French robotics company Exotec, creator of the Skypod 3D warehouse robots, has completed a $90m financing round.

The funding will help fuel Exotec’s international development, especially its recently formed Atlanta and Tokyo teams and help them meet the growing demand for warehouse automation technology in the USA and Asia. Exotec has the ambition to become the leader in robotics for logistics and forecasts it will produce up to 4000 robots per year by 2021.

The robots can help retailers and e-merchants quadruple their warehouse productivity and increase up to five times their storage capacity. The autonomous robots can move in a three-dimensional pattern at a speed of four metres 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 in warehouses, but logisticians are often concerned about investing in traditional fixed automation in this fast-changing world,” said Romain Moulin, co-founder and CEO of Exotec. “This $50bn market should be supplied with flexible and efficient solutions to fulfil 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.”

Exotec revenue doubled in 2020 as several new international clients, including Carrefour and Fast Retailing, part of the Uniqlo group, adopted their technology in warehouses. This latest funding round will allow the company to expand and deliver fully adjustable robotics to a wider range of clients in the USA, 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 experienced American integrators such as AHS, S&H Systems and Conveyco to accelerate market penetration. Exotec is also hiring in North America to support its operations and its growth.

“Brands and retailers are seeing tremendous surge in ecommerce, accelerated by the current pandemic,” said Rudi Lueg, Exotec’s managing director for North America. “They must now transform their supply chain to gain competitive advantage. Exotec is addressing this challenge and is the leading player in scalable robotics.”

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 1000 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.

The funding round was led by 83North with participation from Dell Technologies Capital and supported by historical investors Iris Capital and Breega.

“83North has invested in many teams and companies enabling the future of ecommerce,” said Laurel Bowden, partner at 83North. “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 revolutionising 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.”

And Julien-David Nitlech, managing partner at Iris Capital, said: “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.”

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

“As Exotec’s earliest investors, we are both delighted and proud to witness first-hand Exotec’s trailblazing growth and expansion into international markets,” said François Paulus, founding partner at Breega. “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.”