# RightHand Robotics **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/righthand-robotics **Vertical:** Robotics **Subcategory:** Piece Picking Automation **Tier:** Emerging **Website:** righthandrobotics.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary RightHand Robotics builds piece picking robots for warehouse fulfillment that use multi-modal sensing and AI to reliably pick individual items from totes and place them into shipment containers. ## Company Overview RightHand Robotics is a warehouse robotics company founded in 2015 as a spinout from Harvard Biodesign Lab, raising $66M to build piece picking robots for retail and e-commerce fulfillment. The company's RightPick system uses a multi-fingered robotic hand with tactile, vision, and force sensing alongside machine learning to perceive and grasp individual items from storage totes and place them into shipment packaging. The robot handles a wide range of product types including soft goods, irregularly shaped items, and polybag-wrapped products that are difficult for suction-only grippers. RightHand Robotics targets distribution centers running goods-to-person fulfillment systems where the last step of picking individual items from each tote to fill orders remains a manual bottleneck. The company has deployed commercial systems at major retailers and 3PL providers and integrates with leading warehouse management systems. RightHand differentiates through its multi-modal sensing approach that provides tactile feedback enabling more reliable grasp quality assessment and handling of flexible or fragile items that pure vision-guided systems struggle with. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is RightHand Robotics? RightHand Robotics builds piece picking robots that use multi-modal sensing and AI to grasp individual items from warehouse totes and place them into shipment packaging, automating a key manual bottleneck in e-commerce fulfillment. ### What makes RightHand's robot distinctive? RightHand uses a multi-fingered gripper with tactile and force sensors alongside vision, providing grasp quality feedback that enables more reliable handling of soft goods, polybag items, and irregularly shaped products that challenge suction gripper-based systems. ### Where does RightHand's robot fit in the warehouse workflow? RightHand's piece picking robot automates the final step in goods-to-person fulfillment systems where a person or robot must pick individual items from storage totes to fill customer orders, the labor-intensive bottleneck that limits throughput in modern automated DCs. ### What is RightHand Robotics' integration with goods-to-person fulfillment systems? RightHand Robotics' piece picking robots integrate directly with goods-to-person storage systems from AutoStore, Locus Robotics, Geek+, and others — handling the final step where individual items are picked from storage totes to fill customer orders. This integration makes RightHand a logical add-on for DCs that have already invested in goods-to-person automation but still rely on humans for the final piece-pick step. ### How does RightHand's multi-fingered gripper improve pick reliability? RightHand's robot hand uses multiple fingers with tactile sensors and force feedback, enabling it to handle fragile items, soft goods in polybags, and items where suction cup grippers fail — such as low-flat items, items with handles, or products with irregular surfaces. The tactile sensing provides grasp quality confirmation before and during placement, dramatically reducing drop rates compared to binary success/fail suction approaches. ### What throughput does RightHand achieve for piece picking? RightHand Robotics achieves 500-700 picks per hour depending on item mix, comparable to a human picker for mixed consumer goods and significantly faster for standardized items. Like other robotic systems, throughput is consistent across all hours of a shift without fatigue-related decline and scales by adding robot stations rather than hiring and training additional staff. ### What is RightHand Robotics' funding and commercial status? RightHand Robotics has raised approximately $50M in funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Menlo Ventures, and Playground Global. The company is commercially deployed at multiple e-commerce and retail distribution centers. The Andreessen Horowitz backing reflects conviction in intelligent manipulation as a core capability for the future of warehouse automation. ### How does RightHand handle onboarding new products to its picking system? When a new product SKU needs to be added to the RightHand picking system, the company's AI analyzes the product's 3D scan or image to predict grasping strategies. Most new items are handled by the existing model without additional training, though difficult new product types may require a small amount of real-world demonstration data. This self-service onboarding model is critical for retail customers whose product catalogues change seasonally. ## Tags startup, b2b, hardware, automation, manufacturing, iot, ai-powered --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*