Locus Robotics, a Wilmington, Mass.-based developer of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), continues its expansion. Last week it announced expedited plans to open its European headquarters in Amsterdam thanks to a $40 million Series D funding round. Today, Locus is sharing it plans to grow the presence of the LocusBots AMRs in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Locus partnered with Cohesion Group, an Australia-based robotics and voice technology integrator. Cohesio is now a licensed reseller of the LocusBots. Cohesio can manage installations, training and support for shared customers in the Asia Pacific Region (APAC). Körber AG acquired a majority stake in Cohesio Group in 2019.
“This partnership enables us to bring the Locus solution to a greater number of retail and 3PL customers in the Australia and New Zealand region, who are under tremendous pressure to meet increasing demand in today’s booming e-commerce market,” said Rick Faulk, CEO, Locus Robotics. “We look forward to working together to deliver cutting-edge robotic technology that will drive significant operational efficiency and productivity gains.”
Many experts are saying the COVID-19 pandemic will expedite the shift to online shopping as the new normal across the globe. In the U.S. and Canada, for example, there’s been a 129% year-over-year growth of e-commerce orders as of April 21. AMRs from Locus and others are stepping up to help companies fulfill this surge in demand.
“We have been exploring ways to broaden our portfolio and service offering in the robotics and AMR space. We know that many retailers and logistics providers are experiencing a surge in e-commerce demand and therefore having to re-think their operations,” said Nishan Wijemanne, CEO, Cohesio Group. “With this new partnership, we can add value to our clients and offer further AMR and technology solutions that can help them to meet this increase in demand.”
LocusBots navigate autonomously within a warehouse to locate and transport pick items to associates. LocusBots can be flexibly deployed to support a range of picking strategies, helping to reduce time spent on routine or physically demanding tasks, reducing manual errors and increase productivity for customers.
Last week’s Series D round brought Locus‘ total amount of funding raised to $105 million. Locus raised its $26 million Series C in April 2019.
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