Robotics Firm Gets More Funding

InVia Robotics secured a $30 million Series C funding round that includes an investment from Microsoft’s venture fund.The Westlake Village provider of warehouse automation products has raised a total of $59 million from investors committed to the company’s growth.The investors include M12, the San Francisco-based venture fund of Microsoft Corp.; Qualcomm Ventures; and Hitachi Ventures GmbH, the Munich-based corporate venture arm of Hitachi Ltd. in Tokyo. In addition, previous investors Point 72 Ventures in New York, and Upfront Ventures and Embark Ventures, both in Santa Monica, also contributed to the third funding round.This latest investment will be used to extend inVia’s Picker robots in North America, as well as drive market expansion into Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region and align inVia with strategic supply chain partners to open new channels and deliver end-to-end logistics, the company said in a press release.Lior Elazary, co-founder and chief executive of inVia, said the company was proud to have earned the confidence from its investors who are committed to the progression of automation within the supply chain.“We have intentionally aligned ourselves in the best interest of our customers and their businesses, finding ways to not only optimize productivity, but also further inVia Robotics’ global reach,” Elazary said in a statement.