Reliance Industries Limited has shelled out USD 132 million to pick up 54% stake in Indian robotics start-up Addverb Technologies to boost the conglomerate’s automation efforts.
The Noida-based start-up builds robotics and automation solutions for factories and warehouses. Reliance already uses Addverb’s solutions, including robotic conveyors, semi-automated systems, and pick-by-voice software in its warehouses.
The acquisition is in line with Reliance’s plans to extend its warehouses to hundreds of locations in a span of two years, said Sangeet Kumar, CEO and co-founder, Addverb Technologies.
“We are glad to announce our strategic partnership with Reliance led by an investment of 132 mn USD in our Series B round. This strategic partnership will help us leverage 5G, battery technology through new energy initiatives and advances in material science of Reliance to deliver more advanced and affordable robots. This association will also provide us with an opportunity to deploy our robots at scale in omni-channel distribution centres across different segments like e-commerce, retail, grocery, fashion, pharma, digital and petrochemical. This funding will help us in expanding our footprint and help us deliver highly automated warehouses for global brands,” according to the company.
Addverb has the capacity to churn out 10,000 robots a year including mobile robots, sorting robots, pallets shuttle and carton shuttle. 80% of the company’s revenues come from India. However, the founders hope to change ratio to 50:50 between India and overseas in the next four to five years.
Addverb-- founded in June 2016, by Sangeet Kumar, Prateek Jain, Bir Singh, Satish Kumar Shukla and Amit Kumar-- counts Amazon, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, HUL, Marico and Flipkart as its clients. The company plans to use the proceeds to expand its global footprint in Europe and the US.
The startup has units in Singapore, the Netherlands, the US and Australia.
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