- Leading workflow orchestration and self-driving forklift provider Vecna Robotics announced it raised $50 million in Series B funding
Vecna Robotics — the leading workflow orchestration and self-driving forklift provider — announced it has raised $50 million in a Series B round of funding. With double-digit annual growth forecast for the mobile robot market over the next five years, this round of funding will be used for expanding Vecna Robotics’ industry-leading footprint and accelerate the development of new product offerings.
This funding round was led by Blackhorn Ventures with participation from new investors Highland Capital and Fontinalis Partners. And additional funding came from Drive Capital and Tectonic Ventures.
The workflows are the driving force behind every business that deals with physical goods from wholesale to retail and from manufacturing to warehousing and distribution. Plus Vecna Robotics’ solutions focus on maximizing workflow efficiency with fully autonomous pallet trucks and tow tractors combined with Pivotal, the world’s first AI-based orchestration agent.
PivotaI is known for interfacing with human workers and other equipment to increase job satisfaction, optimize freight capacity, increase warehouse capacity, and help eliminate waste. Over the last year, Vecna Robotics deployed its robot and software solutions in many of the world’s leading distribution centers with deployments at FedEx Ground, Milton CAT, DHL Supply Chain, GEODIS, Medline, etc.
This round of funding will help Vecna Robotics continue to rapidly scale its products and services to the material handling market which faces both a growing labor shortage and increased competitive pressures.
“Vecna Robotics’ focus on the Pivotal platform and innovative AMRs to create unprecedented resource productivity for industrial applications is strongly aligned with our investment strategy,” said Trevor Zimmerman of Blackhorn Ventures. “We are excited to be a part of their growth.”
Through this investment, Zimmerman and Bob Davis of Highland Capital will join Vecna Robotics’ Board of Directors.
“In speaking with Vecna Robotics’ customers, it was clear that the company offers best-in-class solutions and services. The company has an industry-leading position in a $100 billion market, and we look forward to working with them as they revolutionize material handling around the world,” added Bob Davis of Highland Capital.
Fontinalis founder and partner Chris Cheever agreed with those sentiments.
“Vecna is executing brilliantly at the intersection of key trends we are interested in as a mobility investor, namely the power of automation and increasing e-commerce disruption of supply chains,” stated Cheever.
Vecna Robotics’ products have been helping organizations like Medline increase efficiency and safety.
“Our confidence in the team and its vision for safe, effective human-robot collaboration within a warehouse environment grew as our partnership evolved. This vision supports the future needs of our team members and our customers,” explained Daniel Schwartz, Regional Vice President of Operations at Medline. “Vecna Robotics’ solution takes a lot of dead travel in our warehouse super-centers out of our team’s days so they can focus on more skilled work.”
By working with a number of strategic partners including UniCarriers Americas and RICOH, Vecna Robotics is positioned with a complete ecosystem necessary for rapid growth and ability to consistently meet customer needs.
“We’re thrilled to have Blackhorn, Highland and Fontinalis share our vision for the future of the material handling industry. A highly orchestrated solution that leverages the best of robots, manually-operated equipment and the irreplaceable human factor is the key to long-term success for our customers,” noted Daniel Theobald, founder and CEO at Vecna Robotics. “This investment cements our position as the world’s leading material handling automation company and helps accelerate our growth strategy in the coming year and beyond.”
