The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Feb 2018

Magazino is a Munich, Germany–based robotics company that develops mobile robots and ACROS.AI, a software platform for intelligent robots that can be used with third-party hardware. The company positions ACROS.AI as a core software layer for future robots and for use across different hardware platforms. Magazino plans to use new capital to expand its international sales activities and to accelerate the expansion of ACROS.AI. The firm closed a €21 million Series B financing to support those efforts. Management says the investment underscores strong market demand for both its robots and its software and will help Magazino assume a central role in mobile-robotics software. Magazino develops autonomous mobile robots—notably TORU and the heavy-duty SOTO—designed to work alongside people in e-commerce distribution and storage facilities. SOTO handles boxes of more than 20 pounds and up to around two feet across, while TORU is intended for smaller payloads such as shoeboxes. The robots autonomously load multiple target boxes into internal storage and navigate to drop-off locations using real-time 3D imaging. Magazino is investing heavily in its sensing and real-time operation stack, called ACROS, to enable safe, cooperative operation in ordinary shelves, lanes, and tables. The company was founded in 2014 and has deployed systems with major clients; by 2016 it had landed customers like Fiege. Fiege remains a customer and recently ordered 30 additional robots. Magazino is a Munich-based company that develops, builds and sells innovative storage and dispensing machines enabling efficient handling of individual items. Its systems use a 3D camera to determine size, shape, position and ideal gripping points. An algorithm calculates optimal space utilization and an IT platform provides administration and management of the hardware. The startup emerged from the Technische Universität München and was supported by Exist and Flügge since 2013. It already counts customers in the pharmacy and fulfillment center industries. Magazino completed a seed financing round to support its operations and product development.