AMR vendor ForwardX adds $38 million in venture funding

Beijing-based robotic automation provider ForwardX Robotics plans to expand the market for its autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) providing person-to-goods solutions in warehousing and manufacturing environments, thanks to a $38 million round of venture capital funding announced today.

The company says it will use the latest funding to accelerate development of both new and existing products, while expanding its market share across China and the U.S. and reaching into new markets such as Japan, Germany, and the U.K.

The second installment of a “series B” round was led by CDH Investments’s VGC, Eastern Bell Capital, and Dohold Capital, with participation by Angel Around and ZGC Group. The move brings ForwardX’s total series B funding to over $63 million after an initial round of $10 million in March 2019 and an extension of $15 million in April 2020. In total, the company has raised close to $74 million in venture capital since its founding in 2016.

“The next three-to-five years will be seen as the golden age of the AMR industry,” Mingyu Wang, senior partner at CDH Investments, said in a release. “With ForwardX’s multi-robot cluster scheduling capabilities and ability to commercialize its solution, we are very optimistic about ForwardX’s future and the value it will create in the AMR field.”

ForwardX says its combination of intelligent mobile robot fleets and AI-driven fleet management software empowers warehouses and factories to double worker productivity while reducing labor-related costs such as wages, recruitment costs, and training costs. The solution also helps facilities become more agile when faced with fluctuating volume, increasingly complex processes, and rising external cost pressures, the firm says.