Two issues are clear: 1. Warehouse robotics continues to be of nice curiosity, and a couple of. Geek+ is great at raising money based mostly on this reality. The Beijing-based warehouse robotics firm simply raised one other $100 million in funding known as “E1 Series” with participation from Intel Capital, Vertex Growth and Qingyue Capital Investment.
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Last time we wrote about the company was nonetheless fairly early within the pandemic – in June 2020 – when it had simply raised a $200 million Series C. Meanwhile, the corporate raised an undisclosed Series D final 12 months. Of course, there’s no scarcity of investor curiosity within the agency for the time being, with the newest spherical valuing Geek+ at round $2 billion.
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I’d say it’s most likely a good suggestion to get funding so long as the funding is sweet. While the house will virtually actually proceed to develop, there may be more likely to be a slight correction right here as funding reacts to broader market developments. Meanwhile, Geek+ is posting spectacular numbers, together with $150 million in income final 12 months mixed with 300 million orders. As waves of the pandemic proceed to trigger shutdowns in China and elsewhere, it’s simple to see why corporations proceed to put money into these applied sciences.
Geek+ cites “global expansion” as one in every of its primary motives for in search of extra funding. It is noteworthy {that a} colleague from Beijing, ForwardX Robotics expanded within the US earlier this month, following its personal C collection. In July, Geek+ introduced it was rolling out to each North in addition to South America. The agency additionally has a number of partnership offers in Europe.
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“With its first-mover advantage, Geek+ has already achieved a solid competitive advantage in global markets, creating a constant driving force for business development,” Yong Zheng, founder and CEO of Geek+, stated in a press launch. “This, combined with our three technology pillars of Robotics, Systems and Algorithms, has not only enabled Geek+ to develop a complete product line, but also to increase R&D efficiency while reducing R&D costs.”
Of course, enlargement into the US is forcing corporations to compete with an already crowded market of home warehouse robotics companies that supply quite a lot of warehouse automation options, each new and present. Geek+ makes many various robotic programs, though at its core, the corporate provides a Kiva-style wheeled robotic designed to navigate stock cabinets.
