Third Wave Automation, a Union City, CA-based provider of autonomous forklifts empowered by Shared Autonomy, raised $27M in Series C funding.
The round was led by Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund. Return investors Innovation Endeavors, Norwest Venture Partners and Qualcomm Ventures also participated, bringing total capital raised to $97M. Prashant Bothra, principal at Woven Capital, is joining the Third Wave board.
The company intends to use the funds to scale its platform, expand manufacturing of its multimode TWA Reach forklifts, and support future technology development that advances the use of autonomous forklifts in and around warehouse environments.
Led by CEO Arshan Poursohi, Third Wave Automation empowers materials handling automation with its Shared Autonomy platform, enabling the TWA Reach line of forklifts to operate autonomously or seek help from remote operators who can take control from the safety of their office. It uses machine learning to ensure forklifts continue to adapt and improve over time.
The TWA Reach forklifts operate in four modes: fully autonomous, remote assist, remote operation and traditional manual operation. They are designed for high-reach applications, capable of horizontal and vertical movement of payloads, and used for end-to-end applications, from inbound, replenish and outbound tasks to all tasks in between.
The dynamic system includes an efficient mapping solution. Using automotive-grade 3D lidar, Third Wave Automation can see from the floor to the roof and across aisles, reducing the time it takes to map fixed environments from months to days. The advanced camera warehouse perception system—including Collision Shield, the industry-leading autonomous obstacle detection system running on forklifts—provides remote operators with insights into potential obstacles and how to navigate around them, as well as better views of target pick-and-place locations than manual operators.
The platform, along with its industry-leading Armada Fleet Management System (FMS), enables a single operator to manage multiple forklifts. Integrating seamlessly with other warehouse management systems, the Armada FMS allows operators to execute and monitor workflows and dynamically configure warehouse zones, improving worker efficiency and safety.
FinSMEs
30/10/2024