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Locus Robotics raised one other $117 million in funding for its autonomous cellular robots (AMRs) which can be utilized in success and distribution warehouses. The Series F funding spherical was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and G2 Venture Partners. As a part of the financing, Mark Midle, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs, and Zach Barasz, Partner, G2 Venture Partners, will be a part of the Locus board of administrators.
Locus’ vary of AMRs is made up of Origin, the corporate’s flagship AMR that may function for 14 hours on a single cost and has a payload capability of 80 lbs, Vector, an AMR with a 600 lb payload capability, and Max, the corporate’s heaviest capability AMR with a 3,000 lb payload restrict.
Locus acquired Waypoint Robotics in 2021, one other AMR firm whose portfolio of heavier capability AMRs complemented Locus’. The Vector and the Max had been initially Waypoint robots earlier than the acquisition.
The Locus AMRs can be found by a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) mannequin. This mannequin not solely permits the corporate to deploy extra shortly, but it surely additionally offers the corporate the power to step in if a robotic isn’t working correctly. This RaaS mannequin requires a variety of capital to be completed correctly, which partially explains why Locus continues to lift funding.
“The RaaS model allows us to send more bots if a customer needs it,” Kait Peterson, senior director of product advertising at Locus, not too long ago advised The Robot Report. “So, for example, in peak timeframe, when a customer’s volume goes up significantly, we can send additional bots to the customer site to allow them to handle that additional capacity in their warehouse, and then they can send them back once they’re done using them, or they can keep them, either way.”
Wilmington, Mass.-based Locus Robotics has now raised $422 million because it was based in 2014. The firm spun out of Quiet Logistics, a third-party logistics supplier (3PL) that was at one time a buyer of Kiva Systems. Shortly after Amazon acquired Kiva for $775 million in 2012, Amazon stopped supporting the robots for third-party clients. So Quiet Logistics developed its personal cellular robots, which ultimately was Locus Robotics.
“This new round of funding marks an important inflection point for Locus Robotics as we look toward our next stage of growth, and we strategically chose to bring in investors with a wealth of experience in both public and private markets to advise us as we continue our journey,” mentioned Rick Faulk, CEO, Locus Robotics. “As the rapid digital transformation of the supply chain continues, warehouses increasingly seek flexible, intelligent robotics automation to improve productivity and grow their operations, despite ongoing labor shortages and exploding order volumes.”
Growing buyer base
Locus has greater than 90 clients worldwide, together with CEVA Logistics, DHL, Material Bank, Boots UK, GEODIS, Ryder, Verst Logistics, Radial and others. In September 2022, Locus reached a main milestone with its 1 billionth choose. It took Locus 1,542 days to choose its first 100 million models and simply 40 days for the final 100 million picks. Locus robots now common greater than three million picks per day world wide.
“Our 5-year partnership with Locus has enabled DHL to deliver more resilient, flexible, and scalable supply chain solutions to our customers to support faster delivery, improve operational efficiency, and reduce employee workloads,” mentioned Sally Miller, CIO of DHL Supply Chain North America. “In that time, Locus’s ability to integrate groundbreaking technologies into our operations seamlessly and in a targeted way has been a tremendous success for our customers’ supply chains.”
Miller was not too long ago a visitor on The Robot Report Podcast, and he or she keynoted our RoboBusiness occasion. She mentioned DHL’s partnership with Locus at size on the podcast, and detailed how DHL is utilizing different robots comparable to Boston Dynamics’ Stretch. You can hearken to that podcast right here.
“Locus has established itself as an innovative, high-quality market leader for flexible automation in the massive warehouse fulfillment and distribution market,” mentioned Miller. “Our investment reflects our view that Locus has the product offering and the operational excellence required to meet and exceed the market challenges posed by today’s dynamic economic environment.”
Locus mentioned it has greater than 230 websites below contract world wide, with some having as many as 500 LocusBots per website.
“As order volumes continue to increase and labor shortages persist worldwide, robotics automation is now a must-have for warehouse operators,” mentioned Ash Sharma, managing director, Interact Analysis. “Locus is uniquely positioned as a leader in digital transformation in this enormous global market as warehouse operators increasingly focus on scalability, fast ROI, and ease of deployment.”
Also taking part within the Series F spherical had been Stack Capital Group, Next47, Stafford Capital Partners, HESTA, Newton Investment Management North America, Gray’s Creek Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Hercules Capital, Inc., BOND, and Scale Venture Partners.