Alibaba-backed warehouse robot raises $18m in funding

Chinese robot company Geek+ has raised RMB100 million ($18 million) in a funding round led by Vertex Venture, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.
The Beijing-based enterprise was founded in 2015 and its robots have been likened to the Kiva robots used by Amazon to automate processes in its distribution centres.
The money raised will be used to support the start-up’s research and development capabilities and expand its team and business.
Geek+ manufactures robots for use in warehouses by the logistics industry. They are capable of selecting, transporting and sorting packages and objects, and can move autonomously to aid human colleagues with tasks.
Business Standard reports that 300 of Geek+’s robots can already be found at work in a number of industries including e-commerce, retail and manufacturing in China, covering over 50,000sqm of warehouse space.
It is backed by several large names, including Alibaba whose TMall e-commerce platform it supported during China’s biggest shopping event – Singles’ Day by sorting millions of packages.