Chinese warehouse robotics company Geek+ has opened a research and development centre in Hong Kong to develop artificial intelligence and robotics (AIR) technologies for the international logistics market.

Since its founding in 2015, Geek+ has nurtured and invested in its R&D capabilities. Today, half of Geek+’s 1500 employees are invested in R&D and the company holds more than 300 patents.

“Geek+ chose the Hong Kong Science Park as the location for its new R&D centre as it is the beating heart of Hong Kong’s innovation and technology ecosystem, a city whose strategic location at the heart of Asia and status as a trading hub and high-skilled talent pool, is of great importance to the company’s R&D efforts,” said Lit Fung, Geek+ vice president. “We feel certain that the centre will help accelerate the digital transformation of Hong Kong’s dynamic logistics industry and pave the way for international markets.”

The centre plans to develop smart automation for affordable, efficient and safe logistics processes in warehousing and manufacturing. The firm’s goods-to-person picking system uses autonomous mobile robots to organise inventory based on real-time demand and move shelves and pallets of ordered goods to picking stations, where employees will finalise the process guided by a user-friendly interface. Compared with warehouses reliant on manual operations, this can improve picking accuracy and efficiency by 300%.

Building on its goods-to-person picking system, Geek+ now boasts a wide range of robotics. Its product line includes the RoboShuttle for high-density tote and carton-picking, smart sorting robots that can adapt to various parcel sorting scenarios, and moving robots that apply slam (simultaneous location and mapping) navigation to follow virtual lines in complex environments, and more.

Geek+ applies robotics and AI technologies to develop flexible, reliable and efficient technology for warehouses, factories and supply chain management. With the Hong Kong R&D centre, it hopes to strengthen its role in robotics and develop technology that help its customers across industries.

“We are excited to have another unicorn join the science park’s vibrant ecosystem,” said Albert Wong, CEO at Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks (HKSTP). “The presence of Geek+ is a strong testimony to Hong Kong’s competitive edge in AIR. Hong Kong has all the key attributes to lead AIR development through its top globally ranked universities and direct access to the GBA. The centre will create new opportunities to fuel the next generation of technology talent and help businesses in Hong Kong, empowering the next wave of economic growth.”

Established in 2001, HKSTP is a statutory body dedicated to building a vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem to connect stakeholders, nurture technology talents, facilitate collaboration and catalyse innovations to deliver social and economic benefits to Hong Kong and the region.

Geek+ has 300 global customers and has deployed more than 10,000 robots worldwide. Founded in 2015, it has over 1000 employees and is headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Germany, UK, USA, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.