Locus Robotics Secures $117M to Expand Warehouse Robot Fleet
Locus Robotics raises $117 million in Series F funding to scale its Robotics as a Service model for autonomous mobile robots used in fulfillment centers worldwide.
Locus Robotics raises $117 million in a Series F funding round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and G2 Venture Partners to expand its autonomous mobile robot operations. As part of the deal, representatives from both leading investment firms join the Locus board of directors to guide the company through its next phase of growth. This latest injection of capital brings the Massachusetts-based company's total funding to $422 million since its founding in 2014.
The company offers a diverse lineup of warehouse robots through a Robotics as a Service (RaaS) model. Its fleet includes the Origin flagship robot with an 80-pound payload capacity, alongside the heavier Vector and Max models that can carry up to 600 and 3,000 pounds respectively. Locus acquires these larger capacity robots through its 2021 purchase of Waypoint Robotics, enabling the company to handle a wider variety of warehouse tasks.
This RaaS model requires significant capital but provides major advantages for both Locus and its customers. The subscription approach allows Locus to quickly deploy additional robots to warehouse sites during peak shopping seasons to handle surging order volumes, and then retrieve them when demand normalizes. The company originally spins out of Quiet Logistics after Amazon stops supporting Kiva Systems robots for third-party logistics providers.