Geek+ Closes $100M Series E1 Funding With Strategic Investment From Intel

Autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs, may be spreading through warehouses, but there's still plenty of room for growth. Geekplus Technology Co. today announced that it has closed a new $100 million Series E1 funding round and that it is now valued at more than $2 billion. The Beijing-based company said it plans to use the funding to accelerate its global market expansion and continue AMR research and development.

“Thanks to the successful implementation of our global business strategy, the transformative value of our products, and the surge of the smart logistics market, Geek+ is well-positioned to further capture the outsized growth opportunities,” stated Yong Zheng, founder and CEO of Geek+. “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.”

Founded in 2015, Geek+ said it applies robotics and artificial intelligence to provide flexibile, reliable, and efficient systems for warehouses and supply chain management. The company has more than 1,400 employees worldwide, and it claimed that it has more than 500 industrial customers.

It recently opened new regional headquarters in the U.K. and partnered with Körber Supply Chain to expand its presence in South America.

Geek+ to continue global expansion

“We are confident in our commercial success and future growth trajectory,” said Zheng. “The labor-intensive logistics sector has a strong demand for robotic automation, and the market is still largely underserved.”

Geek+ provides technologies for storage, picking, and sorting in warehouses, as well as materials handling robots and unmanned forklifts for manufacturing. In the past year, the company launched a new generation of its flagship goods-to-person robot, the PopPick all-in-one picking system, as well as a combination of its AMRs and four way-shuttles.

It also recently released Matrix, a robotic software and hardware technology platform, and a robot management system (RMS) capable of scheduling large-scale robot clusters.

With its growing product portfolio and global business network, Geek+ claimed that it provides reliable operations and maintenance services, while the scale of its robotics shipments enable it to offer cost competitiveness. The company said it plans to use its latest funding to continue market growth and strengthen product differentiation with innovation.

“With the first-mover advantage, Geek+ has already developed a solid competitive advantage in global markets, bringing in a constant driving force for business development,” Zheng said. “This, coupled with our three technology pillars of robotics, systems, and algorithms, has not only allowed Geek+ to develop a full product line, but also improve R&D efficiency while reducing R&D costs.”

Last year, Geek+ opened its Global R&D Center in Hong Kong Science Park.

Intel invests in AMR growth

Investors in Geek+'s Series E1 round included Intel Capital, Vertex Growth, and Qingyue Capital Investment.

In early 2021, Geek+ closed a previously undisclosed Series D financing round led by CPE. In 2021, the company reported annual revenue of $150 million and over $300 million in orders.

In the first half of 2022, Geek+ said its order volume doubled in comparison with the same period in 2021. It said it expects to maintain its 100% year-on-year growth trajectory for the remainder of 2022.

“As the leader in the global autonomous mobile robots industry, 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,” said Tianlin Wang, managing director at Intel Capital. “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 modernization.”

“Together with Intel, we will build upon our core robotics technologies and system capabilities, strengthening the technological foundation for future business development and long-term growth,” said Zheng.