RightHand Robotics, a Somerville maker of warehouse robotics technology, said on Wednesday it raised $66 million in new funding, another sign that the pandemic has spurred demand for automated warehouses.
The company intends to use the money to accelerate the development of its core product: a robotic picker which grasps and moves products on warehouse assembly lines. It also intends to expand globally.
The deal, led by Safar Partners, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Japan’s Softbank Vision Fund 2, brings total investment in the startup to $99 million, company officials said. It is now valued at roughly $240 million.
Yaro Tenzer, RightHand’s cofounder and chief executive, said the deal caps a busy time for the company, as the pandemic fueled labor shortages, snarled supply chains, and increased demand for robotic technology to automate and accelerate order fulfillment.
“The past few years have been an incredibly exciting time for us,” he said in a statement. “We are eager to continue expanding our solution set and global presence to meet the needs of warehouse operators worldwide.”
RightHand Robotics was founded in 2015, after Tenzer joined Harvard’s Biorobotics lab. During that time, he met his cofounders and fellow robotics researchers, Leif Jentoft and Lael Odhner, and soon they won a contest from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for their robotic gripper, intended to imitate the human hand.
After spending two years refining the robot’s gripping technology, the company launched its first product in 2017. That year, it received $7.8 million in funding, PitchBook data shows. The next year it raised $23 million, followed by $7.5 million in 2020. The firm did “single-digit millions” in revenue last year, company officials said, and is “on track for double digits this year.”
Its robotic pickers are used by customers including Paltac Corporation, which is Japan’s largest wholesaler of consumer packaged goods, and Apo.com, a Netherlands-based online pharmaceutical firm. A typical robotic picking system sells for $150,000, plus recurring software fees.
Pranshu Verma can be reached at pranshu.verma@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @pranshuverma_.
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