental in shaping the program.
“As a global mining solutions provider we believe that innovation is not something we can achieve on our own. It must be built openly, across borders, industries and cultures,” Fukunishi said.
“For us, this project is also a challenge. It is a challenge to open our thinking, to engage seriously with new technologies and new business models, and to learn directly from entrepreneurs who are working at the frontier of mining innovation. By working closely with start-ups, who are able to adapt and respond quickly to the needs of our business and customers, we are challenging ourselves to evolve and to change.”
Landcros last year bought a minority stake in Canadian mining tech start-up Rithmik Solutions. Fukunishi said the investment was a key step towards the equipment manufacturer’s goal of building open digital platforms with various partners. Canadian mining fleet management software company Wenco was acquired back in 2009.
“The three themes of this challenge – Smarter Machines, Smarter Mine Sites and Low Impact and Sustainable Mining – are not strategic slogans,” Fukunishi said.
“They are grounded in the real and urgent challenges faced by our customers, mining sites and the industry as a whole. We believe that meaningful progress in these areas can only be achieved through close collaboration and practical opportunities to test and scale in real-world conditions.”
Fukunishi said holding the event in Australia was “highly meaningful for us”.
“As one of the world’s leading mining regions Australia provides an environment where innovative ideas can be directly connected to real operations and real value creation,” he said.
