London-based PHINXT Robotics has raised £608,000 in an oversubscribed pre-seed round for its warehouse robot management software targeting SME businesses.
According to PHINXT Robotics, less than 10% of warehouses cannot implement robot automation because of costs, complexity and lead times.
The company has developed a cloud-operated system that can be used by small or medium-sized warehouses to install autonomous robotics. Users of the software can add or remove robots when required. PHINXT said its software is compatible with any robot type.
“Robotics automation has become a must for businesses that want to stay competitive in the logistics and manufacturing industries, however, it is still something that only large companies are able to afford,” said Yanwen Chen, co-founder and CEO, PHINXT Robotics.
“We are changing that and, thanks to our tech, we plan to bring the advantages of robotics automation to many SMEs across Europe in the next couple of years.”
PHINXT Robotics was founded by Yanwen Chen and Quirino Zagarese in April last year. Chen has two PhDs in computer science and Zagarese has a PhD in software engineering.
The startup will used the extra capital for early testing of PHINXT Robotics’ software in customer warehouses.
Tom Hibbard, principal at Fuel Ventures, said: “PHINXT is a deep tech company that also has short-term commercial potential. They are one of the rare startups that has deeply technical founders who are extremely focussed on their customers and their needs.”
Its round was led by Fuel Ventures, with additional support coming from the co-founder of Wayve and founder of Dhyan Ventures Amar Shah,, Atlas Ventures, APX, Prequel Ventures, Venture Together angels and Alma Angels.