Gravity-defying robotics company raises new funding

Instock Inc, the gravity-defying robotics startup, announced this week that it’s raised $3.2M in funding.

The investment round included Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, OneWay Ventures, Lux Capital, Commerce VC, u.ventures, and Cybernetix Ventures, among others.

Instock is expected to use the new funds in part to help launch its first production system with a tech-forward 3PL in North America.

The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund is a $1 billion corporate venture capital fund that supports emerging technology companies through direct investments.

Said Franziska Bossart, the Head of the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, “There is a growing need for highly automated, space-efficient buildings in logistics. Instock’s ASRS capabilities have the potential to improve the number of shipments per day and storage density in space constrained environments – all of which can enable faster delivery to customers and lower costs. Part of what makes Instock’s ASRS unique is that it can be easily retrofitted into existing environments, allowing for plug-and-play automation in a wide variety of building types. We’re excited to support Instock’s vision as they scale and offer production systems more broadly.”

One Way Ventures is a venture fund on a mission to back exceptional immigrant founders building high-impact global companies.

Said Semyon Dukach, Founding Partner of One Way Ventures, “The technology that Instock has built can have a material impact on the future of eCommerce fulfillment. We are excited by the unprecedented speed and efficiency Instock can bring to fulfillment operations across the country.”

InStock’s architecture allows it to provide a 10-fold reduction in fulfillment costs while simultaneously creating flexibility for eCommerce operators. Its modular racking can be built in various shapes up to the clear height of a building. Since the mobile robot is the only moving part of the solution, system maintenance can be better encapsulated for end users or technicians located off-site.