Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is buying an Indian robotics startup as the conglomerate scales up automation across its businesses, from e-commerce to new energy.
Reliance paid $132 million for a majority stake in Addverb Technologies Pvt, which uses robots to make e-commerce warehouses and energy production more efficient, Sangeet Kumar, the startup’s co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Ambani, Asia’s richest person, is investing in technology as competition from rivals such as Amazon.com Inc. intensifies in India’s booming e-commerce market. Addverb already works in dozens of warehouses across Reliance’s empire, including online grocer JioMart, fashion retailer Ajio and internet pharmacy Netmeds, deploying robotic conveyors, semi automated systems and pick-by-voice software.