In Biggest Indian Hardware Startup Fundraise, Grey Orange Raises $140 Mn from Peter Thiel's Firm

California, US-based Mithril Capital Management LLC, an investment firm founded by Peter Thiel and Ajay Royan, has led a $140 million (~ Rs. 1,010 crores) Series C funding of Gurgaon-based robotics startup Grey Orange, making it the biggest fundraise by an Indian hardware startup to date. Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Mitsubishi and existing investor Blume Ventures also participated in this round. Royan from Mithril will join the Grey Orange board.

With this, Grey Orange has also become highest funded robotic startup in India and its valuation estimated to be between $400 million and $500 million, according to a report by Economic Times.

The startup will use the freshly raised capital in getting its own manufacturing supply chain and into R&D. The startup also plans to double down investments in its Boston R&D center, as well as into centers in India and Singapore.

Mithril, Japan's Mitsubishi and Binny Bansal have joined in Grey Orange as new investors. Other existing investors in the startup include Tiger Global, Flipkart, Mitsubishi and Project Verte.

Binny Bansal, Flipkart co-founder and Group CEO said, “As an entrepreneur myself, I have closely followed how Samay and Akash have built and grown GreyOrange to become an international technology company with customers across the world. I look forward to supporting and witnessing the new phase of their growth. The team will build on its strengths, especially in AI and machine learning, to launch new generation products for flexible automation.”

Founded in 2011, by Akash Gupta, Samay Kohli and Wolfgang Hoeltgen, GreyOrange is a 300+ employee startup creating hardware & software products for warehousing industry. The startup is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in India, Japan, Germany, and the US.

In September last year, we reported that Japan’s largest conglomerate Mitsubishi is considering acquiring a minority stake in GreyOrange Robotics. Since then, Mitsubishi was contemplating making an investment of less than $20 million that eventually led to this funding.

Prior to this in 2015, Grey Orange raised $30 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from existing investors Blume Ventures. In 2013, Grey Orange Robotics received angel funding from a consortium of investors led by Blume Ventures and BITS Spark Angels followed by funding of about Rs 54 crore in the round led by Tiger Global and Blume Ventures.

With its industrial automation solutions, Grey Orange counts Aramex, DTDC, Flipkart, Jabong, Mahindra, Myntra, and Pepperfry amongst its client list. GreyOrange's products include - 'Butler' and 'Linear Sorter'. While Sorter is a conveyor belt system fitted with robotic arms and advanced tools like dimensioning and weighing modules capable of sorting up to 6,000 packages per hour, Butler is said to be an artificial intelligence-enabled autonomous robot that "optimizes the supply chain process from inventory storage and replenishment to order picking."

[caption id="attachment_126049" align="aligncenter" width="700"] GreyOrange intelligent robotics systems deliver flexible, cost-effective supply chains to expedite distribution and fulfillment processes[/caption]

Samay Kohli, Co-Founder and CEO, GreyOrange said, “We are fortunate to have an experienced management team and investors with a common vision to build the next generation of flexible supply chain systems. Having a veteran board member and strategist like Ajay Royan join the board will help fulfill that vision faster. Fundraising events are important milestones in a company’s journey, and for GreyOrange, the funds will allow us to continue to invest in our R&D and supply chain to maintain our market-leading position.”

“As a global investor focused on emerging category leaders, Mithril is proud to partner with the GreyOrange team to advance our shared vision of a universal platform for flexible automation. As online and offline channels converge across a wide range of industries, we are excited to support robotic solutions that thoughtfully bridge the world of bits and the world of atoms, driving better health, safety and efficiency for workers and customers alike,” Ajay Royan said in a media statement.

Mithril is a global investment firm founded by Ajay Royan and Peter Thiel. The firm provide capital to leading growth companies by partnering with teams "who use technology to build transformative and durable businesses, often in industries long overdue for change", as mentioned the firm's Linkedin company page.

Peter, who chairs Mithril’s investment committee, cofounded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, which is a CIA-backed big data startup valued at $20 billion. He was the first outside investor in Facebook, and has made numerous other investments in highly successful technology companies. He created the Thiel Fellowship and established and funds the Thiel Foundation. He was educated at Stanford University.

Source - Grey Orange

In Biggest Indian Hardware Startup Fundraise, Grey Orange Raises $140 Mn from Peter Thiel's Firm

California, US-based Mithril Capital Management LLC, an investment firm founded by Peter Thiel and Ajay Royan, has led a $140 million (~ Rs. 1,010 crores) Series C funding of Gurgaon-based robotics startup Grey Orange, making it the biggest fundraise by an Indian hardware startup to date. Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Mitsubishi and existing investor Blume Ventures also participated in this round. Royan from Mithril will join the Grey Orange board.

With this, Grey Orange has also become highest funded robotic startup in India and its valuation estimated to be between $400 million and $500 million, according to a report by Economic Times.

The startup will use the freshly raised capital in getting its own manufacturing supply chain and into R&D. The startup also plans to double down investments in its Boston R&D center, as well as into centers in India and Singapore.

Mithril, Japan's Mitsubishi and Binny Bansal have joined in Grey Orange as new investors. Other existing investors in the startup include Tiger Global, Flipkart, Mitsubishi and Project Verte.

Binny Bansal, Flipkart co-founder and Group CEO said, “As an entrepreneur myself, I have closely followed how Samay and Akash have built and grown GreyOrange to become an international technology company with customers across the world. I look forward to supporting and witnessing the new phase of their growth. The team will build on its strengths, especially in AI and machine learning, to launch new generation products for flexible automation.”

Founded in 2011, by Akash Gupta, Samay Kohli and Wolfgang Hoeltgen, GreyOrange is a 300+ employee startup creating hardware & software products for warehousing industry. The startup is headquartered in Singapore, with offices in India, Japan, Germany, and the US.

In September last year, we reported that Japan’s largest conglomerate Mitsubishi is considering acquiring a minority stake in GreyOrange Robotics. Since then, Mitsubishi was contemplating making an investment of less than $20 million that eventually led to this funding.

Prior to this in 2015, Grey Orange raised $30 million in a round led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from existing investors Blume Ventures. In 2013, Grey Orange Robotics received angel funding from a consortium of investors led by Blume Ventures and BITS Spark Angels followed by funding of about Rs 54 crore in the round led by Tiger Global and Blume Ventures.

With its industrial automation solutions, Grey Orange counts Aramex, DTDC, Flipkart, Jabong, Mahindra, Myntra, and Pepperfry amongst its client list. GreyOrange's products include - 'Butler' and 'Linear Sorter'. While Sorter is a conveyor belt system fitted with robotic arms and advanced tools like dimensioning and weighing modules capable of sorting up to 6,000 packages per hour, Butler is said to be an artificial intelligence-enabled autonomous robot that "optimizes the supply chain process from inventory storage and replenishment to order picking."

[caption id="attachment_126049" align="aligncenter" width="700"] GreyOrange intelligent robotics systems deliver flexible, cost-effective supply chains to expedite distribution and fulfillment processes[/caption]

Samay Kohli, Co-Founder and CEO, GreyOrange said, “We are fortunate to have an experienced management team and investors with a common vision to build the next generation of flexible supply chain systems. Having a veteran board member and strategist like Ajay Royan join the board will help fulfill that vision faster. Fundraising events are important milestones in a company’s journey, and for GreyOrange, the funds will allow us to continue to invest in our R&D and supply chain to maintain our market-leading position.”

“As a global investor focused on emerging category leaders, Mithril is proud to partner with the GreyOrange team to advance our shared vision of a universal platform for flexible automation. As online and offline channels converge across a wide range of industries, we are excited to support robotic solutions that thoughtfully bridge the world of bits and the world of atoms, driving better health, safety and efficiency for workers and customers alike,” Ajay Royan said in a media statement.

Mithril is a global investment firm founded by Ajay Royan and Peter Thiel. The firm provide capital to leading growth companies by partnering with teams "who use technology to build transformative and durable businesses, often in industries long overdue for change", as mentioned the firm's Linkedin company page.

Peter, who chairs Mithril’s investment committee, cofounded PayPal and Palantir Technologies, which is a CIA-backed big data startup valued at $20 billion. He was the first outside investor in Facebook, and has made numerous other investments in highly successful technology companies. He created the Thiel Fellowship and established and funds the Thiel Foundation. He was educated at Stanford University.

Source - Grey Orange

Gurgaon-based GreyOrange Robotics Marks Its Entry into Indonesia

After successful implementations across several markets in Asia including India, GreyOrange, a multinational robotics company announced its entry into Indonesia, with the installation of its 50th Sorter at Pos Indonesia.

Pos Indonesia is the national postal company which distributes parcels and mail across Indonesia, South East Asia’s largest and fastest growing e-commerce market. This high performance advanced sortation system at Pos Indonesia strengthens GreyOrange’s hold in the last-mile delivery space and in a new geography. GreyOrange™ is a multinational technology company that designs, manufactures and deploys advanced robotics systems for automation at warehouses, distribution and fulfilment centres. Ranked among the world's Top 50 Robotics Companies by Robotics Business Review two years in a row, GreyOrange has been at the forefront of supply chain automation innovation, democratising such solutions for various industries.

Gilarsi W. Setijono, CEO, Pos Indonesia said, “The growth in retail and e-commerce in Indonesia has been phenomenal and it is well-timed for the Logistics industry to adopt the newest technologies. The increasing demands for fulfilment and last mile delivery – which call for higher efficiency, accuracy and traceability - have grown steadily. We needed a Sortation system that lets us handle a bigger volume so that we are able to fulfil same or next day deliveries accurately and efficiently. The GreyOrange Sortation system lets us do that."

Nalin Advani, CEO, GreyOrange Asia-Pacific said, "We are pleased that Pos Indonesia has selected the GreyOrange Linear Sorter to handle its fast increasing volumes. This Sorter is our 50th installation globally in under four years, and quite special to us. We are proud to work with the team at Pos Indonesia to design and deploy a sortation system unique for the demands of Indonesia, to deliver the highest throughput and efficiency. We are optimistic about our growth in Indonesia, which will be a strong contributor to our South Asia presence, given the fast growing ecommerce in the country.”

The GreyOrange Linear Sorter, comprising advanced software and a high-speed sorter, has been specially designed for a wide variety of applications to handle high-volume sortation. Within three years of its launch, customers in the e-commerce, consumer goods, apparel and retail industries have commissioned these Sorters across Asia and Latin America.

Indonesia’s ecommerce market, estimated to be the third largest globally, behind China and India, is projected to reach $130 billion by 2020. Pos Indonesia handles parcel and mail volume exceeding 500,000 pieces per day and provides fulfilment and last mile delivery for government, state-owned enterprises, online entrepreneurs, and major e-commerce platforms - Lazada and BukaLapak among others. The GreyOrange Linear Sorter was selected as it combines a line of high-speed conveyor - capable of handling an assortment of parcels in various shapes and sizes including polybags, plus irregular packages - and advanced software customised to handle the volume and types of parcels and mail specific to Pos Indonesia.

Agus F. Handoyo, Mail and Parcel Director, Pos Indonesia added, “This sortation system was prearranged using a technology-driven approach. Firstly, the end-to-end digitalization results in a system which integrates seamlessly with data used by our shippers, e-commerce companies and customers; from reading barcodes to capturing gross and volumetric weights, and digital images, which leads to faster and easier parcel traceability. In addition, customers get a better experience in terms of accuracy of delivery.

According to a recent media report, Japan’s largest conglomerate Mitsubishi is also considering acquiring a minority stake in GreyOrange Robotics. Mitsubishi is contemplating making an investment of less than $20 million, which could also witness the participation of GreyOrange’s existing backer Tiger Global. The report also revealed that the Japanese biggie is structuring the investment through a convertible note which could result in valuing the robotics company from anywhere between $300 million to $500 million.

Gurgaon-based GreyOrange Robotics Marks Its Entry into Indonesia

After successful implementations across several markets in Asia including India, GreyOrange, a multinational robotics company announced its entry into Indonesia, with the installation of its 50th Sorter at Pos Indonesia.

Pos Indonesia is the national postal company which distributes parcels and mail across Indonesia, South East Asia’s largest and fastest growing e-commerce market. This high performance advanced sortation system at Pos Indonesia strengthens GreyOrange’s hold in the last-mile delivery space and in a new geography. GreyOrange™ is a multinational technology company that designs, manufactures and deploys advanced robotics systems for automation at warehouses, distribution and fulfilment centres. Ranked among the world's Top 50 Robotics Companies by Robotics Business Review two years in a row, GreyOrange has been at the forefront of supply chain automation innovation, democratising such solutions for various industries.

Gilarsi W. Setijono, CEO, Pos Indonesia said, “The growth in retail and e-commerce in Indonesia has been phenomenal and it is well-timed for the Logistics industry to adopt the newest technologies. The increasing demands for fulfilment and last mile delivery – which call for higher efficiency, accuracy and traceability - have grown steadily. We needed a Sortation system that lets us handle a bigger volume so that we are able to fulfil same or next day deliveries accurately and efficiently. The GreyOrange Sortation system lets us do that."

Nalin Advani, CEO, GreyOrange Asia-Pacific said, "We are pleased that Pos Indonesia has selected the GreyOrange Linear Sorter to handle its fast increasing volumes. This Sorter is our 50th installation globally in under four years, and quite special to us. We are proud to work with the team at Pos Indonesia to design and deploy a sortation system unique for the demands of Indonesia, to deliver the highest throughput and efficiency. We are optimistic about our growth in Indonesia, which will be a strong contributor to our South Asia presence, given the fast growing ecommerce in the country.”

The GreyOrange Linear Sorter, comprising advanced software and a high-speed sorter, has been specially designed for a wide variety of applications to handle high-volume sortation. Within three years of its launch, customers in the e-commerce, consumer goods, apparel and retail industries have commissioned these Sorters across Asia and Latin America.

Indonesia’s ecommerce market, estimated to be the third largest globally, behind China and India, is projected to reach $130 billion by 2020. Pos Indonesia handles parcel and mail volume exceeding 500,000 pieces per day and provides fulfilment and last mile delivery for government, state-owned enterprises, online entrepreneurs, and major e-commerce platforms - Lazada and BukaLapak among others. The GreyOrange Linear Sorter was selected as it combines a line of high-speed conveyor - capable of handling an assortment of parcels in various shapes and sizes including polybags, plus irregular packages - and advanced software customised to handle the volume and types of parcels and mail specific to Pos Indonesia.

Agus F. Handoyo, Mail and Parcel Director, Pos Indonesia added, “This sortation system was prearranged using a technology-driven approach. Firstly, the end-to-end digitalization results in a system which integrates seamlessly with data used by our shippers, e-commerce companies and customers; from reading barcodes to capturing gross and volumetric weights, and digital images, which leads to faster and easier parcel traceability. In addition, customers get a better experience in terms of accuracy of delivery.

According to a recent media report, Japan’s largest conglomerate Mitsubishi is also considering acquiring a minority stake in GreyOrange Robotics. Mitsubishi is contemplating making an investment of less than $20 million, which could also witness the participation of GreyOrange’s existing backer Tiger Global. The report also revealed that the Japanese biggie is structuring the investment through a convertible note which could result in valuing the robotics company from anywhere between $300 million to $500 million.

Japan's Largest Conglomerate To Pick Stake in Gurgaon-based GreyOrange Robotics

In a major development, Japan's largest conglomerate Mitsubishi is considering acquiring a minority stake in GreyOrange Robotics, a multinational technology company based out of Singapore and Gurgaon that designs, manufactures and deploys advanced robotics systems for automation at distribution and fulfillment centers.

According to a news report in the Economic Times (ET), Mitsubishi is contemplating making an investment of less than $20 million, which could also witness the participation of GreyOrange's existing backer Tiger Global. The report also revealed that the Japanese biggie is structuring the investment through a convertible note which could result in valuing the robotics company from anywhere between $300 million to $500million.

A potential investment through a convertible note could help Grey Orange in overcoming its valuation issues. For the uninitiated, a convertible note is a form of short-term debt that converts into equity, typically in conjunction with a future financing round, primarily delaying final valuation till the next round is raised.

Grey Orange has already raised around $30 million till now from VCs such as Blume Ventures and Tiger Global. It raised its last round in mid 2015. Since then, it has working on raising another round of funding, but valuation mismatch has resulted in an unnecessary delay in the same. Sources also informed ET that GreyOrange has had quite a good year so far with revenues of being projected to $40 million for the coming year.

Talking to ET, a source revealed that GreyOrange plans on raising a smaller round right now and then go for a larger round of financing somewhere by early next year. Mitsubishi is one of the clients of GreyOrange. Though headquartered in Singapore, GreyOrange also has offices in India, Hong Kong, Japan, Germany and Dubai. Besides that, it has a research and development centre in Gurgaon as well.

GreyOrange is currently competing in the warehousing automation space with companies such as Amazon's Kiva. It is in fact one of the rarest hardware startups to have risen out of India.

This development was first reported in Economic Times.