Mytra: Helping Firms like Albertsons Transform Warehouses

Share
Mytra is on a mission to transform warehouse operations. Picture: Getty Images
Mytra is on a mission to transform warehouses and boost economic productivity and is already working with Forbes Global 2000 giants like Albertsons

A significant majority (85%) of global GDP is attributed to physical goods, according to analysis from Eclipse, while more than half of all the work that goes into making and delivering these goods to customers involves moving material. 

Although moving and storing material is clearly critical to the economy, the current process across warehouses and manufacturing facilities has changed very little over the past 50 years.

Unprecedented pressures on manufacturing and supply chain, in addition to crippling labour shortages, have made it clear that the traditional way of operating warehouses – with people and forklifts – needs to change.

With first-of-its-kind, 3D robotics and AI capabilities, Mytra is on a mission to transform warehouses and boost economic productivity and is already working with Forbes Global 2000 giants like Albertsons to automate the most common industrial tasks. 

Moving focus from hardware to software

Recent advances in actuation, controls, AI and rapid prototyping have enabled robotics to finally automate much of the material workflow and fulfil the promise of software applied to the physical environment.

Founded by ex-Tesla and Rivian robotics and manufacturing leaders, Mytra has assembled a team uniquely qualified to tackle this problem and reduce hardware complexity by orders of magnitude compared to the status quo, delivering a universal system to address the common but critical industry task of moving material.

Chris Walti, Co-Founder and CEO at Mytra

"Material flow makes up the lion's share of the work in a warehouse, but is still largely done the same way it was a century ago,” explains Chris Walti, Co-Founder and CEO at Mytra.

“This is because the alternatives are too complex, have too many parts and are customised for specific applications.

“We're taking a radically different approach by reducing the number of parts and moving the focus from hardware to software. We’re the first and only solution that can universally automate many of the most labour-intensive, costly and complex aspects of material flow, which are the 'red blood cells' of any industrial operation. 

“Mytra enables infinite ways to move, store and retrieve materials, changing applications instantly – all of which are controlled by software. This will drive massive efficiencies not only within warehouses but also in adjacent transportation and manufacturing operations.”

Key breakthroughs offered by Mytra

Mytra’s systems are infinitely customisable, shapeable, scalable and high-density, allowing them to automate complex pallet and case handling without the complexity of forklifts, pallet jacks, conveyors, elevators and other automation. 

This radical simplicity is enabled by three key breakthroughs:

  • Simplified offering: Unlike other solutions that involve thousands of parts and saddle customers with technical debt, Mytra comprises only three individual components: bots, a simple and repeating matrix structure and edge-intelligent software, which simplifies the deployment process, reduces cost and avoids single points of failure.
  • 3D movement: Mytra allows for full 3D movement at up to 3,000 pounds from any cell to any adjacent cell in any direction. This achieves the physics-limited maximum level of flexibility.
  • Software: Mytra's software platform optimises bot routes, manages inventory and continuously learns and improves, adjusting to changing customer needs. This approach entirely abstracts the hardware layer and makes material flow fully software-defined, allowing operators to unlock endless new applications and future-proof their operations.
Mytra offers a host of 3D robotics and AI capabilities

Mytra secures US$78m in Series B funding

Mytra's founding team brings expertise in hardware, software and operations from companies including Tesla, Rivian, Stitch Fix, Walmart and Slack.

Chris, who, prior to Mytra, led the Optimus Humanoid Bot team along with robotics and warehouse logistics at Tesla, founded Mytra alongside Ahmad Baitalmal, who led factory software at Tesla and Rivian.

The firm was born out of the venture equity team at Eclipse, which partners with world-class founders to catalyse new businesses and accelerate their growth.

Mytra is backed by several investors, including Eclipse, which led the previous seed and Series A funding rounds, and Greenoaks, which led financing worth US$78m through the Series B stage alongside several commercial partners including Albertsons.  

"Warehouses are the backbone of the global economy," adds Neil Shah, Partner at Greenoaks.

"Yet the vast majority of the world's warehouses remain manual and even those that are automated remain too complex and too rigid to meet the challenges of modern supply chains. 

“By creating a software-defined automation system, Mytra breaks the trade-off between automation and flexibility, abstracting away the complexity of hardware, increasing density, dramatically boosting throughput and delivering a resilient system that can adapt as quickly as the needs of customers change

“By making best-in-class automation available to all, we believe Chris and his team will define the next generation of modern warehousing – and we are thrilled to partner with them for years to come.”

Youtube Placeholder

Working with Albertsons

Mytra is working with a host of big-name businesses, with its system already being deployed at select Albertsons distribution centres, where it buffers and sequences inventory prior to shipping to stores. 

Across its customer base, Mytra estimates that warehouses save up to 88% of labour hours and experience double the internal rate of return compared with current best-in-class technologies on the market.

"Mytra's automation system offers unique flexibility to address many different applications using the same hardware," says Mustafa Harcar, Vice President of Supply Chain Automation at Albertsons.

"Mytra's highly simplified approach has the potential to unlock new levels of efficiency, with the confidence that the system can adapt to future needs."

Mustafa Harcar, Vice President of Supply Chain Automation at Albertsons

Scaling to customer demand

With its latest funding, Mytra will continue to grow its world-class team, scale its technology to meet growing customer demand and deploy its next generation of systems to the largest blue chip companies to automate applications that remain highly manual and labour-intensive.

"Several factors have contributed to an inflection point in the robotics industry that will result in a boom in productivity in the physical world," adds Seth Winterroth, Partner at Eclipse.

"The stage is set for the stacked Mytra team: a massive market in desperate need of transformation and the opportunity to realise the benefits of converging tech trends that are making it possible to build automated robotics solutions. 

“I have no doubt that the Mytra team can and will build an iconic full stack company that will redefine the supply chain industry.”

******

Check out the latest edition of Supply Chain Magazine and sign up to our global conference series – Procurement and Supply Chain LIVE 2024

******

Supply Chain Digital is a BizClik brand.

Share

Featured Articles

This Week's Top Five Stories in Supply Chain

Supply Chain Digital looks back on five of the biggest stories we've covered this week, featuring the likes of Blue Yonder, GXO, Gartner and Unilever

Inside Exotec's Grand Next Gen Skypod Unveiling

Exotec launches the Next Generation Skypod, enhancing warehouse efficiency with improved storage density, higher throughput and integrated logistics

The Panama Canal and its Crucial Role in the EV Supply Chain

Supply Chain Digital examines the Panama Canal's vital role in the EV supply chain amid geopolitical tension and global trade volatility

Q&A: JP Lauer at GEP Europe Tour 2025, Amsterdam

Procurement

Blue Yonder: Optimising Cold Chain Operations for RealCold

Operations

This Week's Top Five Stories in Supply Chain

Digital Supply Chain