ZSRobotics (智世机器人), an AMR manufacturer, has completed an angel round worth tens of millions of yuan, backed exclusively by NewMargin Capital, Chinese tech media outlet 36Kr reported today.
Proceeds from this round will go toward product R&D, market expansion and employee recruitment.
Founded in July 2019 in Shanghai, ZSRobotics is dedicated to the development of mobile warehouse robots, in particular omnidirectional mobile robots, and provision of smart, efficient and flexible vertical storage solutions.
Core members of the team began working on automated vertical storage solutions as early as 2013 and helped produce the country’s first omnidirectional RoboShuttle device.
Compared to automated guided vehicles (AGVs) or other types of AMRs, omnidirectional vehicles move along pre-laid rails and forward, backward and sideways. This has given the robot more flexibility relative to other types of mobile warehouse vehicles.
ZSRobotics specializes in omnidirectional vehicle and has rolled out standard, slim, heavy-load and customized models, catering to an array of operational scenarios.
Warehouse robots are myriad, and AGVs, which are better-known, are responsible for transferring and sorting materials, said Liu Shaowei, COO of ZSRobotics.
By contrast, an omnidirectional RoboShuttle system handles both the storage and retrieval of warehouse items, he told 36Kr.
The startup introduced the country’s first super-slim RoboShuttle vehicle in 2022, with a height of only 120 mm, which is reportedly the world’s slimmest device of its kind.
In recent years, the smart storage market the world over has undergone a period of rapid smart transformation. According to data from Allied Market Research, the global warehouse automation market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.3% to US$57.6 billion.
Another study by GGII, an automation and robot-focused research institute, China’s smart storage market will reach 225 billion yuan (US$31.34 billion) in 2025 and exceed 340 billion yuan in 2028.
As warehouse storage density increases in the era of intelligent storage, the advantages of omnidirectional robots will become even more salient. This is because they can meet needs for storage and picking in a three-dimensional storage space.
Figures from GGII show that shipments of omnidirectional robots in China are expected to increase by an average 30% from 10,200 units in 2022 to 23,000 units in 2025.
In the meantime, these devices and related hardware and software accessories are forecast to reach a market size of tens of billions of yuan, industry observers predicted.
