July 23, 2019
Fetch Robotics announced today that they have completed a Series C round of funding of $46 million. With this additional funding, Fetch has raised over $94 million since their founding in 2014. This is a significant investment for Fetch Robotics and puts them near the top of similar autonomous mobile robot vendors also operating in the warehouse robotics spacs: Geek Plus: $389M, Grey Orange: $170M, Savioke: $34M, inVia Robotics: $29M, IAM Robotics: $21M (Source: Crunchbase). The lead investor for this round was Fort Ross Ventures, with additional participation from CEAS Investments, Redwood Technologies, TransLink Capital and Zebra Ventures. All existing investors – O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Shasta Ventures, Softbank Capital and Sway Ventures – also participated in this round.
Fetch Robotics was one of the first autonomous mobile robot companies to develop solutions for the warehouse and logistics automation market. Although we position Fetch as a platform solution here at The Mobile Robot Guide, Fetch has brought specific warehouse automation solutions to market around their core technology. The Fetch virtual conveyor solution enables Fetch robots to automate package handling within the warehouse. Fetch has a variety of vehicle sizes, capable of handling any size load up to 1500 kg (3300 lbs). With the additional investment, Fetch is looking to accelerate international expansion and meet increasing customer demand, along with additional investment in research and development.
“Customers have responded enthusiastically to our unique Cloud Robotics solution, and we’re responding by securing the funds we need to continue growing and enhancing our offerings,” said Melonee Wise, CEO of Fetch Robotics. “The competitive pressures for excellence in logistics have never been greater. Our Autonomous Mobile Robots and cloud platform enables our customers to meet their customers’ demands while meeting their own financial objectives.”
Here at The Mobile Robot Guide, we’ve watched Fetch grow from a technology innovator into a solutions company. Their original product offering was a mobile manipulator, which was not robust enough for any production use case, and is now their primary research platform. Fetch Robotics as pivoted a couple of times in their history to now become a true solutions provider with a deep product line up of vehicles which include operational payloads specific for warehouse and logistics workflows. The result is that Fetch is now finding success not only in warehousing applications, but also in other adjacent market such as manufacturing logistics. In true Silicon Valley form, Fetch has also developed their software and cloud-based software solutions into a market leading platform.
“Flexibility in operations is a top priority for warehouse operators today,” said John Santagate, Research Director at IDC. “Traditional automation technology lacks the ability for rapid deployment, scalability, and flexibility that modern robotics are enabling. On top of the physical element of modern robotics, development of cloud-based applications to enable robotics has greatly enhanced the ability to rapidly and efficiently deploy robotics at scale. The cloud robotics approach at Fetch is something that is enabling warehouses to rapidly realize the benefits of robotics and making it easier for companies to deploy and use robots in their operation.”
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