The India-based logistics automation startup Addverb Technologies is bringing its warehouse robotics product suite to the North American market after gaining $132 million in backing last month, the company said today.
Addverb says it helps improve the performance and accuracy of warehouse and factory operations with its fleet of automated robots, material handling technologies, system integration services, and software solutions. More specifically, the company offers autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), carton shuttles, picking technologies, automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), warehouse management and execution software, and industrial IoT solutions.
In January, that mission got a boost when the India-based oil and energy sector giant Reliance Industries Ltd. bought a 54% stake in Addverb for $132 million through a “series B” venture capital round. At the time, Addverb said it plans to continue operating independently and will use the funds to expand business overseas and set up a robotic manufacturing facility in India. The company plans to deploy its robots at scale in omnichannel distribution centers across the e-commerce, retail, grocery, fashion, pharma, digital, and petrochemical segments.
Now Addverb has hired Mark Messina, a veteran of fellow robotics vendor Geek+, to be CEO of Addverb Technologies USA Inc. and lead its U.S. subsidiary office in Frisco, Texas. He will be joined by fellow Geek+ and Hai Robotics marketing executive Luke Lee as Addverb’s new Marketing Head of Americas.
According to Addverb co-founder and CEO Sangeet Kumar, its expansion comes at a time when the demand for automation is quickly rising thanks to pandemic supply chain disruptions combined with an increase in home deliveries. Those trends are expected to push the global warehouse robotics market from $4.7 billion in 2021 to $9.1 billion by 2026, with the U.S. market representing a significant portion of that pie.
