Lille-based Exotec, a company that offers an order preparation system based on a fleet of collaborative mobile robots, announced on Monday that it has raised $335M (approx €292.98M) in its Series D round of funding.
With this round, the company has achieved the status of a unicorn and currently sits at a valuation of $2B (approx €1.74B). To date, Exotec has raised $477M (approx €417.17M) in funding.
Investors and capital utilisation
The current round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management with follow-on investments from 83North and Dell Technologies Capital.
Christian Resch, MD in the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, says, “Exotec is well-positioned to seize the enormous warehouse automation market opportunity both because of its global presence and strong track record of success with industry-leading retailers and brands. Exotec builds scalable solutions that are an accelerant for change and supports business growth despite market disruptions.”
The proceeds from this round will enable Exotec to continue to launch large-scale deployments in North America, Europe, and Asia for global brands. Additionally, the company is also looking to add 500 new R&D engineers by 2025 to accelerate the development of its warehouse automation technology.
“Warehouse robotics for a volatile world”
Founded in 2015 by Romain Moulin and Renaud Heitz, Exotec builds an autonomous robot, Skypod system, for fulfillment warehouses that automate the collection and moving of goods inside a warehouse.
The Skypod system utilises robots that can reach a height of 36 feet to enable high-density inventory storage and retrieval.
A recent report from Resilinc revealed that supply chain disruptions were up 67 per cent year-over-year. “Following the most significant supply chain disruptions of the modern era, there’s only room left for innovation,” says Romain Moulin.
Moulin adds, “While the entire logistics sector is fraught with uncertainty, one of the most prevalent challenges is ongoing labor shortages. Exotec pioneers a new path: elegant collaboration between human and robot workers that delivers warehouse productivity in a lasting, far more sustainable way.”
Currently, Exotec supports 30+ industry-leading brands including e-commerce, grocery, retail, manufacturing, and 3PL sectors.
Recent developments
The company claims to have doubled its revenue and tripled its customer base after its $90M Series C funding in September 2020. In North America, Exotec signed 8 new, large enterprise customers including Gap and Geodis, and expanded its work with existing clients in new markets. Most recently, it signed sporting retailer Decathlon where it deployed the Skypod System in its Montreal fulfillment centre following successful deployments in Europe.
The company debuted its Skypicker technology, an articulated arm able to move 600 items per hour to support high-volume fulfillment and returns. Besides, Exotec also expanded its global team and currently employs more than 300 professionals with an aim to double its global headcount by 2023.
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