Amazon eyes Covariant acquisition to centralise warehouse automation
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Covariant, an AI software developer for industrial robots, recently attracted buyout interest from Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. Spokespeople for Amazon and Covariant didn't respond to requests for comment. Founded in 2017, Covariant raised $245 million from investors, including Index Ventures and Radical Ventures, valuing the business at $625 million in a funding round earlier this year, according to PitchBook.
Amazon has been at the forefront of warehouse automation since its 2012 acquisition of Kiva Systems, and it has never stopped seeking ways to improve its logistics. Kiva Systems changed the way Amazon fulfils orders by utilising robots that move around vast warehouses and fetch products to expedite the processing of orders. On its list of customers, Covariant includes online retailer the Otto Group, logistics company Radial, and pharmaceutical distributor McKesson Corp., which use the company's software in warehouses, according to its website.
That software could contribute enormously to Amazon, according to former Amazon executive and logistics industry consultant Brittain Ladd. The machine-agnostic nature of Covariant makes it possible to communicate smoothly and manage the robots from all companies in a centralised fashion. 'It's basically a way for Amazon to power all of their automation through one platform,' Ladd explained.
Beyond Kiva robots, Amazon has been looking for other ways to increase its warehouse automation. In December, the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund led an investment of $3.2 million in Instock, another warehouse robotics firm. The company has invested in Agility Robotics Inc. as recently as 2022 and participated in a funding round for the startup Standard Bots back in July.
Covariant was co-founded by the company's CEO, Peter Chen, who at the time was a researcher in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley.
The potential acquisition of Covariant shows Amazon's step towards centralising and streamlining its warehouse automation procedures. This acquisition would let Amazon further enhance its efficiency through the sophisticated software that Covariant has developed, much ahead of others in logistics and fulfilment.
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