Goldman leads US$51m funding in Japan's Rapyuta Robotics

GOLDMAN Sachs Group led a US$51 million investment in Rapyuta Robotics, a maker of autonomous machines used in the logistics industry.

The Tokyo-based company has now raised US$81 million in 3 funding rounds, according to a press release.

The capital is earmarked to develop warehouse robots, cloud robotics as well as for training, research and development. Logistics companies that have used Rapyuta's robots have seen a doubling of productivity in their operations within 5 months, the company said.

"While the global logistics industry is rapidly expanding due to rising e-commerce demand, it faces a wave of digitisation and a challenge of labour shortage," said Stephanie Hui, global co-head of Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. "As the industry seeks for automation solutions to improve efficiency, we are optimistic about the growth of Rapyuta Robotics as a pioneer in cloud robotics platforms."

Rapyuta's next-generation cloud robotics platform, rapyuta.io, uses control and artificial intelligence technologies to improve the efficiency and safety of warehouse operations, enabling multiple robots to work together, according to the firm.

Goldman Sachs has targeted ploughing at least US$30 billion into Asian alternative assets over the next 5 years, betting on technology startups, real estate, consumer and renewable energy. BLOOMBERG