Simbe Robotics

Simbe Robotics develops ‘Tally’, an autonomous inventory robot, which, when unveiled in 2015, was reportedly the world’s first fully autonomous robot for shelf auditing. In October 2020, an upgraded Tally 3.0 version was introduced which is equipped with autofocus capabilities, advanced sensors, a graphic processing hardware to process images locally, and improved durability. 

Tally’s original market focus was primarily CPG retailers. Since then, Tally has been given RFID capabilities and computer vision, which enabled the robot to cater to high-end retailers with a relatively smaller footprint (e.g. Decathlon). With the new RFID capability, Tally can provide insight into inventory levels on shelved products as well as on products that are not always shelved. It can also determine if the products are being sold at the right price. 

In December 2021, the company received a patent for a method that can detect the freshness of produce and meat in a store. The system uses computer vision to record images across a period of time and determine characteristics such as the level of ripeness, contaminants (if any), and whether the fruit or vegetable is damaged, bruised, or rotten. For meat, the system can assess the freshness, fat, and water content. 

In January 2024, Simbe Robotics announced the launch of its first intelligence platform for large-format retail environments. The solution utilizes Tally and computer vision technology to capture, analyze, and manage inventory data for retail spaces. 

Key customers and partnerships

As of July 2023, Tally Robots were available in over 500 stores.  Simbe’s customer network includes retailers such as Schnuck Markets, Giant Eagle, Decathlon Sporting Goods, Groupe Casino, Wakefern Food Corp, Northeast Grocery and SpartanNash. 

In July 2022, Simbe Robotics partnered with Fast Radius, a provider of digital supply chain and cloud manufacturing solutions, to streamline the manufacturing process of its robots. In May 2024, Simbe entered a partnership with electronics manufacturing services provider Plexus for the global production and distribution of its retail solution.