Capital Today leads $35m Series B for China's XYZ Robotics
Capital Today China Group has led a $35 million Series B round for XYZ Robotics, a Chinese start-up specializing in robotic hand-eye coordination.
Existing investors Gaorong Capital, 5Y Capital and Source Code Capital re-upped. Source Code led a $20 million Series A extension in 2020. The first tranche of the Series A closed in 2019 at $8 million, co-led by Gaorong and 5Y Capital.
Founded in 2018 by scientists from Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Peking University, Shanghai-based XYZ Robotics provides one-stop solutions for 3D vision picking, such as logistics product sorting, industrial loading and unloading and assembly. The aim is to provide fully autonomous robot perception and operation.
XYZ Robotics markets itself as the only company to finish in the top three in Amazon's robot picking challenge for three consecutive years. These contests focus on "bin picking,” which refers to a robot’s ability to use sensors and cameras to identify and retrieve objects positioned at random in a bin.
The company’s technology is based on automatic sorting without registration information. Its vision is to “pick anything, place anywhere”. Algorithms reduce reliance on hardware, enabling logistics industry customers to save on costs.
In the past year, the company has entered different industries, including e-commerce, logistics, industrials, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and consumer goods. It claims to be widely used by leading companies.
"XYZ Robotics empowers robots to achieve the best technical indicators and ease of use, which truly gives users value. Especially in complex scenes such as disorderly picking of small parts in logistics, disordered loading and unloading of industrial scenes, XYZ Robotics is one generation more advanced in key indicators such as cycle time, SKU [stockkeeping unit] coverage, and basket clearance rate,” said founder and CEO Jiaji Zhou.
Competitors include Mech-Mind Robotics, which raised a RMB100 million ($14 million) Series B led by Sequoia Capital China. The company specializes in artificial intelligence and machine vision solutions for robotic arms with a focus on bin picking.
Meanwhile, Geek+, a manufacturer of robots used to move merchandise around warehouses, remains one of the best-funded Chinese start-ups in the broader logistics technology space. It closed a Series C in June 2020, having raised $200 million across two tranches.
Other players in the space include industrial robot manufacturer Jaka Robotics, which raised RMB300 million in Series C funding in January, as well as Han's Robot, a manufacturer of industrial robots that raised a RMB395 million Series B in June. In January, Flexiv, a start-up specializing in machines that adapt to unpredictable environments, raised a $100 million Series B featuring Gaorong.
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