Highlights:

  • Atomico led the Series A round with numerous returning investors like Maersk A.S. venture capital.
  • Dexory employs internally developed robots to autonomously inspect warehouse shelves and measure the amount of inventory they contain.

Dexory Ltd., a British startup that employs 39-foot-tall robots to improve the efficiency of logistics warehouses, has secured USD 19 million in new funding.

The Series A round announced recently, was led by Atomico and included several returning investors like Maersk A/S.’s venture capital division. Maersk is a customer as well.

To determine when to order new merchandise from a supplier, retailers examine the availability of products in their inventories. Logistics teams will purchase more if a product is running low on stock. When purchasing inventory, logistics professionals must also consider the available space in their company’s warehouses.

By manually scanning the shelving of a warehouse with specialized portable devices, logistics teams can collect data on inventory and available space. According to Dexory, the task is time-consuming and error-prone in certain circumstances. The startup claims to have devised a more effective strategy.

Dexory employs internally developed robots to autonomously inspect warehouse shelves and measure the amount of inventory they contain. The robots of the startup can extend to a height of approximately 12 meters (39 feet) to access items located on elevated platforms. Dexory says its technology enables businesses to execute warehouse scans up to 1000 times quicker than conventional methods.

The robot utilizes depth cameras and lidar devices to map the warehouse’s inventory. The sensors of its devices can detect not only sizable objects such as pallets and packages but also barcodes.

The robot transmits the collected data to a cloud application called DexoryView. It generates a visualization of warehouse shelves that logistics teams can examine to determine inventory availability.

The DexoryView interface displays high-level data, such as the percentage of a shelf’s free capacity and more granular information about the individual items it contains. A sidebar highlights low-inventory products and other potential logistical issues.

Andrei Danescu, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, said, “For those operating warehouses, ensuring 100% fulfillment ‘in time, all the time’ is crucial to meeting the demands of the modern consumer. A critical component to achieving this is high stock accuracy.”

Dexory claims that its platform is also a digital twin tool. A digital twin is a type of sophisticated simulation that can virtually replicate not only the fundamental characteristics of an object but also its current state in the physical world. A simulated manufacturing line, for example, may shut down if the actual production line on which it is based has a technical difficulty.

Using the robotics and software from Dexory, a business can construct a digital twin of its logistics warehouses. Then, logistics professionals can use the digital twin to investigate more efficient methods for stocking warehouse shelves. According to Dexory, the utility can also be used for various other purposes, such as predicting consumer demand.

The company will use the funds from its most recent funding round to double its workforce by the end of the year. The new hires will assist Dexory in expanding its market presence in the United States and European Union. Concurrently, the company intends to increase production capacity at the U.K. facility that produces its warehouse robots.