- Companies
- ForwardX Robotics
ForwardX Robotics Funding, Investors & Competitors
ForwardX Robotics has raised $138M across 7 funding rounds, most recently a $28M Series C in July 2023.
Last ForwardX Robotics funding round
$28M
Series C · Jul 2023
Cumulative funding ForwardX Robotics raised
$138M
across 7 funding rounds
Key investors in ForwardX Robotics
CDH Investments
Eastern Bell Capital
Qualcomm Ventures
China Merchants Venture Capital
ZGC Group
Hefei Industry Investment Group
BOCOM Intl Hldgs Co
Taikang Insurance Group
About ForwardX Robotics
ForwardX Robotics develops AI-driven autonomous mobile robots for logistics and manufacturing. Headquartered in Beijing with over 250 employees including 120 engineers, the company holds more than 200 patents in computer vision. ForwardX solutions address labor shortages and safety issues with products like the FarEye pallet trucks and FarInsight navigation systems, deployed in warehouses across China and Southeast Asia. The firm earned top prizes at TRECVID and IEEE VOT-RT competitions.
Founded
2016
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Product sales
ForwardX Robotics Funding History
ForwardX Robotics has raised a total of $138M across 7 funding rounds.
ForwardX Robotics' first fundraising round was a $1M angel round in December 2016. The most recent completed round was a $28M Series C in July 2023.
ForwardX Robotics funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2023 | Series C | Hefei Industry Investment Group; Hefei Gaoxin Development & Investment Group Company; Anhui State-owned Capital | $28M | ForwardX Robotics is a Beijing-based developer of vision-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehousing, logistics, and manufacturing, offering products like autonomous forklifts, tugger AMRs, conveyor top AMRs, and fleet management software under families such as Flex, Max, Apex, and Lynx. The company positions itself as a comprehensive end-to-end automation provider, distinguishing from competitors by supporting multiple tasks including transport, storage, picking, and docking in brownfield environments. It has deployed over 3,000 robots across 150 commercial projects on four continents, serving clients like L’Oréal, IKEA, SF DHL, UNIQLO, Walmart, Mitsubishi, ITOCHU, and TCL. The specified funding round on July 12, 2023, was a Series C - II raising $27.8 million from Anhui State-owned Capital Operation Holding Group, Hefei Hi-Tech Investment (also referred to as Hefei Gaoxin Development & Investment Group), and Hefei Industry Investment Group. This tranche contributed to the broader Series C, which reached $61 million including a prior $30 million extension announced around July 7, 2023, and an initial portion from December 2021. Total funding since 2016 founding stands at approximately $140-148 million across multiple rounds, with proceeds aimed at global expansion into North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, product acceleration, and market growth. ForwardX ranks as a top global provider in assisted picking and material handling, capitalizing on automation demand from supply chain issues and labor shortages. |
| Dec 2021 | Series C | Taikang Insurance Group (lead); Starlight Capital; Qualcomm Ventures | $31M | ForwardX Robotics, a Beijing-headquartered developer of AI-powered autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehouse automation, logistics, and material handling, raised $31 million in the first tranche (C1) of its Series C funding round on December 13, 2021, led by Taikang Life Insurance with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and Starlight Capital. This brought the company's total funding to approximately $100 million since its founding in 2016 by Nicolas Chee, a former Oracle VP. The round supports accelerated R&D, global expansion into markets like the U.S., enhanced deployment capabilities, and sales growth amid rising investor interest in Chinese warehousing and manufacturing robotics. Key customers include JD.com, where ForwardX's robots have completed over 5 million picks, and SF Supply Chain China (DHL partner), with most revenues generated in China. The company's solutions feature lidar- and deep learning-enabled AMRs, plus a fleet management system optimizing robot navigation similar to ride-hailing algorithms, helping workers focus on picking rather than walking and easing onboarding for new hires by eliminating the need to memorize warehouse layouts. ForwardX operates in a competitive landscape with rivals like RightHand Robotics, GreyOrange, and Agility Robotics, holding over 200 pending patents and employing over 250 staff, including 120 engineers. Subsequent rounds include a Series C in November 2021 and Series C-II of $27.8M-$30M in July 2023 from Chinese state-backed investors, pushing total funding to $134.41M across 9 rounds. |
| Mar 2021 | Series B | Angel Around (lead); CDH Investments (lead); Dohold Capital (lead); ZGC Group; Gage Finance | $38M | ForwardX Robotics, a Beijing-based developer of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehousing and manufacturing, closed an extension to its Series B funding round with $38 million raised around March 2021, led by CDH Investments’ VGC, Eastern Bell Capital, and Dohold Capital, with participation from Angel Around and ZGC Group. This brought the total Series B to over $63 million, following an initial $10 million in March 2019 and $15 million extension in April 2020, for a cumulative $74 million since founding in 2016. The company’s AMRs leverage computer vision, deep learning, and multi-sensor fusion for tasks like segmentation, detection, tracking, and scene recognition. Product lines include ForwardX Flex for picking/packing/moving, ForwardX Max for heavy payloads, and ForwardX Apex for pallets. The AI-driven fleet management software doubles worker productivity and cuts labor costs. Funds will accelerate R&D for new and existing products, expand market share in China and the US, and enter Japan, Germany, and the UK. Investors highlighted ForwardX’s leadership in perceptive mobile robots, commercialization, multi-robot scheduling, and applications across industries amid AMR market growth projected to $9 billion by 2024. |
| Apr 2020 | Series B | China Merchants Venture Capital (lead) | $15M | ForwardX Robotics, a Beijing-based developer of vision-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for logistics and manufacturing, completed a Series B+ funding round of $15 million (RMB 100 million) led by China Merchants Capital via its SINO-BLR Industrial Investment Fund in early 2020. This round brought the company's total funding to over $40 million, following a prior $15 million Series B and a $10 million Series A in 2018. The funds supported product development, international expansion including a North American team in Phoenix and San Diego, increased production, and commercial deployments. ForwardX's AMRs, capable of lifting 200 and 500 kilograms, leverage patented computer vision and fleet management technology to boost customer productivity by 200-300% and reduce labor costs by up to 51%. Deployments included major clients like JD.com and over 100 robots to DHL warehouses in Asia, with the company serving Fortune 500 enterprises in warehousing, third-party logistics, and manufacturing. With over 160 patents pending and 180 staff including 120 engineers, ForwardX positioned itself as a leading AMR provider amid a market forecasted to exceed $10 billion by 2023. |
| Mar 2019 | Series B | RiverHill Fund; BOCOM Intl Hldgs Co; Chord Capital; CDH Investments; Eastern Bell Capital | $15M | ForwardX Robotics develops vision-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehousing and manufacturing, including models for picking, heavy payloads, and pallets. The company raised an initial $10 million in its Series B funding round in March 2019, led by investors matching the query including CDH Investments, Eastern Bell Capital, and others. A separate $14.9 million Series B+ round was reported around March 2020. The Series B total reached over $63 million after subsequent extensions, including $15 million in April 2020 and $38 million in 2021. |
| May 2018 | Series A | CDH Investments (lead); Eastern Bell Capital (lead) | $10M | ForwardX Robotics raised $10 million in a Series A funding round on May 29, 2018, led by CDH Investments and Eastern Bell Venture Capital. The Beijing-based company develops autonomous mobile robots initially focused on applications like follow-me suitcase technology. This round preceded later funding, including a Series B that began with $10 million in March 2019, extended by $15 million in April 2020, and topped up with $38 million, bringing total Series B to over $63 million and cumulative funding to nearly $74 million since founding in 2016. |
| Dec 2016 | Angel | - | $1M | - |
Who has invested in ForwardX Robotics?
16 investors have backed ForwardX Robotics across its funding rounds, including CDH Investments, Eastern Bell Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, China Merchants Venture Capital, ZGC Group and Hefei Industry Investment Group.
Lead investors include Taikang Insurance Group, Angel Around, CDH Investments, Dohold Capital, China Merchants Venture Capital and 1 other investor.
ForwardX Robotics Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Lead | May 2018 | ||
| 2 | Lead | May 2018 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Dec 2021 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Mar 2019 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Dec 2021 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Apr 2020 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Mar 2021 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Mar 2019 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Mar 2021 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jul 2023 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Mar 2021 | ||
| 1 | Lead | Dec 2021 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Jul 2023 | ||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 16 ForwardX Robotics investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
Sign up to see data on 350K+ funding rounds and disclosed revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples, from seed, through growth stage, to pre-IPO.
Start Free TrialForwardX Robotics Competitors
ForwardX Robotics competitors include listed companies like UBtech Robotics and Symbotic, and private ones like Apptronik, Sharpa, Sineva and Square Robot.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $298M | ($108M) | $5.1B | 9.5x | ||
| Private | - | - | $5.3B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $3.3B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.8B | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $1.4B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $2.2B | ($35M) | $5.8B | 1.6x |
ForwardX Robotics Public Comps
ForwardX Robotics is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Tesla, Siemens, Schneider Electric, ABB, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Stryker, Delta Electronics (Thailand), Johnson Controls and Emerson Electric.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $95B | $10B | 15.0x | 13.8x | 140.8x | 97.4x | |||
| $91B | $15B | 3.0x | 2.9x | 18.1x | 15.7x | |||
| $46B | $9.5B | 4.3x | 3.9x | 21.0x | 18.4x | |||
| $33B | $6.9B | 5.4x | 4.9x | 25.9x | 22.6x | |||
| $68B | $11B | 2.2x | 2.2x | 13.8x | 13.5x | |||
| $122B | $8.7B | 1.2x | 1.2x | 17.2x | 21.8x | |||
| $25B | $6.3B | 4.7x | 4.5x | 18.8x | 15.6x | |||
| $5.9B | $1.1B | 15.0x | 11.4x | 80.8x | 64.9x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all ForwardX Robotics competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about ForwardX Robotics
| When was ForwardX Robotics founded? | ForwardX Robotics was founded in 2016. |
| Where is ForwardX Robotics headquartered? | ForwardX Robotics is headquartered in Beijing, China. |
| Is ForwardX Robotics publicly listed? | No, ForwardX Robotics is a private, VC-backed company. |
| How much funding has ForwardX Robotics raised? | ForwardX Robotics has raised $138M across 7 funding rounds. |
| What was ForwardX Robotics' last funding round? | ForwardX Robotics' last funding round was a $28M Series C in July 2023. |
| Who are ForwardX Robotics' investors? | ForwardX Robotics' investors include CDH Investments, Eastern Bell Capital, Starlight Capital, RiverHill Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, China Merchants Venture Capital, Dohold Capital, BOCOM Intl Hldgs Co, ZGC Group, Hefei Industry Investment Group and 6 others. |
| Which companies are comparable to ForwardX Robotics? | Companies comparable to ForwardX Robotics include UBtech Robotics, Apptronik, Sharpa, Sineva, Square Robot and Symbotic. |
See companies similar to ForwardX Robotics
Start Your
Free Trial Today
Try Multiples for free for 3 days. Got questions or need a demo? Schedule a call with us below.




