Knapp to provide automation solutions for e-grocery startup

Takeoff Technologies plans micro-fulfillment centers for click-and-collect retailers.

By DC Velocity Staff

Warehouse logistics and automation solutions provider Knapp will provide automated technology and robotics to Takeoff Technologies, a startup launching a network of distributed click-and-collect e-grocery sites.

Based in the Boston area, Takeoff has a vision of transforming the $700 billion U.S. grocery industry by developing micro-fulfillment centers for immediate pickup points, using grocery-sorting robots to assemble orders. Instead of forming its own supermarket chain, Takeoff will create an ecosystem and invite partners—such as grocers, drug stores, convenience stores, and liquor stores’to use it as an efficient way to reach their customers, Takeoff cofounder and CEO Jose Vicente Aguerrevere said in a press conference at the Knapp booth. The company will open its first locations in September and October.

Knapp will contribute its robotic shuttle technology for the material handling automation component, helping leverage automation to significantly reduce operating cost and increase real estate productivity.

For more information, see the Knapp or Takeoff websites.