Wilmington Warehouse Robot Maker Locus Reaches Unicorn Status With $150M Raise
Locus Robotics secures $150 million in new funding, pushing its valuation to $1 billion as pandemic-driven e-commerce demand accelerates warehouse automation.
Locus Robotics raises $150 million in a new funding round, pushing the Wilmington company's valuation to $1 billion and earning it unicorn status. The pandemic accelerates the urgent need for companies to ship goods faster, driving massive interest in Locus's unique approach to warehouse automation.
The company uses autonomous mobile robots that pair directly with human workers to increase shipping volume. As employees pick items from shelves, they place the products into bins attached to the robots, which then navigate the warehouse to deliver the goods to packing areas. This AI-powered system reduces the distance workers walk by up to 80 percent, allowing facilities to ship twice the volume within the same building footprint.
As online orders surge during the pandemic, companies struggle to find enough labor to meet shipping demands, making Locus's technology highly sought after. The startup serves industries like retail and healthcare, recently landing its biggest deal with logistics giant DHL. Using this new funding, Locus plans to invest heavily in research and development, expand its robot fleet, and double its customer base and warehouse footprint by the end of the year.