Geek+ controls 10% of the global market share and has deployed over 10,000 robots worldwide till date
Geek+, a Beijing-based unicorn that provides advanced robotics for logistics, announced today that it closed its Series C fundraise at over US$200 million earlier this year. The funding following a $150 million B series round in November 2018, according to a press release issued by the company.
With the latest financing, Geek+’s total funding is estimated to be close to $400 million, although the startup decline to reveal any financial details.
According to the statement, the first tranche of the Series C investment was led by GGV Capital, D1 Capital Partners along with Warburg Pincus in summer of 2019, while the second tranche, finalized earlier this year, was led by V Fund, along with Redview Capital and Vertex Ventures.
Founded in 2015, the startup claims to be the world’s largest Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) company, with over 10,000 robots deployed worldwide, projects in over 20 countries, and 300 customers including Fortune 500 companies in retail, apparel, ecommerce, manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceutical and Third-Party Logistics (3PL).
Headquartered in Beijing, the company has over 800 employees and has offices in Germany, the UK, the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Its notable clients include Alibaba, which has also invested in SoftBank-backed rival Quicktron Robotics, and Suning, one of China’s largest retailers.
Geek+ develops a range of AI-powered logistics robots, similar to Amazon’s Kiva, that address scenarios in warehouses, factories, and sorting centres.
According to its website, the startup’s line of picking robots can autonomously carry thousands of kilograms, and its “smart factory” system, which replaces traditional conveyor-belt-style assembly line setups with “island production mode,” can almost double production capacity with a combination of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, 5G, edge computing, and real-time computer vision.
According to the statement, Geek+ is currently the only AMR provider that develops a full range of logistics robots covering all robotics categories and scenarios in both warehousing and factory environments. According to Interact Analysis, Geek+ is the No. 1 supplier of AMRs in the world and controls 10% of the global market share.
Geek+ uses artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced robotics technologies to create efficient, flexible, and reliable logistics robot solutions that the company says can help businesses improve efficiency and realize intelligent and flexible transformation of their supply chain.
These include Goods-to-Person Picking, Bin-to-Person RoboShuttle System, Disinfection Robots, Sorting, Moving, Forklift, as well as fully integrated solutions for automated smart fulfillment centers and smart factories. Geek+ has also introduced the first robot-making-robot facility in the factory where 100% of its robots are produced, where single-shift production efficiency has increased by 33%-67% and material traceability is 95%.
Geek+ has won the RBR50 innovation award for two consecutive years, in 2019 and 2020, which selects the world’s top 50 robotics companies.
According to the statement, Geek+ will use the latest funds to focus on deploying its Customer centric, AI-driven, Robot-as-a-Service, and Ecosystem-enabling (CARE) strategy along with global deployment of its robots.
The startup will focus on bringing concrete, immediate and long-term value to customers with efficient, flexible and scalable solutions, developing innovative AI applications to robotics and software in logistics, ramping up Robot-as-a-Service as an accessible business model for businesses, and increasing relationships with technology and logistics ecosystem partners to lead the new digital supply chain, according to the statement.
Last month, Greek+ plus announced a strategic partnership with Conveyco Technologies, one of the premier order fulfillment and distribution center systems integrators in North America.
According to an ABI Research report published in 2019, more than 4 million commercial robots will be installed in more than 50,000 warehouses around the world by 2025, up from just under 4,000 warehouses in 2018.
The rise in large-scale robot adoption is being driven by increasing affordability and Return On Investment (ROI) of a growing variety of infrastructure-light robots, as well as continuing needs for flexible and efficient automated fulfillment as same-day delivery becomes the norm, the report says.
Yong Zheng, Founder and CEO of Geek+ said, “Our robotics solutions already create real and visible business returns for nearly 300 companies worldwide. We are proud of our achievements, confident in our continued growth and the depth of innovation and commercial application still to be explored for logistics robots.”
“We know AMRs to be the future of the global logistics, and are pleased with the investors’ confidence in their market prospects,” he added.
The global AMR market generated $29.3 billion revenue in 2019, which is expected to reach $220.6 billion in 2030, according to a report by Research And Markets. The mobile robotics market size was valued at $9,340 million in 2018, and is projected to reach $39,585 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 21.5% from 2019 to 2026, according to a research report by Allied Market Research.
However, factoring in the impact of COVID-19, a report by Interact Analysis predicts that the global industrial robot market will drop by 3.6% in revenue, and by 3.7% in shipments during 2020, while a strong rebound in 2021 is expected.
“Covid-19 has impacted customers across the board in retail & manufacturing, and it is difficult to evaluate the short term impact, but we are confident in our model, products and continued outlook globally. We propose solutions that are especially suited to deal with unexpected situations,” a Geek+ spokesperson told Jumpstart.
“We have spent our efforts in ensuring smooth operations often remotely. For example, during China’s lockdown period we processed over 3 million products, and we were able to remotely deploy new sites for customers during the crisis,” she added.
Header Image Courtesy of Geek+
