Simbe Robotics raises $28 million in Series B funding
Simbe Robotics, the company leveraging AI and robotics to elevate the performance of retailers with real-time insights into inventory and operations, has closed a Series B equity financing round of $28 million, led by Eclipse.
As one of the premier venture firms specializing in the digital transformation of essential physical industries that impact daily life, Eclipse brings invaluable knowledge and expertise that will propel Simbe through its next phase of growth.
Their investment marks a vote of confidence in emerging retail and grocery technologies, and will enable Simbe to meet rising global customer demand, enter future product areas, expand its team, and continue delivering value to new and existing partners by optimizing both in-store and e-commerce operations.
Brad Bogolea, CEO and co-founder of Simbe, says: “We’re honored to be supported by an investor like Eclipse, with a team that recognizes technology’s incredible potential to significantly enhance retail operations, as well as greatly improve the customer experience.
“Elevating the retail experience for everyone – retailers, their associates, and customers – through AI and robotics is the foundation of Simbe’s mission, and this funding will enable us to share this vision and reimagined experience with more retail partners around the world.”
Simbe is the category leader in retail automation solutions, combining cutting-edge AI and robotics in a single platform that empowers retailers to protect profitability and enhance business operations.
The company’s comprehensive business intelligence solution is powered by Tally, the world’s first fully autonomous in-store product auditing solution that traverses aisles to generate exact product location data and identify out-of-stock, misplaced, or mispriced products at more than 99 per cent accuracy.
The platform transforms retail operations through proprietary AI, computer vision, RFID, and edge computing technology that delivers greater visibility, more accurate data, and real-time insights – creating a better experience for shoppers and store teams alike.
Jay Knafel, partner at Eclipse, says: “As today’s retailers grapple with inaccurate shelf data and antiquated inventory management processes, Simbe is completely revolutionizing the industry through AI and robotics — proving to be an invaluable solution that curbs these obstacles.
“One of the most challenging aspects of full-stack systems is engineering a solution that works. Not some of the time, but all the time, in every customer environment.
“When we saw Simbe’s solution deployed across the country, in a range of store environments, and performing fully autonomously, we were impressed.
“Simbe has also designed the most consumer-friendly, compact robot of its kind that fits into any store and with any team, and deploys in hours. Simbe’s platform and its volume of data are transforming retail, and we could not be more thrilled to support Brad and his team.”
Lior Susan, founding partner at Eclipse, says: “A sizable percentage of global GDP is tied up in inventory.
“For retailers, mismanaged inventory is a $2 trillion problem and it’s clear the industry needs better tools that allow retailers to understand how their stores are operating in real-time, in order to enhance the in-store experience for all.
“Simbe has demonstrated the power of AI- and data-driven solutions for driving sales, improving margins, increasing resilience within the retail industry, and ultimately, contributing to continued economic growth.”
This latest round of funding follows a successful Series A in 2019, bringing the total amount raised by Simbe to $54 million.
This funding also builds on the company’s “incredible momentum and growth”, having increased its annual recurring revenue by 10x and contracted annual recurring revenue by 22x since 2020.