China logistics robotics player Geek+ raises $100m

Investors include Intel Capital, Vertex Growth, and Qingyue Capital Investment, according to a statement. The capital will be used to accelerate a global market expansion and invest in autonomous mobile robot (AMR) technology R&D.

Geek+ closed a Series D led by CPE Capital in 2021 that was not disclosed at the time. That year, the company recorded annual revenue of USD150m and over USD300m in orders. In the first half of 2022, order volume doubled year-on-year. The company expects to maintain 100% year-on-year growth for the remainder of 2022.

Founded in 2015, Geek+ makes automated, artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled robots that perform various inventory organization tasks in warehouses. It claims to be the world’s largest AMR supplier, serving 500 global industry leaders. The company has over 1,500 employees across Germany, the UK, the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and China.

Geek+ is also the only provider with AMRs covering all robotics categories and scenarios. These include full-solution capabilities for storage, picking, and sorting in warehouses, as well as material handling robots and unmanned forklifts for manufacturing.

The company has actively developed its flagship offering in the past year and launched new AMR products. Other new technologies include Matrix, a robotic software and hardware technology platform, and a robot management system capable of scheduling large-scale robot clusters.

"Geek+ has passed the stage of simply pursuing scale and is now moving towards the stage of commercial success with profitability and positive cash flow," said Yong Zheng, the company's founder and CEO.

Tianlin Wang, a managing director at Intel Capital, said that Geek+ has developed in-depth technological cooperation with Intel and is one of Intel's benchmark partners in the field of robotics and robot-based solutions.

"Through this investment, we will deepen the relationship between our two companies and work together to create solutions that combine cloud, edge, and autonomous mobile robot technologies to drive global smart logistics innovation and infrastructure modernisation,” Wang added.

Geek+ closed a Series C in 2020, having raised USD 200m across two tranches. V Fund Management, Redview Capital, Vertex Ventures, GGV Capital, and D1 Capital Partners were among the participants. A USD 150m Series B - which took the company's valuation past USD 1bn - came in 2018. It featured Warburg Pincus, Vertex, and Volcanics Ventures.

In recent years, Chinese investors have pivoted from mobile internet to business services and deep-tech domestically. Investors have identified a similar trend in outbound expansion, with the mobile internet opportunity largely exhausted. Supply chain capabilities and integrated hardware and software are now in focus.

Chinese robotics players are seen as having an advantage globally in terms of capabilities around algorithms and manufacturing. Superior production efficiencies in industry hubs such as Shenzhen are believed to have supported rapid global growth for local robot makers, which can now compete head-to-head with their US peers.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Technology
• Intel Capital
• Vertex Growth
• robotics
• China
• Logistics
• artificial intelligence
• manufacturing