Mytra, a robotics company for warehouse automation, launched from stealth Tuesday with $78 million raised across three rounds, including a $50 million Series B led by Greenoaks. The company declined to disclose a valuation.
The logistics business, which is revenue-generating, was incubated by Eclipse Ventures, a VC firm focused on investments in physical industries. Its 3D robotics system automates moving and storing materials in warehouses.
Mytra joins a rapidly growing group of startups developing AI-enabled robotics, an emerging technology that is bolstering an otherwise slow dealmaking landscape for warehouse and supply chain technology. In the first half of 2024, warehousing-tech startups raised $298 million—compared to $451.6 million in the first half of 2023, according to PitchBook data.
But even as VCs retreat from the supply chain, AI-enabled robotics for warehouses remains hot, seen as a viable, practical application for generative AI technology in the physical world. Covariant, co-founded by OpenAI research veterans, has raised more than $220 million in total capital for its warehouse robotics picking technology. Earlier this month, Standard Bots, a developer of robotic arms for manufacturing, raised a $63 million Series B led by General Catalyst.
The idea for Mytra originated on co-founder Chris Walti’s notepad in early 2022, according to Seth Winterroth, a partner at Eclipse, which led the company’s seed and Series A rounds.
Walti then worked out of Eclipse’s offices throughout the summer of 2022 to develop his idea for the startup through customer conversations, an incubation model that Eclipse has replicated with roughly a dozen of its portfolio companies.
Walti previously led Tesla‘s Optimus project, which is developing a humanoid robot. Mytra co-founder Ahmad Baitalmal most recently headed up factory software at Rivian.
Mytra’s production system is in market with its first customers and has a “massive backlog of business that we’re ready to fulfill over the next two or three years,” Winterroth said.
The next stage of Mytra’s growth will involve reducing the company’s cost structure and working toward unit economics, he added: “We want to get to this place where the merits of the business are underwritten purely by looking at the financials alone.” Winterroth declined to share details on the company’s revenue growth.
Featured image courtesy of Mytra
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