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RightHand Robotics automation cells sort products. | Credit: RightHand Robotics

RightHand Robotics  announced that it has secured $66 million in a Series C financing led by top growth investors: Safar Partners, a technology venture fund; Thomas H. Lee Partners L.P. (“THL”), a leading investor in automation and supply chain; and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, which is part of the SoftBank Group. Zebra Technologies, Epson and Global Brain also join this round, along with previous investors GV, F-Prime Capital, Menlo Ventures, Matrix Partners and Tony Fadell’s Future Shape. Previous rounds were led by Menlo Ventures and Playground Global.

RightHand Robotics invented the RightPick Platform, a collaborative robot and unique gripper solution for a wide range of fulfillment center processes. The piece-picking solution combines an intelligent gripper, a vision system, and control software with learning as a form of hand, eye, coordination providing accountability for picking success.

The RightPick solution is built around a cobot with vision and intelligent gripper. | Credit: RightHand Robotics

“The past few years have been an incredibly exciting time for us,” said Yaro Tenzer, CEO and co-founder of RightHand Robotics. “This Series C funding round attracted top-tier investors who know the space and share our vision that piece-picking automation enables predictable throughput with lights-out item handling, while meeting customer needs for scalable fulfillment services. We are eager to continue expanding our solution set and global presence to meet the needs of warehouse operators worldwide.”

“We have been believers in this company for a few years already,” said Arunas Chesonis, managing partner at Safar Partners. “The RightHand Robotics piece-picking solution has demonstrated year after year that autonomous robots are vital to solving the challenges of organizations from retail to pharmacy. The surge in e-commerce will continue even when the pandemic subsides, and we are eager to witness the continued maturation of the robotics industry in response to this global demand.”

The company has found success in the growing warehouse and logistics market, in applications where product sorting is critical. The company has raised a total of $119.3M over six rounds, and intends to use the funds to accelerate product and business development, while scaling its global presence and partner network. The company will also expand its offices and invest in talent acquisition to support overall growth plans.

“RightHand Robotics identified a challenge in the marketplace and responded with a solution that is intelligent, adaptable, and easy to integrate with adjacent software and automation solutions,” said Mike Kaczmarek, managing director at THL. “The company’s piece-picking solution enables customers from a diverse set of end markets such as e-commerce, grocery, and pharmaceuticals to streamline and scale their operations and supply chains.”

“Labor shortages are stretching global fulfillment to breaking point, prompting companies to invest more in automation to help improve efficiency and reliability,” said Ram Trichur, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “We believe that RightHand Robotics is a leader in supply chain logistics with a flexible, full-stack platform that can be integrated directly into customers’ existing systems to improve throughput while decreasing fulfillment costs. We are delighted to partner with Leif Jentoft and Yaro Tenzer and the team as they expand their international presence.”

RightHand Robotics delivers its innovative piece-picking solution, RightPick 3, with the aid of integration partners such as Element Logic, an AutoStore partner and one of Europe’s leading intralogistics companies; and Okamura, Japan’s leading provider of high-quality products and services for offices, education, commercial facilities and distribution centers. Through these collaborations, RightHand Robotics customers include PALTAC CORPORATION, Japan’s largest wholesaler of consumer packaged goods, and apo.com Group, Europe’s most advanced online pharmacy.

“Zebra Technologies has been an active investor and solution provider to help businesses globally digitize and automate their supply chains and augment front-line workers,” said Tony Palcheck, managing director of Zebra Ventures, Zebra Technologies. “For customers across the consumer-packaged goods, retail, logistics and other industries, fulfilling orders with higher speed, accuracy, safety and cost savings is key, and RightHand Robotics helps achieve those efficiencies.”

Listen to RightHand Robotics co-founder Yaro Tenzer discuss the application of robotics to sorting and logistics on a recent episode of The Robot Report Podcast.