Why Reliance Paid Over Rs 900 Crore For Robotics Startup Addverb
Asia¡¯s Richest Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited has acquired an Indian robotics startup named Addverb Technologies, by picking up a majority stake of 54% after pumping in over 900 crore rupees into the startup.
Asia¡¯s Richest Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited has acquired an Indian robotics startup named Addverb Technologies.
Reliance picked up a majority stake of 54% in the company, for a whopping $132 million, which is equal to approximately ?983 crore.
The Robotics Startup
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The Noida based startup Addverb Technologies uses robots to make e-commerce warehouses and energy production more efficient.
The five-year-old startup designs and makes software and installs robotic systems. That makes it one of the few companies in the world to work in every aspect of robotics, from hardware and software to deployment.
And that's not all. Addverb has already developed highly automated warehouses for other big companies like Flipkart, HUL, Asian Paints, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, ITC, and Marico.
After this transaction by Reliance, the company is valued at $270 million, as per what Addverb¡¯s co-founder and CEO Sangeet Kumar told ET.
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Why Reliance Has Invested In Addverb?
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As competition from rivals such as Amazon intensifies in India¡¯s booming e-commerce industry, Reliance has been upping its investments in technology.
Addverb already works in dozens of warehouses across Reliance's empire, including online grocery JioMart, fashion retailer Ajio and internet pharmacy Netmeds, wherein it deploys robotic conveyors, semi-automated systems as well as pick-by-voice software.
Addverb¡¯s CEO also mentioned "Reliance has huge plans to implement automation across digital warehouses. They have plans to expand warehousing to hundreds of locations in the next two years and when you have that scale, only robotic systems can be effective."
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The Startup¡¯s Contribution Towards Reliance
Addverb's robots help pack Reliance's oil and gas storage facilities, and it has designed automation for the conglomerate's refinery in Gujarat's Jamnagar.
The startup is implementing solutions in Reliance's giant new solar factories, also in Jamnagar, where the company plans to make green energy investments of over a whopping $80 billion.
The Biggest Collaboration Is Yet To Come
As per Addverb¡¯s CEO, the biggest collaboration between the two is yet to come.
Addverb and Reliance reportedly are planning to build "next level" 5G robotics and battery systems as well as harness carbon fiber to build affordable, advanced robots.
Addverb is expected to clock about $61 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending in March 2022. The robotic startup¡¯s products include robots that improve storage density on warehouse racks, sorting robots, self-driving cars, and robo shuttles.
World¡¯s Largest Robot Making Factory
Addverb CEO said the company is scouting land around Delhi as it envisages building the world's largest robot-making factory.
It also aims to accelerate expansion in Europe and the US, and already has subsidiaries in Singapore, the Netherlands and Australia.
Certainly, this mega partnership between Reliance and Addverb seems to be a promising one, and looks like a big step from Reliance towards holding a firm grip over the technology sector of the ecommerce industry.
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