Amazon continues to be the 800-pound gorilla in the room for companies in the retail sector. Today, a startup called Fabric, which is building technology to help those other retailers — big and small — compete more squarely against that muscle specifically in fulfillment with robotics technology, “micro-fulfillment” centers and last-mile operations, is announcing $200 million in funding. It’s a big round at a big valuation — over $1 billion, Fabric says. The round underscores both the demand in the market and opportunity to challenge Amazon.
“As it is, we already have more demand than we can serve,” said Elram Goren, Fabric’s CEO and co-founder, in an interview, who has his sights set on where it might apply its technology next. “At the same time, we are seeing bigger opportunities beyond the proposition beyond our micro-fulfilment centers, how they interact in the network and the supply chain.”
Singapore’s Temasek — which participated in Fabric’s $110 million Series B in 2019 — led this Series C, with Koch Disruptive Technologies, Union Tech Ventures, Harel Insurance & Finance, Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund (Pontifax AgTech), Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), KSH Capital, Princeville Capital, Wharton Equity Ventures and other unnamed backers also participating. It has raised $336 million to date.
