The Exotec start-up specializes in the design of robots and articulated arms for e-commerce players. Its latest fundraising, amounting to 293 million euros, propels it as the new French unicorn.
And 25! Three years before the objective set by President Emmanuel Macron, Exotec became, on Monday, the 25and French unicorn, these young companies whose valuation exceeds one billion dollars. The company based in Croix, in Hauts-de-France, formalized the same day a series D fundraising of 335 million dollars, or 292 million euros. It allows it to be valued around 2 billion dollars, and to enter a new dimension.
A fleet of robots and articulated arms for warehouses
Exotec, a French scale-up specializing in warehouse robotics, was born in 2015 from the hands of Romain Moulin and Renaud Heitz, with the aim of erecting robotic warehouses. Its robots are responsible for preparing orders. The machines (grouped under the Skypod system) can reach a height of 12 meters and multiply by five the productivity of a warehouse, with very short response times for all the references of a brand, of two minutes maximum. Exotec has also developed the Skypicker, an articulated arm that can move objects weighing less than 2 kg, with the simultaneous picking of four orders, and a rate of up to 600 items per hour.
The company, which operates research and development, manufacturing and production from France, counts Cdiscount among its key customers. It has already equipped around fifty warehouses for major international brands, such as the Japanese ready-to-wear giant Uniqlo and the giant retailer Carrefour, with its robotic systems.
Exotec’s latest fundraising makes it the country’s first industrial unicorn. It was led by the American Goldman Sachs Asset Management, supported by the Bpifrance fund, Large Venture, as well as by 83North, Breega and Iris Capital, which were already present in the capital of the company. Since 2015, the company has managed to raise nearly $450 million. Its last fundraising was in 2020 ($88 million).
Exotec wants to accelerate on R&D, to conquer new markets
Exotec wants to put its latest fundraising to the benefit of its international development. Via Uniqlo, the company is already present in Japan, but also in North America. It intends to strengthen its existing markets while setting up in other territories, while it achieves three-quarters of its turnover abroad.
At the same time, the company will have to expand its product range. We spoke to you earlier about SkyPod and the Skypicker, but Exotec wants to add other strings to its bow, and also intends to progress on its management software, no doubt to offer an end-to-end solution to the cutting edge technology. The northern firm thus intends to recruit 500 R&D-oriented engineers by 2025. It currently employs 350 people.
Exotec’s announcements come in any case to embellish a little more the start of the huge year of French Tech. PayFit (254 million euros), Ankorstore (250 million euros), Qonto (484 million euros) and Back Market (450 million), the best valued unicorn, have greatly contributed to this remarkable start to 2022.
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