PITTSBURGH, PA / CHICAGO, IL – March 24, 2024 – Freespace Robotics, an innovator in autonomous robotics solutions and emerging leader redefining efficiency, versatility, and performance, in the warehousing and logistics industry, is thrilled to announce it was named StartUp of the Year at ProMat Show and Conference held at Chicago’s McCormick Place March 17-20.
Material Handling Institute (MHI) CEO John Paxton presented the award to Freespace Robotics Chief Strategy Officer Michael Lutzky during MHI’s Industry Night celebration on March 19, 2025. ProMat is one of the world’s premier events for the logistics, manufacturing, and supply chain industries. This year’s event drew 52,000 attendees and 1160 exhibitors covering over 659,000 square feet of exhibits.
Independent judges from Walmart, Whirlpool, Thermo-Fisher, Airbus and Foley Lardner selected Freespace Robotics as the most innovative startup based on the ingenuity, applicability, benefit and impact of its solution. Freespace was among three finalists from a select group of a dozen startups admitted to the prestigious StartUp Pavilion, a showcase for new entrants with strong promise.
Freespace Robotics Chief Operating Officer Karl Sanchack, who co-pitched Freespace Robotics with Lutzky at the StartUp Pitch Competition, emphasized the systems distinctive design features and how they open up new and previously unseen opportunities for customers on their automation journey.
“Typically, automation in the warehouse is available today as a series of ‘single-point solutions,’ one for each of the different stages in the order fulfillment chain. If you need sorting, then you have to buy an automated sorter. If you need sequencing, the same applies. The challenge is that you then need to cobble these systems together to try and create your own ‘end to end’ automation. That approach inevitably results in interoperability difficulties, maintenance problems and technical challenges. We created a solution to compress all that automation into one solution and mitigate those challenges.”
Sanchack added that “Customers are trying to find systems that last, grow with them and adapt to their needs – whether that’s due to business model changes, product mix shifts, or other evolving demands. They want a solution that adapts to them. We invite everyone to our headquarters in Pittsburgh to see Freespace and how it can be the long-term solution they’re looking for – and how we can go from design to operational, for nearly all customers, in 6 months or less.”
Freespace Robotics: Transforming Supply Chain Automation
As part of the StartUp Pavilion, Freespace Robotics revealed its revolutionary high-density, high-rise, dynamic storage cube, which integrates speed, density, sortation, and sequencing into a single system.
This advanced solution, poised to transform logistics and warehousing operations, incorporates traditionally external conveyor functions such as sortation, sequencing, pre-staging, each picking, and order buffering for a wide range of industries, products, and materials. A robust Warehouse Execution System (WES) controls all inbound and outbound material flows seamlessly. This expanded versatility offers broader application and a lower total cost of ownership for all categories.
The system’s "Carrier" robots drive its unparalleled performance and unmatched efficiency, clearing the deepest tray in a 20-tray deep lane in just 40 seconds while performing simultaneous put-away and retrieval tasks in a single trip.
Flexibility That Meets Diverse Operational Needs and Adapts to Every Facility
Freespace Robotics’ innovative modular rack design, which expands vertically and horizontally like Lego blocks, makes it adaptable to greenfield and brownfield sites alike. The system’s ability to operate on uneven floors, navigate unconventional facility layouts, and operate with ceiling height variations ensures adaptability to the demands of diverse facilities. Additionally, its electro-mechanical components are all positioned outside the racking structure for easy maintenance, while reliance on domestically sourced parts enhances reliability and resilience.
Revolutionizing Industry Applications
Freespace Robotics ingenious design enables capabilities and applicability that open up a wider range of automation applications across the warehouse for more customers, including:
- Shipping Buffers: Transforming dock operations with efficient order buffering, sorting, and sequencing within the cube for ‘right-time’ delivery to dock.
- Broadest range of goods in single cube: Standard and large trays, full cases, and individual “each” picks, with trays capable of supporting loads up to 100 pounds.
- Cross Docking Operations: Reducing labor needs and operational footprints for time-sensitive processes.
- Goods-to-Person (GTP) Systems: Delivering high-speed, accurate order fulfillment.
- Integrated WES Option: Manages the broad range of popular WMS offerings as well as Legacy WMS systems
- Last-Mile Delivery Optimization: Improving performance for multi-stop delivery operations where weather, traffic, and congestion impact route orders and efficiency. This results in meaningful reductions in shift time, delivery costs, and material handling.
Innovating for Long-Term Value and Long-Term Performance
Freespace prioritizes sustainability and cost efficiency, with features that drive a lower Total Cost of Ownership relative to other solutions, such as:
- Reliable power rail systems eliminates reliance on difficult to source and costly to recycle batteries, lowering costs, system down time, fire risks, and insurance premiums
- Lifts available up to 70’, enable high-rise and high-bay designs.
- Stackable trays can be stored in the cube, reducing floor space and allow immediate replenishment access.
- Modular structure that meets future business requirements, unknown demands, changing product characteristics and capacity expansion without demolition, reconstruction, major retrofitting or new builds.
- Maintenance-friendly components located outside the cube for easy access and reduced maintenance costs.
Market Ready with Strong Partnerships and Alliances
Freespace Robotics comes to market with strong product and manufacturing partnerships that establish its position as a high-quality solution provider and reinforce its standing among industry leaders. A Freespace system is available today with;
- Turnkey software from Matthews Automation Solutions seamlessly integrates with industry-standard WMS platforms like Manhattan, Oracle, and SAP to handle inventory management, order picking, and replenishment. Matthews is a leading provider of warehouse automation software, controls, and order fulfillment systems (General API‘s are also available)
- Proprietary and customized trays and packaging products provided by Monoflo International, the trusted provider of injection molded plastic totes, trays and containers for industry leading solutions
- Racks and rails are provided by Cornerstone Automation Systems (CASI), a leader in advanced rack infrastructure and conveyor technology.
With these partners and selective development of subsystems, the Freespace solution is composed of materials and components that are 100% US sourced.
Learn more about Freespace Robotics at www.freespacerobotics.com
See Freespace featured at ProMat 2025, https://videos.mhi.org/freespace-robotics-from-the-show-floor/
About Freespace Robotics
Freespace Robotics, a spin-out company of venture studio Carnegie Foundry, is a leading innovator in autonomous robotics solutions for the logistics and warehousing industry. By combining advanced robotics, modular design, and unmatched versatility, Freespace Robotics delivers breakthrough advances that redefine how businesses approach storage, retrieval, order fulfillment and the movement of goods.
Based in Pittsburgh, PA and backed by United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X)(“U.S. Steel”), NFI Industries and Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ:MATW), Freespace Robotics thrives at the intersection of industrial innovation and artificial intelligence. To learn more about Freespace Robotics, please visit www.freespacerobotics.com.
Inquiries:
Pilot/Sales/Operations: Karl Sanchack, ksanchack@freespacerobotics.com Investment: Matthew B. Wachter, matt@freespacerobotics.com
About Carnegie Foundry
Carnegie Foundry is a robotics and AI venture studio headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. With a focus on commercializing advanced technologies developed at the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), Carnegie Foundry accelerates the growth of innovative companies that are shaping the future of automation, manufacturing, energy, agriculture, mobility, decarbonization, infrastructure and supply chain logistics.
Inquiries:
Rich Fruehauf, Chief Ventures Officer, rich@carnegiefoundry.com