Amazon has spent nearly two years putting an undisclosed portion of its $1 billion industrial innovation fund to work with investments in nearly a dozen U.S. and Israeli startups focused on logistics, supply chain and customer satisfaction. Now, Amazon is flexing a bit — aiming to expand geographically and push into areas like genetic artificial intelligence that support the broader mission, new fund chief Franziska Bossart told TechCrunch in an exclusive interview.
The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, which launched in April 2022, still aims to find and invest in startups that can help the e-commerce giant deliver goods faster while improving the experience of customers as well as employees who they work in its warehouses and logistics departments. The fund is also designed to build on Amazon’s previous investments in artificial intelligence and robotics that have led to improvements in its operations, including the addition of robotic arms that perform repetitive tasks and automated vehicles that can help transport larger items. The first installment of its investments in 2022 went to five startups developing robotic and wearable technology that improves security in their fulfillment centers.
The fund had a slow start with reportedly just $110 million invested in startups in its first year. The pace appears to have picked up since spring 2023 with investments in Veo Robotics, computer company Flymingo, industrial wireless automation startup CoreTigo, Rightbot and Instock. The fund even recently invested in an undisclosed artificial intelligence startup, said Bossart, who would say only that the company’s technology could have a strong impact on robotics.
“There was momentum with the fund, especially at the end of the year, he added.
Now the scope—geographically and thematically—is increasing. Bossart told TechCrunch that he sees potential in Europe and Asia and would like the portfolio, which is largely made up of early-stage companies, to shift “a little” more toward investing in later-stage startups. The company too published a blog Wednesday that outlines the evolution of the fund.
Bossart is also active in three key areas: AI, gaining momentum in biped/humanoid robots, and finding startups with technology like autonomous vehicles that will improve middle and last mile delivery.
Amazon’s interest in and use of artificial intelligence is not new. However, Bossart sees potential in applying genetic AI to robotics and automation. Machine learning, a form of artificial intelligence in which computer systems learn from data, is already being used in robotics. Bossart is looking for startups using genetic artificial intelligence, which uses trained models to generate new information and data, which can be applied to perception, manipulation and control to improve automation. In other words, using genetic artificial intelligence to bring all the pieces of robotics and automation together to make it more capable.
And he emphasized that it is also an opportunity for startups. “The biggest challenge for a lot of these startups is getting access to large data sets,” which are used to train AI, he said. “Amazon has one of the largest datasets.”
Robotics has long been a key area of interest for Amazon, a company that relies heavily on automation and robotics to meet its delivery goals. Companies developing humanoid robots are of particular interest, Bossart said, pointing to the fund’s investment in Agility Robotics, a Corvallis, Oregon startup best known for its bipedal walking robot named Digit.
Amazon in October 2023 began testing Agility’s Digit robotic system at BFI1’s R&D facility outside Seattle. But even as Amazon’s relationship with Agility continues, Bossart said there is still room and interest to invest in other companies working on the technology.
“Mobile manipulation holds great promise,” Bossart said, noting that the company is particularly interested in how bipedal robots can work with humans to improve safety. The company already has evidence showing how robots can reduce injuries. Amazon collected data showing recordable incident rates and lost-time incident rates were 15% and 18% lower, respectively, at Amazon Robotics locations than at its non-robotics locations in 2022.
Bossart also sees promise in middle- and last-mile solutions to get these packages to customers faster. And that doesn’t just mean investing in startups developing autonomous vehicle technology — although Bossart mentioned that’s on the list. Bossart is also looking for startups working on technology for all points of the supply chain. For example, small automation tools that help unload packages faster, he noted.
And while the company is always eager to find startups with technology that can be used in the Amazon ecosystem, Bossart emphasized that the fund’s investments are not tied to commercialization.
“We’re experimental at heart,” Bossart said.
The Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund isn’t the only investment tool in the company’s repertoire. Amazon has a long history of seeking out and supporting companies developing new technology, products and services critical to its own mission. Sometimes, Amazon even buys the company outright.
In 2020, Amazon launched a $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund to invest in sustainable technologies and services that will help the company achieve its commitment to have zero carbon in its operations by 2040. Amazon’s climate fund has invested in more than a dozen companies to date, including CarbonCure, CMC Machinery, Pachama, Redwood Materials, Resilient Power, Rivian, TurnTide Technologies, BETA Technologies, Ion Energy, ZeroAvia and Infinium.
