BGV Trident Capital founded by Ilia Ponomarov and Hennadii Butkevych (ATB co-owner) invested $5 million in Deus Robots, a robot manufacturing start-up established by Pavlo Pikulin in 2018.
Deus Robots’ press release states that the funds will be used to launch mass production of warehouse logistics robots, to increase the number of Ukrainian designers and to help the company gain access to international markets.
Mass production of approximately 400 robots per month is expected to be commenced by the end of 2022. The robots will be used for the automation of logistics processes.
Until now, Deus Robots has been developing using personal investments of its founders. For example, Pavlo Pikulin has already invested more than $1 million of his own funds in the project development. Deus Robots manufactured and supplied 40 robots to customers in 2021.
There are numerous operations performed by people in any warehouse: sorting, order picking and transferring cargoes. We develop robotic solutions specifically for these tasks. We currently have three types of robots: for sorting goods and parcels; for transporting racks; and for transporting pallets. Three new models of robots will be built next year to perform other operations such as picking goods from shelves and racks,” says Pikulin.
He believes that the robotics market offers promising investment opportunities. Deus Robots already has orders for 400+ robots in 2022–23.
“One robot can work for approximately 18 hours a day. It is longer than a working day of a freight handler or a warehouse manager who work eight hours a day. Add days off, vacations, sick leaves and other administrative employment costs (including training, transportation, etc.),” explains Pavlo Pikulin.
The press release also notes that partnership with Nova Poshta contributes to the development of robotics in Ukraine. DEUS Robots devices are currently being tested in the logistics chain for sorting and transferring Nova Poshta cargoes.
According to the founder of Deus Robots, the notable effect of using their robots can also be seen in other sectors, such as construction, where the company also plans to develop in the future. However, it is currently focused on logistics. Logistics has the highest robotization potential in the context of today’s rapid development of online trade, retail and postal services.
“We are currently focused on logistics robots. They are designed to increase the efficiency of human labor in logistics companies. But robots can only perform part of human work now. We aim to automate each warehouse logistics process,” adds Pikulin.
“Building robots is among the most promising areas of high-tech development. People have been dreaming about replacing human labor with robots for ages, and I am happy that a Ukrainian company is at the forefront of this process. As investors we are taking every step to facilitate this initiative and contribute to the global success of Deus Robots,” said Ilia Ponomarov, Managing Partner of BGV Trident Capital.
Deus Robots, a robotics company that designs, builds and markets cutting-edge logistics equipment, was founded in 2018 in Kyiv. The company is specialized in designing and building autonomous mobile robot (AMR) technology.
