Nimble Robotics Secures $50 Million in Series A Funding

Nimble Robotics, a company specializing in warehouse automation, has announced the successful completion of a $50 million Series A funding round. This investment was spearheaded by DNS Capital and GSR Ventures, with participation from Accel and Reinvent Capital.

Expansion Plans Following Funding

The newly acquired capital will primarily be allocated towards expanding the company’s workforce. Nimble Robotics intends to approximately double its current headcount throughout the coming year.

Deep Imitation Learning at the Core

The company was established by Simon Kalouche, a former PhD student from Stanford University. Their system leverages deep imitation learning, a prominent technique in robotics research focused on enabling systems to learn and refine their performance through observation and replication.

Rapid Deployment and Reliability

Kalouche emphasizes a pragmatic approach to robotics deployment. “We prioritized real-world application over prolonged laboratory testing,” he stated. The system achieves a high degree of autonomy, functioning independently around 90-95% of the time.

Remaining tasks, constituting 5-10% of operations, are supported by remote human oversight. However, the system demonstrates consistent reliability from initial deployment and throughout its operational lifespan.

Benefiting from E-commerce Growth

Nimble Robotics is among a growing number of robotics firms experiencing accelerated growth due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The surge in e-commerce, coupled with increased interest in automation solutions, has fueled significant excitement surrounding warehouse fulfillment technologies.

Production-Ready Robotics

Kalouche highlighted the company’s rapid progress and extensive deployment. “We’ve experienced substantial growth and have a significant number of robots actively operating in production environments,” he explained to TechCrunch.

He further noted that, unlike some competitors, Nimble’s robots are not merely prototypes. They are currently processing tens of thousands of actual customer orders daily.

New Additions to the Board of Directors

Alongside the funding announcement, Nimble Robotics is bolstering its leadership with the addition of two prominent figures to its Board of Directors. These include Fei-Fei Li, a Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, and Sebastian Thrun, known for his work with Kitty Hawk and Udacity.

Expert Endorsements

Fei-Fei Li, who is also a seed investor, commented on Nimble’s strengths. “Nimble effectively addresses concerns regarding both reliability and seamless integration,” she said. “Their robots have consistently demonstrated reliable performance in production settings, at scale, for over a year with major retail clients.”

She added that the company has developed an AI-powered product that simplifies and accelerates integration for its retail customers.

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