Stow Robotics, Stow Group’s warehouse automation business unit, has acquired a majority stake in iFollow SAS, a collaborative autonomous mobile robot company.

As a result of Stow’s commitment to warehouse automation, Stow Robotics was launched in September 2021, regrouping all existing automated solutions for pallets and totes and the related services and teams. Through this newly created business unit, Stow is building a platform of scalable automated solutions and continues to invest in technologies such as iFollow’s robot and software offering.

iFollow, founded in March 2017, is a Paris-based robotics company, developing and commercialising market-leading autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and a proprietary software suite. Its present fleet of cutting-edge AMRs and software are suited for a large range of use-cases, such as collaborative picking and in- and out-bound transport. iFollow is currently accelerating the commercialisation and deployment of its AMRs, having deployed its AMRs already in a variety of applications across different industries and building on a promising pipeline.

The acquisition of iFollow is backed by The Blackstone Group, Stow Group’s majority shareholder. The partnership with iFollow’s management, who remain on board, reinforces and builds upon Stow Robotics’ distinct strategy and positioning in the warehouse automation market.

Jos De Vuyst, CEO of Stow Group, sees the acquisition as “another stepstone for Stow Robotics, adding a company fitting perfectly within our portfolio of scalable automation solutions”. 

“We truly believe that our partnership with iFollow will unlock significant synergies with our Atlas 2D pallet solution, that we can meaningfully accelerate iFollow’s growth through our commercial network and that iFollow is the perfect platform for further AMR-based solutions.”

Vincent Jacquemart, co-founder and CEO of iFollow, sees the partnership as the start of iFollow’s next phase of long-term growth. “In addition to its commercial traction, technology-driven approach, and its advanced industrial base, we share with Stow the same conviction on the importance of technology in warehouse automation and the future of intralogistics. It’s a very exciting moment for our team, which is looking forward to disrupting the industry even further.”

Financial details of the acquisition were not revealed.