44. Exotec

Founders: Romain Moulin (CEO), Renaud HeitzLaunched: 2015Headquarters: Croix, FranceFunding: $445.7 million (PitchBook)Valuation: $1.9 billion (PitchBook)Key Technologies: RoboticsIndustry: LogisticsPrevious appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 3 (No. 10 in 2024)
Amid the AI boom, many industries are struggling to find the right answer to the question of how human workers and robots best work together to increase productivity.
However, in warehouses worldwide, that combination is already finding success, with automation being a key to meeting the modern demands of consumers. French robotics company Exotec has been at the forefront of this push, utilizing hardware and software to build warehouse robotic systems that are used by more than 50 brands, including Gap and Uniqlo.
The company's signature product is the Skypod, an automated storage and retrieval system that can eliminate picking and packing zones in a warehouse, instead using robots that can bring orders that have been picked, packed and ready to ship directly to human workers.
In February, Exotec announced the commercial launch of its latest Skypod system, which it said can increase the throughput of each station by 50% while also enhancing warehouse storage density by upwards of 30%, enabling upgrades in key metrics such as productivity, speed and error reduction, all critical to meeting the needs of shoppers.
Exotec robots hit a major milestone in 2024, with the fleet completing over one million container presentations — a robot retrieving a container, which can fulfill up to four orders, and delivering it to a workstation where it can be processed — on a daily basis across the globe.
That continued growth and innovation has helped the company expand into new markets like Austria and South Korea, grow its corporate footprint in the U.S. and Germany, and increase its headcount to 1,300 employees with plans to expand that by another 25% in 2025.
It's also helping Exotec land new clients. In March, Exotec announced that it would be building its largest and most intricate robotic deployment to date for Oxford Industries, the owner of brands like Tommy Bahama and Lily Pulitzer.
The more than 560,000-square-foot Georgia-based distribution center will utilize more than 450 Exotec robots to process more than 20 million units a year through end-to-end warehouse automation.

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