Ultra Robotics

Ultra Robotics is a Brooklyn-based startup that leases its warehouse robots to customers under a monthly robots-as-a-service model. Clients pay an up-front integration fee for Ultra to install the robots, and then an ongoing monthly fee for hardware and software support.^[1]

Ultra's robots work in third-party logistics warehouses across the U.S. According to the company, they have packed more than half a million orders for shipping.^[1],[2]

The packing work covers multiple types of packaging, including envelopes and plastic bags. The company says its AI models need little configuration from customers, so a unit can be set up in a few hours.^[2]

Schwartz told Fortune that the as-a-service model has contributed to the company's early traction, because customers do not need to put up large amounts of capital to use the robots. He said the model has gained enough traction that Ultra has been able to raise prices.^[1]

Fortune frames Ultra against a growing field of warehouse automation, naming France-based Exotec, which builds robots that climb vertical racks, and Amazon's own fleet, and noting that the humanoid robots that attract most attention are prone to falling over and hard to deploy in everyday settings. Schwartz's view, as reported, is that other forms of robots are having more impact in the real world today. He told the publication that this kind of scaling on the humanoid side will take years.^[1]

Ultra builds and installs the robots but relies on Physical Intelligence, an AI research company, to supply the AI that lets them learn and improve in response to a given customer's set-up. Ultra announced a tie-up with Physical Intelligence alongside its funding.^[1]

Fortune calls this a body-and-brains approach and says Physical Intelligence software is also used by other robot makers. In its reading, the arrangement lets Ultra concentrate on building robots, while Physical Intelligence gets real-world data from outside the lab to train its models.^[1]

Ultra did not disclose a valuation. CEO Jon Miller Schwartz told Fortune the company has booked significant revenue but did not give a figure, so no revenue number is recorded here.^[1]

Jon Miller Schwartz is CEO and co-founder; SiliconANGLE calls him the founder and chief executive. Fortune notes that, unlike many Silicon Valley engineers, he studied mechanical engineering, and that his team spends its days on hands-on work with metal parts, cables and motors, including visiting third-party logistics sites to install the robots. The sources reviewed do not name other executives.^[1],[2]