New funding will support expansion
LOS ANGELES, CA – August 1, 2018
inVia Robotics announced today that they have secured $20 million in series B funding. In total, inVia has received $29 million to date. The Series B round was led by Point72 Ventures and included investments from Upfront Ventures and Embark Ventures . The funds will be used to boost the commercial deployment of inVia’s Picker robots and cloud-based Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) management system in e-commerce warehouses and distribution centers. The warehouse robotics market is being driven by the growth of online retailing.
“To compete with behemoths like Amazon, warehouse automation is critical for e-commerce companies; but the overhead cost of purchasing a fleet of robots is often beyond reach,” said Lior Elazary, founder and CEO of inVia Robotics. “We’re excited to have this funding to fuel the growth of our subscription-based RaaS technology to optimize warehouse performance and increase productivity for our customers.” inVia Robotics is a market leader in leveraging the Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) business model to help make the solution affordable and cost effective.
Image courtesy of inVia Robotics
inVia Robotics’ Picker robots are deployed nationally across warehouses and distribution centers of all sizes. Their most notable customers are Rakuten Super Logistics and Hollar. Within these facilities, the robots work collaboratively with human warehouse workers. The robots are able to autonomous acquire and return product totes and boxes from shelves on the warehouse floor. The robots bring the goods to packout stations where humans pick and package for final shipment.
“As with so many other business sectors, technology is transforming operations within the 3PL industry. In recent years, one of the more significant technological advancements has been in the area of robotics–and the use of state-of-the-art robotics, to both optimize warehouse efficiency and improve our ability to scale and service our clients.” said Michael Manzione, CEO Rakuten Super Logistics. Manzione went to say, “That is why Rakuten Super Logistics made the corporate decision to utilize InVia robotics in our warehouses nationwide; we recognize the opportunity that this advanced technology provides for our company to remain an industry leader, particularly at this point in time as we prepare for further expansion nationwide.”
In total, over 100 Picker robots are currently being utilized within various customer warehouses providing an overall efficiency boost of 300-400 percent. This funding will drive expansion across the company including a plan to double the current employee count by the end of the year. Additionally, funding will support the continued building of inVia Picker robots in Los Angeles, California.
“E-commerce industry growth is driving the need for more warehouse automation to fulfill demand, and AI-driven robots can deliver that automation with the flexibility to scale across varied workflows. Our investment in inVia Robotics reflects our conviction in AI as a key enabler for the supply chain industry,” said Daniel Gwak, Co-Head, AI Investments at Point72 Ventures.
“It was clear to us from day one that Lior and the inVia team have built a superior solution to tackle the $80B fulfillment warehouse automation market,” said Greg Bettinelli, Partner at Upfront Ventures. “We’ve been continually impressed with their product innovation and impressive commerce partner pipeline, and we’re thrilled to continue to support them.”
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