ForwardX Robotics Picks Up $61M in Series C Funding for Mobile Robot Orchestration

ForwardX Technology Co. today announced that the successful completion of its latest funding round on July 7. The Beijing-based provider of vision-based mobile robot technology raised $30 million, bringing its Series C total to $61 million.

Since its founding in 2016, ForwardX Robotics said it has raised about $140 million. It said the funding "will be instrumental in further accelerating the company's growth and expanding its presence across the globe."

"Our success in securing this funding reflects the positive momentum we have built over the past few years," stated Nicolas Chee, CEO of ForwardX, in a release. "ForwardX Robotics has experienced substantial growth across key markets, and we are excited to expand our footprint globally. This funding will propel our efforts to supply solutions to our partners and end users in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia."

ForwardX offers 'end-to-end automation'

ForwardX Robotics said its team of more than 250 experts includes computer vision scientists and robotics specialists. The company claimed that it is a global leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and orchestration engines "for end-to-end automation."

ForwardX sells systems for materials handling, picking, docking, and storage management in warehouses and factories.

For the manufacturing and automotive industries, ForwardX provides vision-based products including autonomous forklifts, tugger AMRs, and conveyor-top AMRs. The company added that it developed its Flex, Max, Apex, and Lynx product families with specific pain points and workflows in mind.

In the warehousing and logistics space, ForwardX covers each picking, case picking, and hybrid picking workflows. In addition, its f(x) Fleet Manager can command fleets of hundreds of AMRs and Apex autonomous forklifts.

Big customers have successful deployments

ForwardX said its goal is to revolutionize warehousing and manufacturing operations on a global scale. The company asserted that it is the No. 2 provider of assisted picking and material handling solutions, having deployed more than 150 commercial projects and 3,000 robots across four continents. It also offers systems through a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model.

Customers such as SF DHL have seen improvements in picking efficiency of up to 200%, said ForwardX. It also touted successful implementations at L'Oreal, IKEA, UNIQLO, Walmart, Orbis, Mitsubishi, JD Logistics, BYD, and more.

TCL deployed Flex AMRs with a lifting module for line-side delivery, which FowardX said was "the world’s first 5G AMR deployment" (see video above).

Chery recently deployed more than 100 AMRs from across ForwardX's product lines as one unified fleet to support its automotive Super Factory, which produces over 300,000 vehicles and 200,000 KD units per year.

ForwardX said these partnerships have demonstrated the value of its technologies in improving efficiency, productivity, and operational excellence across various sectors.

Last week, ForwardX named Richmond Rolling Solutions as exclusive distributor of its AMRs in Australia and New Zealand.