Softbank leads $15M investment in Youibot

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The Youibot product line includes a wide range of AMR solutions. | Image credit: Youibot

Shenzhen China based Youibot, announced that it closed a $15M round of funding, led by SoftBank Ventures Asia. Youibot also has had continuous investment from SIG and BlueRun. Youibot services customers that include large, global brands such as: CRRC Zhuzhou, Huawei, Michelin, FASTRE, ASM, Huaneng Group. Youibot also has established a deep channel sales network with more than 60 countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Spain and Germany.

Youibot was founded in 2017 and has a product line that includes a rich lineup of autonomous mobile robots designed for a variety of commercial applications. The core Youibot autonomous mobile robotic technology and software enables the company to design and build AMRs specifically for an application segment. In spring 2020, Youibot was one of the early entrants into the UV-C light disinfection market with an autonomous mobile robot based disinfection solution. With that product release, Youibot demonstrated how quickly and nimbly the company can react to changing market needs. Cameras on top of the Youibot UV-C disinfection AMR are capable of identifying employees entering the building wearing masks or with an elevated temperature. Youibot was one of the first AMR companies to launch a solution that enabled HR and management teams to actively check employee health condition and compliance to corporate mask-wearing directives.

Youibot has built a number of mobile manipulator-based designs that integrate a COBOT arm on top of an AMR platform for any number of tasks, including remote inspection and manipulation. The company has designed and delivered a number of mobile manipulator solutions, built on top of their high-payload base, the Youibot Trans autonomous mobile robot.

The Youibot Trans AMR base can be configured with different payloads to address a variety of applications. | Image credit: Youibot

“It’s just the first step of factory upgrading and transformation to realize unmanned operation via mobile robot, while what’s more important is to deeply integrate mobile robot into business management via industrial service software, assisting in resource optimization and decision-making.” The model of mobile robot plus industrial service software, has more value and service space and can better adapt to customer needs. This is the optimal form of development of mobile robot in future,” said Youibot CEO Cody Zhang.

BlueRun’s managing director Cao Wei commented, “Under the wave of new infrastructure, the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries are accelerating, and the application of pan-industrial automation is facing unprecedented market opportunities. As the leader of mobile robots, Youibot has gone deep into vertical scenarios to create a closed-loop service for customers. Its solutions have been put into practice in many fields such as manufacturing and energy. We look forward to witnessing the process of reform and development of the mobile robot enabling industry together with Youibot.”

Takeaways

This investment will provide Youibot with the fuel and resources that it needs to continue its worldwide expansion. The company has demonstrated an ability to innovate and react to market needs. The next level of growth should come through the expansion of its global footprint and reach via channel partners within each region. Softbank continues to place bets on the future opportunity of robotic-based solutions. Youibot has all of the elements that will make it a compatible part of the extended Softbank family.