Amazon releases a $1 billion in funds to finance warehouse technologies
Key takeaways:
- Amazon on Thursday released a $1 billion fund to finance firms developing the supply chain, logistics, and fulfillment technologies.
- The first round of investments will concentrate on technologies that can run up deliveries and enhance the safety of workers in its warehouses.
- Start-ups funded by the new fund have Modjoul, a firm developing wearable safety technology that provides alerts and advice to reduce injuries.
The company declared Thursday that Amazon is launching a $1 billion fund to support firms “of all stages” making supply chain, fulfillment and logistics technologies.
The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund will concentrate on new technologies that will “improve delivery speed and further enhance the experience” of warehouse and logistics workers; Alex Ceballos Encarnacion, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide corporate development, reported in a blog post.
The fund is one subset of Amazon’s increasing investment activity.
The e-commerce giant 2020 launched a $2 billion budget to invest in climate technologies, and it uses the Alexa Fund, which has made investments in speech-recognition technology, among other places.
Start-ups supported by the new fund have Modjoul, a firm developing wearable safety technology that provides alerts and advice to decrease injuries, such as musculoskeletal disorders or strains and sprains.
MSDs are some of the firm’s most common warehouse damages, and founder Jeff Bezos has yet to say Amazon ought to create solutions to facilitate their prevalence among new workers.
Amazon has promised to become “Earth’s Safest Place to Work,” following improved pressure from lawmakers, advocacy groups, and employees over how it treats its warehouse employees.
Amazon said that three other firms had in the first round of investments are developing robotics “created to complement and coexist with people’s lives,” Amazon said.
Ten years ago, the firm achieved Kiva Systems, which created wheeled robots for warehouses. Since then, Amazon has launched some robotic fulfillment centers to speed up the delivery of goods to customers. Last year, it shared details of four warehouse robots trying to lower harsh movements for workers.