Investing in Simbe
The field of robotics continues to grow alongside the potential ability of robots to positively contribute to our future.
Introduction
When people think of robotics, they often call to mind the sci-fi narrative of a society of humanoid robots which has created a feeling of inevitability to the adoption of that form factor. But over the last ten years, the sector has seen industrial robots deployed at scale that look nothing like humans.
Investors in “general purpose robots” generally point to the large addressable market. “The world was built for humans, a form factor that looks like a human should be able to do everything,” or “this robot is a wedge and our AI model will allow it to tackle many other problems in a warehouse,” you may hear a proponent of general-purpose robots contend. This has manifested in many venture capitalists not just investing behind humanoids, but also in broadly applicable robotic arms, foundational models for robotics, and generalizable hardware solutions.
A Successful Approach
The companies that have received the most commercial success, however, have not been general purpose robots (despite receiving a disproportionately large share of the venture funding).
B2B buyers of robots are often not the best adopters of technology and are not buying technology just because it’s “cool”. They typically have a solution that “works just fine,” and are hesitant to trust their core operations to a newer vendor. This manifests itself in 3 ways: 1) buyers will generally only buy bots if they solve a known pain-point; 2) the value prop needs to be straightforward/easily explainable; and 3) it is very challenging to get a company from 0 to 1 as buyers are much more likely to adopt technology that already has scaled commercial deployments.
To address #3, successful robotics companies build a solution that solves a topical problem and delivers an easy-to-explain, hard-dollar ROI to its customers generally through a vertically integrated, custom solution. Much like a car with wheels being the fastest way to get from San Diego to LA (versus legs), a robot with wheels is likely the best way to transport a box of shoes across a warehouse.
Industrial robots often leverage advanced software capabilities to operate the bots to solve a specific problem in a broader workflow. The most successful of these companies have integrated into key business systems and processes which has allowed them to grow through additional software solutions. While isolated point solutions that are not integrated into key business systems can become scaled players, they tend to be interchangeable with similar solutions over time, and ultimately compete on speed of delivery and price.
Simbe’s Approach
Simbe is the most scaled player delivering shelf-intelligence to retailers. Built on its flagship autonomous mobile robot, Tally, Simbe is now the only retail technology company to combine computer vision, RFID, and fixed sensors.
This year alone, Simbe announced new and expanded partnerships with customers like SpartanNash (Family Fare, Martin’s Super Markets, D&W Fresh Market, VG’s Grocery), Wakefern Food Corp. (ShopRite), Northeast Grocery (Market 32, Price Chopper Supermarkets, Tops Friendly Markets), Albertsons Companies (United Supermarkets), Country Supplier (C-A-L Ranch, Coastal Farm & Ranch) and Sabanci Holding (CarrefourSA). These new and expanded partnerships complement Simbe’s already scaled deployments with BJ’s Wholesale and Schnucks and others to be announced.
The answer to why these retailers have chosen to trust an important piece of their core operations to Simbe is simple: they are providing tangible ROI to the retailer (typically [3-5]x in [120 days]) by eradicating retail’s last “data desert.” While most retailers have an inventory management system, that provides data on their orders and corresponding arrivals, and POS software, which provides data on what leaves the store, retailers typically have very little visibility into what is happening inside the store. With its Tally robot, Simbe can provide precise, real-time visibility into store conditions and inventory, which ultimately enables data-driven decisions across all channels, stronger business performance, and enhanced store team and shopper experiences.
Simbe customers typically reduce out-of-stocks, improve the accuracy of pricing and promotions, and better manage inventory through deployment of Tally robots in their aisles. Simbe’s solution is integrated into the day-to-day workflow of various workers inside of their customers and into the core software systems, namely their Point-of-Sale and Inventory Management solutions. In 2024 alone, Simbe introduced: near real-time, shelf-level data to retailers’ vendors, a 360-degree view of stores from anywhere, prioritized list of pricing and restocking tasks in near-real time, a brand insights product for brand partner use, and a shelf-intelligence platform designed specifically for wholesale club and farm supply environments. Simbe expects to continue to enhance Tally through new software capabilities over time.
