Amazon is creating a $1 billion venture investment program called the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund (AIIF) to spur and support innovation in customer fulfillment, logistics, and the supply chain.
As customers increasingly shop online and look for even faster delivery, Amazon continues to invent new ways to raise the bar on customer and employee experience while working with other companies focused on those fields.
Amazon has invested and innovated substantially over the last two decades in next-generation technology in its operations.
This new fund is one of the ways Amazon continues to invest, along with many other initiatives, such as the MARS and re:MARS conferences that Amazon hosts every year.
The conferences bring together innovative minds in machine learning, automation, robotics, and space to share new ideas across these rapidly advancing domains.
Alex Ceballos Encarnacion, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide corporate development said: “We see an opportunity to look beyond our own experience and empower companies that are developing emerging technologies in customer fulfillment operations, logistics, and the supply chain.
“We know there are companies out there that share our curiosity and excitement to invent. Whether our investment helps them grow or leads them to work with Amazon, or both, we’re excited to help advance these technologies as online shopping becomes even more important to people who are looking for more convenience and time savings.”
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The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund will invest in companies that imagine solutions that incrementally increase delivery speed and further improve the experience of employees working in warehousing and logistics fields.
Amazon has a history of investing in technologies within its operations that support employees and customers, like artificial intelligence, robotics, and other cutting-edge inventions.
Some past improvements include robotic arms that perform repetitive tasks and new products in autonomous movement that can help transport larger items.
Bob O’Donnell, founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research said: “Investing in companies that are driving the next generation of industrial innovation can have impact across communities—globally, regionally, and locally,”
Ceballos adds: “Even as we have continually improved our operations to better the employee experience and enhanced safety through the development of new workstations with better ergonomics, we hope this fund opens the door for more collaboration.”
The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund’s first round of investments is focused on wearable technology that enhances safety in fulfillment buildings and robotics designed to complement and coexist with people’s lives. Below are details about those innovations and the companies behind them:
Modjoul: Founded in 2016 and based in Greenville, South Carolina, Modjoul is developing wearable safety technology that enables real-time, personalized alerts and recommendations aimed at reducing injuries, most notably musculoskeletal issues.
Vimaan: Founded in 2017 and based in Santa Clara, California, Vimaan is developing computer vision and artificial intelligence solutions engineered to improve inventory management.
Agility Robotics: Founded in 2015 and based in Corvallis, Oregon, Agility Robotics is developing a bi-pedal walking robot, Digit, that addresses the mobility limitations of traditional robots so that machines can assist people wherever they are.
BionicHIVE: Founded in 2014 and based in Israel, BionicHIVE is developing an autonomous robotic solution that can adapt to existing shelving racks and boxes in warehouses and is capable of floor to ceiling functionality.
Mantis Robotics: Founded in 2020 and based in San Francisco, Mantis Robotics is developing a tactile robotic arm that uses sensor technology to cohesively work alongside people.
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