After making a foray into Asia, RightHand Robotics is now setting foot in Europe. The Somerville startup, whose autonomous robots specialize in pick-and-place systems, is establishing a sales and business development office in Frankfurt, Germany.
The German operation will be led by Jon Schechter, who has over a decade in experience designing robotic fulfillment centers for Kiva Systems and Amazon Robotics.
“RightHand has been assessing market opportunities and meeting with prospects and potential partners in Europe for several years now,” Schechter said in a statement. “Many European firms already manage their inventory using tote systems that are ready to automate with RightPick, our piece-picking solution. We are very excited to officially expand our operations to better support our current customers and partners there.”
This is the six-year-old startup's second global office.
In October last year, the company opened its Japanese subsidiary, RightHand Robotics GK, to serve the e-commerce market in Japan and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. Through its partnership with Japan’s largest wholesaler of consumer packaged goods, Paltac Corporation, RightHand Robotics introduced its piece-picking solution to the Japanese market in March.
On the heels of the same announcement, the company also revealed RightPick2, the fifth generation of its industrial gripper robot. The upgraded version of its flagship product is capable of lifting up to 2 kilogram, and is loaded with depth-sensing cameras from Intel as well as an updated version of vision and motion control software.
The startup's last funding round was a $23 million in Series B in December 2018.
