Avatar Robotics Raises $6.5 Million for Teleoperated Warehouse Robots as It Nears 1 Million Packed Items
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Aug 5
Avatar Robotics Raises $6.5 Million for Teleoperated Warehouse Robots as It Nears 1 Million Packed Items
1 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Aug 5
Summary
$6.5 million in seed funding will help Avatar Robotics expand its model of wheeled warehouse robots controlled remotely by human operators through headsets and handheld controllers.
Nearly 1 million items have been packed since the startup launched in December, giving Avatar both recurring revenue and a stream of real-world training data for more autonomous robotics software.
The company charges customers less than direct warehouse labor by using contractors in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines, who earn about $5 to $20 an hour to run the machines.
Avatar buys humanoid robots from China rather than building its own, though new FCC restrictions on foreign-made advanced robotic devices could push it toward US assembly.
Webb says the longer-term goal is to move from one-to-one teleoperation to humans supervising larger robot fleets, turning paid warehouse work into data collection for physical AI.