Dive Brief:
- Amazon's $1 billion venture capital fund is expanding its investment scope in 2024, eyeing startups in the last-mile technology and autonomous vehicles space, according to the fund’s director.
- The Industrial Innovation Fund, announced in April 2022, has made several investments in robotics and automation startups with technologies that are deployed in warehouses. But Amazon is now also looking to support transportation companies that can help improve the performance of its sprawling logistics network.
- "Technology will keep playing a significant and ever-increasing role in fulfillment centers, and we will see more and more technology adoption throughout our network, including in middle and last mile delivery, which will help us get orders to customers even faster," Franziska Bossart, the fund's director, said in a Jan. 17 article on Amazon's website.
Portfolio companies of Amazon's Industrial Innovation Fund
| Company | Category | Amazon description |
|---|---|---|
| Veo Robotics | Robotics | “Building responsive machines for flexile factories for human and machine collaboration.” |
| CoreTigo | Automation | “Hardware and software company enabling the wireless communication of industrial machines.” |
| Agility Robotics | Robotics | “The next generation of Digit, the first human-centric, multi-purpose robot made for logistics work.” |
| BionicHive | Robotics | “Providing end-to-end automation solution for warehouses built for human labor, delivering innovation to warehouses quickly and seamlessly.” |
| Modjoul | Worker safety | “Creating an ecosystem of cutting-edge technologies and data intelligence that can make work places safer and more efficient.” |
| Flymingo | Computer vision | “Computer vision technology generating insights from existing cameras throughout the supply chain.” |
| Mantis Robotics | Robotics | “Creating responsive robots for factories and warehouses.” |
| Vimaan | Robotics | “Computer vision and AI solution company dedicated to providing brand and retailers with 100% accurate view of their inventory.” |
| Instock | Robotics | “Providing flexible and reliable fulfillment automation that maximizes savings, storage density, and throughput for eCommerce operators.” |
| Rightbot | Robotics | “Creating autonomous container unloading solutions that ensure robots, not humans, perform repetitive, back-breaking tasks in the warehouse.” |
Source: Amazon
Dive Insight:
Amazon's fund got off to a slow start in its first year, deploying about $110 million of its $1 billion as the company's venture unit and corporate development unit sparred over where to direct funding, The Wall Street Journal reported in June.
The fund has since picked up momentum with investments in Instock, designer of a robotic storage and retrieval system, and Rightbot, developer of an automated container unloading system, late last year.
"This year, we want to further establish the Fund as a venture investor of choice for innovative startups of all sizes within the robotics, fulfillment, and logistics space," Bossart said.
Bossart highlighted collaborative technology, in which people can work alongside robotic systems, as an area of "great potential for industrial application as it can improve and streamline operations and processes while improving safety."
While many of Amazon's investments through the fund have been in early-stage startups, the e-commerce giant is also open to making multi-million dollar investments in more established companies, according to the fund's website. Bossart told TechCrunch earlier this month that she would like the portfolio "to shift 'a little bit' more toward investments in later-stage startups."
