The founders of Photoneo Brightpick Group, which is separating its imaginative and prescient and robotics models. Supply: Photoneo
Photoneo Brightpick Group at the moment introduced that it has agreed to Zebra Applied sciences Corp.’s acquisition of its Photoneo s.r.o. unit, which gives imaginative and prescient sensors and synthetic intelligence for robotics.
“Zebra is the right companion to assist Photoneo in its subsequent chapter as an organization,” said Jan Zizka, co-founder and CEO of Photoneo Brightpick Group. “By combining Photoneo’s industry-leading 3D imaginative and prescient know-how with Zebra’s world attain and broad portfolio of robotics and machine imaginative and prescient options, Photoneo is well-positioned to speed up its progress and growth.”
Bratislava, Slovakia-based Photoneo Brightpick Group mentioned it has greater than 8,000 know-how installations throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Its Brightpick unit presents AI robots for warehouses to automate order achievement, from order selecting and consolidation to dispatch and inventory replenishment. The firm spun off in 2021 from Photoneo Brightpick Group.
Register at the moment to avoid wasting 40% on convention passes!
Brightpick to proceed world growth
After the acquisition, Photoneo Brightpick Group mentioned it is going to rename itself as Brightpick and proceed working as a separate entity centered on creating and deploying AI robots to automate warehouse operations.
The corporate mentioned it plans to reinvest the vast majority of the proceeds from the sale to speed up deployment throughout the U.S. and Europe. In October 2024, Brightpick raised $12 million, and it mentioned it has secured a complete of $47 million in funding to this point.
“This transaction gives vital capital to reinvest in Brightpick and supply some return to shareholders,” asserted Zizka, a visitor on The Robotic Report Podcast. “With Brightpick’s ARR [annual recurring revenue] rising 8x in 2024 and our 2025 manufacturing capability almost absolutely booked, this funding will allow us to scale manufacturing and deployment to satisfy hovering demand for our AI robots and serve much more prospects.”
Autopicker takes simply weeks to deploy and permits corporations to attenuate labor for achievement, mentioned Brightpick. The cellular manipulator can decide and consolidate orders instantly in warehouse aisles, like a human with a cart.
The robotic is powered by superior AI, which permits it to function in any warehouse atmosphere and autonomously fulfill orders throughout a variety of product classes, in accordance with the corporate. Erlanger, Ky.-based Brightpick gained Software of the 12 months within the 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards for Autopicker.
Zebra, Photoneo to mix AI, imaginative and prescient experience
Each Zebra Applied sciences and Photoneo have developed notion {hardware} and software program for robotics purposes.
Photoneo claimed that its patented parallel structured gentle know-how delivers quick, correct, and high-resolution data. The firm added that its sensors are licensed to combine with many main robotic arms.
Zebra mentioned its product portfolio relies on greater than 50 years of expertise in in scanning, track-and-trace, and cellular computing programs. With an ecosystem of 10,000 companions throughout greater than 100 international locations, the Lincolnshire, Sick.-based firm counts over 80% of the Fortune 500 amongst its prospects.
In 2021, Zebra acquired autonomous cellular robotic (AMR) supplier Fetch Robotics for $290 million. At MODEX 2024, it launched new cellular robots, equipment, and scanners. In Could, the corporate expanded its choices for producers.
“The mixture of Photoneo’s 3D machine imaginative and prescient options with Zebra’s superior sensors, vendor-agnostic software program, and AI-based picture processing will present a novel portfolio of choices to our prospects globally,” mentioned Joe White, chief product and options officer at Zebra. “Collectively, we’ll assist our prospects throughout automotive manufacturing, logistics, and different key markets maximize the potential of machine imaginative and prescient inside their frontline operations.”
The businesses didn’t disclose the phrases of the transaction and mentioned it’s topic to customary closing circumstances. They mentioned they count on to shut the deal within the first quarter of 2025.
