Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Vecna Robotics to accelerate new product development with latest funding round

Firm will use $50 million venture capital funds to meet double-digit annual growth forecast for the mobile robot market.

DC Velocity Staff
By DC Velocity StaffJan 10, 2020
DC Velocity Staff
See Full Bio

Autonomous material handling technology vendor Vecna Robotics plans to expand its footprint and accelerate the development of new product offerings over the next five years thanks to a $50 million venture capital round it landed on Tuesday, the company said.

That plan will allow the Waltham, Massachusetts-based firm to meet a double-digit annual growth forecast for the mobile robot market by supplying its range of workflow orchestration and self-driving forklift tools, the company said.

The "series B" funding round was led by Blackhorn Ventures, with participation from new investors Highland Capital and Fontinalis Partners, and additional funding from existing investors Drive Capital and Tectonic Ventures. With the news, Trevor Zimmerman of Blackhorn Ventures and Bob Davis of Highland Capital will join Vecna Robotics' board of directors.

The new cash follows an investment of unspecified size in 2018 that allowed Vecna Robotics to spin off from parent company Vecna Technologies and re-launch itself as a standalone business unit. Since then, the company has built integrations with other logistics technology providers such as piece picking platform provider Righthand Robotics Inc. and lift truck vendor UniCarriers Americas (UCA). Together, those technologies can help users stay fully staffed in a historically tight labor market by using robotics to boost warehouse employees' engagement and productivity, the company said.

Vecna Robotics' solutions focus on maximizing workflow efficiency with fully autonomous pallet trucks and tow tractors combined with PivotalTM, the firm's artificial intelligence (AI)-based orchestration agent. More than a fleet manager, PivotaI also interfaces with human workers and other equipment to increase job satisfaction, optimize freight capacity, increase warehouse capacity, and help eliminate waste, the company said.

"We're thrilled to have Blackhorn, Highland and Fontinalis share our vision for the future of the material handling industry," Vecna Robotics Founder and CEO Daniel Theobald said in a release. "A highly orchestrated solution that leverages the best of robots, manually-operated equipment and the irreplaceable human factor is the key to long-term success for our customers."

Article
vecna robotics
Article
vecna robotics

The Latest

everstream chart of number of containerships off east coast ports
Article

East Coast ports work through hefty backlog of containers

chip cooling plate from Mikros Technologies
Article

Jabil says acquisition cools off the hot chips behind cloud and AI

Logistics activity expanded in September
Featured

Logistics activity expanded in September

logo images of ILA union and USMX dockworkers ports
Article

Strike ends: East Coast dockworkers return to work

More Stories

team collaborating on data with laptops

Gartner: data governance strategy is key to making AI pay off

Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.

"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

ships and containers at port of savannah
Article

54 container ships now wait in waters off East and Gulf coast ports

PMA Screen Shot 2023-04-07 at 4.41.00 PM.png
Article

Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach close in flashback to 2015 dockworker strike

Survey: In-store shopping sentiment up 21%
Featured

Survey: In-store shopping sentiment up 21%

dexory robot counting warehouse inventory

Dexory raises $80 million for inventory-counting robots

The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.

A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.

Keep ReadingShow less
container cranes and trucks at DB Schenker yard

Deutsche Bahn says sale of DB Schenker will cut debt, improve rail

German rail giant Deutsche Bahn AG yesterday said it will cut its debt and boost its focus on improving rail infrastructure thanks to its formal approval of the deal to sell its logistics subsidiary DB Schenker to the Danish transport and logistics group DSV for a total price of $16.3 billion.

Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.

Keep ReadingShow less
containers stacked in a yard

Reinke moves from TIA to IANA in top office

Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.

Reinke will take her new job upon the retirement of Joni Casey at the end of the year. Casey had announced in July that she would step down after 27 years at the helm of IANA.

Keep ReadingShow less
NOAA weather map of hurricane helene

Florida braces for impact of Hurricane Helene

Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.

Keep ReadingShow less
Copyright ©2024.