Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

French warehouse robotics vendor Exotec lands $90 million for high-density storage

Firm plans to automate micro-fulfillment centers for smaller-sized facilities to match swift e-commerce growth.

exotec skypond robots

The French warehouse robotics startup Exotec has raised a $90 million financing round to fuel its international expansion, focused on recently formed Atlanta and Tokyo offices, and to meet a growing demand for warehouse automation technology, the company said today.

The “series C” round was led by 83North, with participation from Dell Technologies Capital, and supported by previous investors Iris Capital and Breega. It follows an earlier round of $21.2 million and brings their total funding to $111.2 million.


The Lille, France-based company opened its first U.S. office in May with an Atlanta location, and has signed partnerships with the system integrators AHS, S&H Systems, and Conveyco for distribution across North America. Exotec says its revenue doubled in 2020 as it onboarded new clients like Carrefour and Fast Retailing (Uniqlo group), and now forecasts it will produce up to 4,000 robots per year by 2021.

The company says its “Skypod 3D” warehouse robots allow retailers and e-merchants to quadruple their warehouse productivity and increase their storage capacity fivefold by deploying autonomous robots to move in a three-dimensional pattern at a speed of 13 feet per second, creating a faster and more efficient picking and preparation process. 

Despite its record of quick growth during the startup’s early stages, Exotec enters a warehouse robotics sector with plenty of competitors. The growth of e-commerce same-day delivery and online grocery have recently helped drive a hot market for robotic retrieval systems based on dense, cube-shaped storage. In contrast to traditional warehouses with sprawling layouts and wide aisles, such systems are particularly well fitted for urban fulfillment operations such as micro-distribution centers.

Recent investments in that sector have included the Canadian robotic storage and retrieval system startup Attabotics raising $50 million in venture funding in August, rapid rollouts of new installations by Fabric and Takeoff, a large installation of AutoStore systems for grocery fulfillment, and $40 million raised in May by artificial intelligence (AI) provider Covariant for its projects with shuttle-based system supplier Knapp and other partners.

And just today, AutoStore announced it had released a new software suite for its cube-based order fulfillment system, saying its “Router” platform could increase robot productivity and efficiency by up to 40% by finding the most efficient path for its robots to move and deliver orders inside its high-density grid system. “We recognize the importance of anticipating future challenges,” AutoStore CEO Karl Johan Lier said in a release. "This pandemic has demonstrated to us that the retail and e-commerce market will never be the same as it was. With Black Friday and the holiday season approaching, warehouses and micro-fulfillment centers will need the flexibility and high-speed efficiency that Router can deliver.”

However, Rudi Lueg, managing director of Exotec North America, says Exotec is in a strong position to serve the fast-growing micro-fulfillment center (MFC) sector while more established players focus on large-scale deployments. “My estimate is a $2 billion market in the U.S. for Goods to Person (GTP); maybe more,” Lueg said in an email. “With the explosive growth in online retail, driven by the pandemic as well, I’m sure this market will grow by factor of 2X or 5X. So, I believe the demand will be stronger than the supply for quite some time.”

In comparison to Exotec, the incumbent, shuttle-based systems have a long lead time of 12 to 18 months, and are complex to install, he said. And established cube-based storage systems can achieve high density, but much of the inventory placed near the center of the cube can take up to 20 minutes to access, making it a poor fit for quick-turn, e-commerce items.

According to Lueg, Exotec and a few other “disrupters” combine the best features of shuttle-based retrieval, quick lead times of 3 to 9 months, and simple design. Together, those features make Exotec’s approach well-tuned to provide warehouse fulfillment automation for smaller-sized facilities in the next two years, while the more established vendors focus on “mega-facilities” of 400,000 square feet or more, he said.

“E-commerce demand has been steadily on the rise for years, and the pandemic introduced a sense of urgency to keep up with consumer demands,” Lueg said in the email. “With a massive uncertainty about the future of in-store retail, many of our customers and prospects voiced a strong need to scale their e-commerce fulfillment operations to keep up with shifting consumer behaviors.”

The Latest

More Stories

chart of GenAI effect on workforce

Gartner: GenAI tools create anxiety among employees

Generative AI (GenAI) is being deployed by 72% of supply chain organizations, but most are experiencing just middling results for productivity and ROI, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.

That’s because productivity gains from the use of GenAI for individual, desk-based workers are not translating to greater team-level productivity. Additionally, the deployment of GenAI tools is increasing anxiety among many employees, providing a dampening effect on their productivity, Gartner found.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

warehouse worker driving forklift between racks

German 3PL Arvato acquires two U.S. logistics firms

The German third party logistics provider (3PL) Arvato this week acquired the U.S.-headquartered companies Carbel LLC and United Customs Services, saying the move would grow its client base, particularly in the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle segments.

According to Arvato, it made the move in order to better serve the U.S. e-commerce sector, which has experienced high growth rates in recent years and is expected to grow year-on-year by 5% within the next five years.

Keep ReadingShow less
photo collage of warehouse tech

Supply chain pros are wary of inflation and labor woes

The top worries that supply chain leaders hope to address with new innovations this year include inflationary concerns (68%) and labor shortages (50%), according to a survey on innovation from the third-party logistics provider (3PL) Kenco.

And many of them will have a budget to do it, since 51% of supply chain professionals with existing innovation budgets saw an increase earmarked for 2025, suggesting an even greater emphasis on investing in new technologies to meet rising demand, Kenco said in its “2025 Supply Chain Innovation” survey.

Keep ReadingShow less
volvo and waabi self driving truck

Volvo deepens partnership with Waabi for self-driving truck tech

Volvo Autonomous Solutions will form a strategic partnership with autonomous driving technology and generative AI provider Waabi to jointly develop and deploy autonomous trucks, with testing scheduled to begin later this year.

The two companies said they will integrate Waabi's virtual driver system, the Waabi Driver, into the Volvo VNL Autonomous, Volvo’s autonomous truck with redundant systems for enabling safe autonomous operations. The Volvo VNL Autonomous will be produced at Volvo’s New River Valley assembly plant in Dublin, Virginia, and be designed to support diverse operational needs, use cases, and Volvo Group truck brands.

Keep ReadingShow less
chart of women's portion of transport and storage jobs

Women hold only 12% of transportation and storage jobs worldwide

Women are significantly underrepresented in the global transport sector workforce, comprising only 12% of transportation and storage workers worldwide as they face hurdles such as unfavorable workplace policies and significant gender gaps in operational, technical and leadership roles, a study from the World Bank Group shows.

This underrepresentation limits diverse perspectives in service design and decision-making, negatively affects businesses and undermines economic growth, according to the report, “Addressing Barriers to Women’s Participation in Transport.” The paper—which covers global trends and provides in-depth analysis of the women’s role in the transport sector in Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and Middle East and North Africa (MENA)—was prepared jointly by the World Bank Group, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the International Transport Forum (ITF).

Keep ReadingShow less