One of the biggest questions looming over the drone space is how to best use the tech. Inspection has become a key driver, as the autonomous copters are deployed to dangerous or remote spaces like power plants and oil rigs. Inventory drones are a promising subset of the category that has emerged in recent years.
Ingka Group, which owns and operates hundreds of Ikea locations comprising around 90% of its retail sales, is perhaps the most prominent name embracing the emerging space. It makes sense: The Swedish furniture giant and meatball vendor runs massive warehouses stocked with large items. It’s a lot of ground for humans to cover and too much vertical space for most robots.
That’s the primary advantage to systems like the 100 drones Ikea currently commands across Europe. The little scanning drones can provide around-the-clock updates to inventory and reach heights humans and most robots can’t.
The drones, which have been branded with the blue and yellow color scheme, an Ikea logo and the familiar “Hej!” tagline, are produced by Verity. The firm has been popular with investors, thanks in large part to its Ikea partnership. The startup raised $32 million last March and another $11 million four months later.
“We are always curious of learning from others, and this project is a great example of how we have collaborated across Ikea and together with an external partner come up with a solution that we all benefit from,” Ikea logistics head Peter Ac noted in a statement.
The Ikea initiative kicked off in 2021 in Verity’s native Switzerland. The drone company provided a bespoke solution for the furniture giant’s needs. It now covers 16 locations, with stores in Belgium, Croatia, Slovenia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Verity might have the highest profile partnership at the moment, but it’s far from alone in the inventory drone category. Competitors include Corvus Robotics, Gather AI and Indoor Robotics. There’s also Dexory, which reaches the high shelves with a massive telescoping autonomous mobile robot.
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