After PayFit, Ankorstore and Qonto, Exotec in turn becomes a unicorn in 2022. The valuation of this logistics robotics specialist now stands at $2 billion.
In 2019, Emmanuel Macron wanted French Tech to be the cradle of 25 unicorns, these start-ups valued at more than a billion dollars, in 2025. It is now done, three years in advance. Exotec, supplier of robotic solutions for warehouses, made it possible to reach this symbolic bar set by the President of the Republic. Indeed, the northern company has completed a fundraising of 335 million dollars led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, alongside Bpifrance, via its Large Venture fund, and 83North. This transaction brings its valuation to $2 billion.
Founded in 2015 by Romain Moulin and Renaud Heitz, Exotec develops robots intended to optimize order preparation for e-commerce players. The company thus designed the Skypod robotic system, which relies on this fleet of robots to move packages more quickly through warehouses. To date, the young shoot has sold 2,500 robots, entirely manufactured in Croix in Hauts-de-France. They now work in around fifty warehouses in around ten countries, on behalf of brands such as Uniqlo, Decathlon, Carrefour, Cdiscount, Gap, and Geodis.
Customers who need “rethink their logistics plans”
Now crowned with the status of French industrial unicorn, Exotec took full advantage of the jump in online orders during the Covid-19 pandemic. Faced with unprecedented demand, e-commerce players have had no choice but to accelerate the automation of their warehouses in order to meet it. And faced with the power of Amazon, the American giant in the field of logistics, many brands have turned to companies like Exotec to give a boost to the digital transformation of their warehouses. “Building suitable, efficient and agile supply chains is a priority for our customers, who must now rethink their logistics plans”, notes Romain Moulin, co-founder and CEO of Exotec. With this round of funding, the northern company, which currently has 370 employees, plans to recruit 500 engineers in R&D (research and development) by 2025.
Exotec is the latest nugget of French Tech, which is starting the year with a bang. Before her, the start-ups PayFit, Ankorstore and Qonto saw their valuation exceed one billion dollars. Qonto, a neobank that targets VSEs and SMEs, even became for a few hours the best-valued unicorn in the French ecosystem ($4.4 billion), but Back Market, a specialist in the resale of refurbished electronic products online, hit even harder, hitting a $5.1 billion valuation after a $450 million seed round.