Robotics startup Mytra has been working quietly behind the scenes to reimagine warehouse automation since its launch in May 2022. The company is a company with a strong track record, founded by automotive industry veterans from EV companies such as Tesla and Rivian.
With the pandemic crippling global supply chains and the effects still being felt, warehousing/fulfillment has become a hot area for automation, and the sector is highly competitive, with big players like Amazon, Locus, and Zebra/Fetch making inroads, setting the stage for an explosion of interest in the bipedal humanoid form factor.
The world has bounced back after the pandemic, but like many other industries, labor shortages remain a major pain point for the industry. But there's still plenty of room for companies to make an impact. Estimates suggest that 5% to 10% of the world's warehouses are automated in some way.
Like many people, Mytra co-founder and CEO Chris Walti learned the drawbacks of automation the hard way, having previously worked at Tesla, where bad experiences were no stranger. Walti spent seven years with the automaker, first in engineering, then mobile robotics, and eventually as a senior manager and leader of what would become Optimus.
He describes his journey at Tesla as a continuous cycle of looking for a solution, determining that there was nothing on the market that suited a particular need, and then building it ourselves. It started with an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) solution.
“I got drawn into manufacturing and automation through the Model 3 production rollout,” Walty told TechCrunch. “Tesla was struggling to ramp up their automation systems, so we ended up setting up manual warehouses as a pressure relief valve for their manufacturing systems. After about six months, they said, 'Can you take over the automation systems that are causing a lot of these issues?'”
One industry shortcoming that emerged for Tesla's specific needs was the lack of AMRs capable of hauling loads weighing as much as 3,000 pounds — a requirement that any car manufacturer faces — so the team set out to build a unique solution in-house.
“And Elon [Musk] “It was like, 'We should build a humanoid,'” Waltey says. “My team was appointed to lead that. I led the internal recruiting for that team. Everything you saw at AI Day was the result of that effort,” he added. “At some point, [Optimus] It became the No. 1 initiative in the company. In the end, it wasn't really aligned with what I wanted to do.”
Walty remains optimistic about the long-term impact that humanoid robots will have on various fields, but:[s] It will be some time before humanoids have a real impact on the manufacturing workplace.”
Mytra's solution has a lot in common with vertical robotic storage solutions made by companies like AutoStore. Walti says the main difference between the startup and existing solutions is its ability to manage heavy loads.
“With this system, there are literally trillions of ways to move a pallet or a bookshelf from point A to point B,” he explained. “It's fundamentally unique. It's the most kinematically free system that's ever been conceived.”
Despite its secrecy thus far, Mytra is already attracting interest from major companies: The startup is running a pilot program with grocery giant Albertsons, and also has “six Fortune 50 clients in various stages of the pipeline.”
Mytra also recently closed a $50 million Series B, taking its total funding to $78 million. Investors include Greenoaks and Eclipse.