Exotec raises $90M to support the international expansion of its warehouse robotics solutions

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Sep 29, 2020, 00:01 ET

LILLE, France, Sept. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Exotec, a leading robotics solution for logistics and creator of the Skypod 3D warehouse robots, announces today a $90 million financing round, led by 83North – with participation from Dell Technologies Capital – and supported by historical investors, Iris Capital and Breega.

This new funding will further fuel Exotec's international development, especially their recently formed Atlanta and Tokyo teams and help them meet the growing demand for warehouse automation technology in the United States and Asia. Exotec has the ambition to become the leader in robotics solutions for logistics and forecasts they will produce up to 4,000 robots per year by 2021.

Exotec's revolutionary robots allow retailers and e-merchants to quadruple their warehouse productivity and increase up to five times their storage capacity. Their autonomous robots can move in a unique three-dimensional pattern at a speed of 13 feet per second, creating a faster and more efficient picking and preparation process.

Warehouse robotics have a 45% CAGR while the global automation market's CAGR is also constantly growing by 10 to 15%.

"There is a global need for robotics solutions in warehouses, but logisticians are often concerned about investing in traditional fixed automation in this fast-changing world. This $50 billion market should be supplied with flexible and efficient solutions to fulfill customers' needs and new shopping timelines. We offer a new generation of warehouse robotics and have the largest deployed and operational systems across three continents," said Romain Moulin, Co-founder and CEO of Exotec.

Exotec revenue doubled in 2020 as several new international clients, including Carrefour and Fast Retailing (Uniqlo group), adopted their technology in key warehouses. This latest funding round will allow the company to further expand and deliver their fully adjustable robotics solution to a wider range of clients in the U.S., Europe and Asia, across numerous B2B and B2C retail sectors such as fashion, grocery, pharmaceutical, hardware, and manufacturing.

In North America, Exotec is expanding its footprint to meet the increasing demand for automated logistics. The company signed partnerships with highly experienced American integrators such as AHS, S&H Systems and Conveyco to accelerate market penetration. Exotec is also currently hiring in North America to support its operations and its growth.

"Brands and retailers are seeing tremendous surge in e-commerce, accelerated by the current pandemic. They must now transform their supply chain to gain competitive advantage. Exotec is addressing this challenge and is the leading player in scalable robotics systems," said Rudi Lueg, Managing Director of North America at Exotec.

The partnership announced at the end of 2019 between Exotec and international retail company, Fast Retailing, is now delivering its benefits to the group. The technology is under deployment in two warehouses in Japan, with 1,000 Skypods improving logistics efficiency for Uniqlo stores. Exotec Nihon has been created to support the operations in Japan and more than 30 employees will be hired in the coming months.

Leading the round, Laurel Bowden, Partner at 83North, stated: "83North has invested in many teams and companies enabling the future of e-commerce. In our opinion, Exotec is one of those special companies, where the founders' backgrounds, company culture, outstanding technology, delighted customers and a rapidly changing market make it a very unique investment."

Scott Darling, President of Dell Technologies Capital, added: "Exotec is revolutionizing the adoption of robotics through its innovative and unique technology. Having relied heavily on world-class R&D skills aligned with solid industrial processes, Exotec is at the forefront of this burgeoning market and clearly the leader in the field."

Adding to this, Julien-David Nitlech, Managing Partner at Iris Capital noted: "Exotec has proven they can address their market needs in many new ways in the past year, scaling in very selective markets such as Japan or food distribution. We are confident that this new round will fuel yet another record growth phase across three continents."

Final notes from François Paulus, Founding-Partner at Breega who added: "As Exotec's earliest investors, we are both delighted and proud to witness first-hand Exotec's trailblazing growth and expansion into international markets. Founders Romain and Renaud have been able to meet growing demands while building and scaling a great team in record time. We're looking forward to seeing what progress this latest fundraise brings."

About Exotec

EXOTEC designs an ultra-innovative robotic system to optimize order preparation for e-merchants. Founded in 2015 by Romain Moulin and Renaud Heitz, EXOTEC has brought a surge of innovation and changed the rules of intralogistics by offering e-retailers an agile solution that adapts to their growth, while offering performance equivalent to market giants.

About 83North

83North is a global venture capital firm with over $1B under management. The fund invests across all stages, in exceptional entrepreneurs, whose focus is to build global category-leading companies. It has backed more than 70 companies including Celonis, Ebury, Hybris (acquired by SAP), iZettle (acquired by PayPal), Just Eat (LSE:JE), Marqeta, Mirakl, ScaleIO (acquired by EMC), SocialPoint (acquired by Take2), Vast, Via and Wolt.

For more information visit www.83north.com and follow us on Twitter @83NorthVC.

About Dell Technologies Capital

Dell Technologies Capital is the global venture capital investment arm of Dell Technologies. The investment team backs passionate early stage founders who push the envelope on technology innovation for enterprises. Since inception in 2012, the team has sustained an investment pace of $150 million a year and has invested in more than 100 startups, 40 of which have been acquired and 6 have gone public. Portfolio companies also gain unique access to the go-to-market capabilities of Dell Technologies (Dell, Dell EMC, VMWare, Pivotal, Secureworks). Notable investments include Adallom, Arista Networks, Cylance, Docusign, Graphcore, JFrog, MongoDB, Netskope, Nutanix, RedLock, RiskRecon, TwistLock, Wavefront and Zscaler. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Dell Technologies Capital has offices in Boston, Austin, and Israel. For more information visit https://www.delltechnologiescapital.com.

About Iris Capital

Iris Capital is a European VC specialized in the digital economy. Since 1986, Iris Capital has fueled over 300 entrepreneurs at various stages of maturity, from early stage to growth equity. With its deep sector specialization and extensive experience, as well as the backing of its corporate sponsors, Iris Capital provides active support to its portfolio companies, through its presence in Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Dubai. Its investments include, among others, Adjust, Armis, Braincube, Careem, Exotec, iAdvize, Jedox, Kyriba, LeanIX, Lumapps, Monk, Open-Xchange, Neocase Software, Netatmo, rebuy, Scality, Shift Technology, Studitemps, Talend, Virtuo and Yubo. For more information, visit www.iriscapital.com.

About Breega

Breega is a founder-friendly VC with 250 M€ under management investing in promising European hightech start-ups at Seed/Series A stage. Breega provides more than just capital. Built by founders for founders, Breega supports its portfolio companies through each phase of their development, providing them with free-of-charge operational expertise (HR, biz dev, marketing & legal) and international opportunities. For more information visit www.breega.com.

SOURCE Exotec