RobCo valued above $1 billion after employee share sale

RobCo said Monday that a secondary share sale valued the Munich-based industrial robotics company at more than $1 billion, doubling its valuation from roughly $500 million in January. The transaction allowed employees to sell shares to existing and new investors, according to reports citing an account of the deal; those reports put the sale at about $40 million. The company’s latest valuation follows a $100 million financing round in January. RobCo described the new valuation as twice its earlier level, while reports put the January valuation at approximately $500 million. The supplied accounts do not detail the final transaction terms or specify the precise division of shares sold by employees and other holders. RobCo makes robotic systems for manufacturing and offers them through a robotics-as-a-service model that the company says requires no upfront customer investment. Its systems are used for factory tasks including machine tending, palletizing, material handling, welding and assembly. The company said investor demand gave it an opportunity to strengthen the business through the share sale. RobCo said existing investors participated alongside new investors.