Los Angeles-based startup, inVia Robotics, has raised $20 million in its latest series B funding round. The infusion of money will be used to boost the commercial deployment of the company’s Picker robots and its cloud-based Robotics-as-a-Service management system in warehouses. The company’s total funding stands at $29 million to date.
The Series B funding round was led by Point72 Ventures and included investments from both Embark Ventures and Upfront Ventures. As it aims to provide the next generation of robotics warehouse automation solutions for e-commerce fulfillment centers, it will go up against some very tough competition in the warehouse automation industry.
Lior Elazary, founder and CEO of inVia Robotics, said, “To compete with behemoths like Amazon, warehouse automation is critical for e-commerce companies; but the overhead cost of purchasing a fleet of robots is often beyond reach. We’re excited to have this funding to fuel the growth of our subscription-based RaaS technology to optimize warehouse performance and increase productivity for our customers.”
The company’s inVia Picker robot works in collaboration with human beings with the goal of eliminating operators walking through the warehouse and completing processes manually. For example, the inVia Picker will work with humans to transfer goods from the shelves to dispatch. This allows human warehouse workers to focus on tasks that require more brain space such as quality control. Keeping heavy lifting and forklifts out of the process will minimize the exposure to danger that is often existent in warehouses.
inVia allows warehouses to multiple the efforts of humans fivefold, allowing e-commerce warehouses the freedom to handle consumer demands amidst the battle for growth within the industry. Companies of any size can implement robotic automation through inVia’s subscription-based model. Its RaaS platform also integrates well with existing robotic software.
Greg Bettinelli, Partner at Upfront Ventures, said, “It was clear to us from day one that Lior and the inVia team have built a superior solution to tackle the $80B fulfillment warehouse automation market. We’ve been continually impressed with their product innovation and impressive commerce partner pipeline, and we’re thrilled to continue to support them.”
To date, over 100 Picker robots are being used in consumer-focused warehouses. The new funding will certainly push expansion including the current employee count by the end of 2018.
