Vecna Robotics, a provider of robotic material handling automation, has raised $65 million in its Series C funding round led by Tiger Global Management, along with additional funding from new investors Lineage Logistics, Proficio Capital Partners, and Impulse.
The new financing will help fund the company’s technology roadmap with new autonomous mobile robots (AMR) and software, and will accelerate fulfillment of new orders and expanded operations to address the $165 billion market opportunity for pallet-moving autonomy.
Craig Malloy, CEO of Vecna Robotics, says: “There is huge headroom for growth in automated material handling with over 5 billion pallets in the world being moved by more than 5 million forklifts and nearly 5 million manual operators.
“This investment, led by such a prominent and supportive group of investors, will allow us to accelerate our roadmap and deliver solutions to the market faster in order to meet the insatiable demand for increased throughput in material handling environments like factories and warehouses.”
Griffin Schroeder, partner at Tiger Global Management, says: “Shifts in the labor market are accelerating the need for automation throughout the global supply chain.
“Vecna Robotics is very well-positioned to help companies in warehousing, manufacturing, and distribution meet this challenge head-on with truly intelligent automation for pallet-sized loads.”
The recently closed Series C round will allow Vecna Robotics to further its development to support end-to-end automated material handling workflows.
The funding will also be used to extend the company’s development of Pivotal, a proprietary orchestration engine, to enable better integration with existing warehouse management systems as well as third-party automation solutions.
Adam Forste, co-executive chairman of Lineage Logistics, says: “Medium to large sized warehouse and manufacturing facilities are experiencing an undeniable shift in the ways that they manage critical workflows in response to labor shortages and demand spikes.
“As an organization steadfastly committed to innovation, we are thrilled to support Vecna Robotics’ mission to intelligently automate how companies in warehousing and manufacturing respond to today’s most important supply chain challenges, focusing on employee safety and improving overall efficiency of material handling operations and throughput.”
Andy Johnston, senior director of innovation at Geodis in Americas, says: “We continue to expand our relationship with Vecna Robotics across multiple facilities and workflows because of its innovative approach to solving real-world material handling challenges.
“For us, the magic of Vecna Robotics’ technology is about maximizing our throughput and efficiency – especially during continued industry-wide challenges.
“As Vecna Robotics further expands its operational capacity and innovation with its latest funding round, that will help us continue to exceed our customers’ expectations for many years to come.”
Earlier this year, Vecna Robotics announced its Mark 3 software release, resulting in the industry’s fastest AMR solutions with speeds of up to 6.7 miles per hour, nearly doubling the throughput capacity.
Leading up to this funding round, the company added new leadership with the hiring of Craig Malloy to CEO, the appointment of the company’s previous CEO and founder, Daniel Theobald, to chief innovation officer and the addition of Josh Kivenko as Vecna Robotics’ new CMO.
All three executives bring a diverse set of skills and expertise along with extensive technology backgrounds, helping position the company to rapidly scale to meet the growing demand for autonomous solutions and orchestration while transforming supply chains worldwide for a more resilient and better tomorrow.
Vecna Robotics’ existing investors include Blackhorn Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, Tectonic Ventures, Drive Capital, and Fontinalis Partners.
