Locus Robotics Reaches Unicorn Status With $150M Raise
Locus Robotics secures $150 million in Series E funding, pushing its valuation to $1 billion to expand its collaborative warehouse robots globally.
Locus Robotics raises $150 million in a Series E funding round that brings the company to a $1 billion post-money valuation. The Wilmington, Massachusetts-based startup plans to use this new capital to accelerate product innovation and expand its global reach. Locus anticipates massive industry growth, projecting that over a million warehouse robots will go live within the next four years as the number of automated warehouses grows tenfold.
The ongoing worker shortage speeds up the adoption of warehouse automation worldwide. Industry analysts predict that over 4 million commercial robots will operate in more than 50,000 warehouses by 2025, a massive jump from under 4,000 warehouses in 2018. To meet this rising demand, Locus deploys autonomous LocusBots that collaborate directly with human workers and carry various configurations like totes, bins, and barcode scanners.
These robots sync with a backend system called LocusServer to learn efficient travel routes and avoid traffic blockages, which improves overall order throughput. The platform also features a gamification system to motivate workers and provides managers with real-time performance data. Furthermore, Locus offers a robot-as-a-service model that allows customers to easily scale their fleets up or down through a convenient monthly subscription.