Geek+ lands $150 million in capital for warehouse robots

Chinese warehouse robotics provider Geek+ has landed a whopping $150 million investment from private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, and plans to invest those finances in expanding international sales of its artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled logistics robots for applications in warehousing, logistics, and manufacturing, the firm said today.

The series B funding round was led by New York-based Warburg Pincus, with participation from Volcanics Venture and Vertex Ventures. Warburg Pincus has now committed a total of approximately $100 million in Geek+ through a series of investments since 2017.

The backing is the latest instance of venture capital flowing to logistics robotics as the sector attracts growing attention. Recent examples include $25 million to Locus Robotics and $25 million to Fetch Robotics Inc. in 2017, and $20 million to InVia Robotics Inc., $20 million to CommonSense Robotics, and $25 million to 6 River Systems Inc. in 2018. And notably, GreyOrange Pte. Ltd. landed $140 million in September.

Beijing-based Geek+ plans to use the funds to grow its business by more than five times this year by providing an integrated combination of AI and robotics technologies to meet its customers' supply chain needs, Geek+ Founder and CEO Yong Zheng said in a statement.

To date, Geek+ has delivered more than 5,000 robots and implemented over 100 robotics warehouse projects for customers in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Europe, and the U.S. Companies using the robots include firms in e-commerce, logistics, automotive, fast fashion, and pharmaceuticals, according to Geek+.

The firm says its technology integrates robotics, AI, big data, cloud computing, and internet of things (IoT) technologies to provide intelligent robotics solutions and one-stop supply chain services. Together, those ingredients drive logistics solutions including goods-to-person picking, intelligent moving, intelligent sorting, and automated forklifts.

"Technology is revolutionizing supply chain," Jericho Zhang, executive director of Warburg Pincus, said in a release. "Geek+ is one of the leading technology companies that is able to combine robotics, big data, AI, and other cutting-edge technologies to solve the pain points of the traditional supply chain. As it accumulates more data, and continues to optimize algorithms and expand into other industries, we are confident that Geek+ will continue to lead the revolution and innovation in the space."