Supply chain robotics technology company Unbox Robotics Pvt Ltd is closing a new funding round, two people familiar with the development told The Head and Tale, underlining renewed investor interest in India's larger emerging robotics space this year.

The Pune-based startup is raising around Rs 220 crore ($25-26 million) in its Series B funding round, the two people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.

Existing investors will also participate in this fresh funding round, added one of the persons above without disclosing further details.

Another person said that one of the factors driving this investment is to boost the startup's global expansion plans. In March 2023, Unbox Robotics had said in a statement that the company plans to expand its footprint in the international markets starting with the US with the launch of Unbox Robots.

Details about new investors investing in the round could not be immediately ascertained.

An email sent to the founders of Unbox Robotics did not elicit a response. We will update the article as and when they comment.

Unbox Robotics, which was founded in 2019 by Pramod Ghadge and Shahid Memon, is engaged in robotics-based fulfilment and distribution technology for small to large e-commerce, retail and logistics enterprises. The company claims that its UnboxSort robots work with 99.9% sorting precision while tripling operator productivity.

Prior to this funding round, Unbox Robotics had raised around Rs 52 crore ($7 million) in its Series A funding round in December 2021.

The funding round was led by venture capital firm 3one4 Capital. Sixth Sense Ventures and Restart Labs, a subsidiary of InfoEdge, participated in the funding round.

Unbox Robotics' founders, and other existing investors US-based venture capital firm SOSV, Arali Ventures, WEH Ventures, Beenext, and Karthik Bhat's Force Ventures, among other had also pooled in capital.

Earlier in 2020, the startup had raised around Rs 3.5 crore in seed funding from Arali Ventures and CIIE.CO, the technology incubator of the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad.

Renewed investor interest in robotics in India

While India still trails China and the US in the robotics space, venture capital and private equity investor as well as founders say that the country's industry is poised to accelerate.

Their optimism stems from proof-of-concept projects emerging role models, a relatively supportive policy environment, an expanding foreign and domestic market, falling input costs and the rise of AI. The Head and Tale recently did a deep dive on the industry. (Click hear to read - https://theheadandtale.com/deepdives/the-untold-story-of-india-s-robotics-boom-and-why-it-almost-didn-t-happen/)

The renewed investor interest has been reflecting in some relatively big-sized ticket deals witnessed this year.

Earlier in January this year, Ati Motors raised $20 million in its Series B funding round led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and NGP Capital.

YourNest-backed Miko raised $155 million in its Series D round from AMDG-PAX Foundation, a US-based non-profit organisation at a $500 million valuation.

Interestingly in 2022, the industry also witnessed a strategic deal when Reliance Retail Ventures, the retail unit of Reliace Industries, picked a majority stake in Addverb for $132 million.

Other venture capital backed robotics startups in India include GreyOrange, CynLr and Peppermint Robotics.

More of early and growth stage deals in the space are expected to happen in the coming months.

Chandrasekar Kandasamy, managing partner at mid-market private equity firm Stakeboat Capital, which has invested in DiFacto, had told The Head and Tale that India is on the cusp of robotics and automation boom, largely driven by its extremely low density. "(India has) just 7 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing employees, compared to global average of 162."