WILMINGTON, MASS. – Locus Robotics today announced it has raised $26 million in Series C funding to continue scaling production of its warehouse fulfillment robotics system. The round includes investments from Zebra Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Zebra Technologies, and Scale Venture Partners, which led the company’s $25 million Series B round in 2017.
Locus said it would use the proceeds to scale production of its robots, as well as expanding its sales and marketing efforts in North America and around the world.
“Zebra Technologies has a longstanding mission of driving productivity in logistics and the supply chain,” said Tony Palcheck, managing director at Zebra Ventures. “We invest in technologies that will help our customers increase operational efficiency and meet their requirements for on-time delivery. Locus has quickly established itself as a leader in warehouse automation, and the company is a natural fit with our enterprise intelligence vision in the warehouse market.”
The latest funding brings Locus’ total funding to more than $59 million since the company’s launch in 2014. The company said it follows a record 2018 performance, in which it rolled out new deployments in the retail/e-tail, third-party logistics (3PL), distribution, and industrial specialty space across North America.
Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics
“The continued, rapid growth of the warehouse industry and a tight labor market have placed tremendous pressure on warehouse operators to find a scalable, cost-effective way to meet increasing productivity and efficiency demands,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “We have seen a massive uptick in demand for the flexible automation incorporated into Locus’ multi-bot solution, which is uniquely suited to address these challenges.”
The company’s customers, which include DHL, GEODIS, Port Logistics Group, Verst Logistics, Radial, and others, have seen double or triple productivity gains in their fulfillment operations, while saving 30% or more in operating expenses, the company added.
“Locus’ offering delivers powerful results, scales to meet growth and seasonal demands, and is flexible enough for us to deploy it rapidly throughout our network,” said Eric Douglas, executive vice president of technology and engineering at GEODIS Americas.
In addition to the financial investment, Zebra Technologies said it will work with Locus to integrate technologies to bring more innovative solutions to the market. For example, Locus recently added an accessory power port to their autonomous mobile robot, the LocusBot, which features a Zebra printer integrated onto its robotic platform, and showcased a Zebra wireless handheld scanner integrated with Locus’ new put-away functionality.
At ProMat 2019 earlier this month, Locus announced omnichannel support, multi-order and multi-tote picking, as well as bulk item picking as part of its spring hardware and software updates.
