Calgary-based warehouse robotics startup Attabotics has sold its remaining assets to family-owned Lafayette Systems.
The asset purchase agreement comes months after Attabotics shut down, terminated nearly 200 employees, and filed for creditor protection amid cash flow challenges.
Attabotics’ revenue surged to $11.4 million in 2022, then plunged to $3 million in 2024 amid market turbulence.
Lafayette will acquire “substantially all of Attabotics’ assets, including all intellectual property, equipment, and inventory” as part of the Sept. 17 deal, according to documents filed with the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta. Creditor protection court filings posted online by Attabotics trustee Richter indicate that Lafayette’s bid was the highest of six, but the final purchase price and other bidders were not disclosed.
Lafayette Systems is based in Kentucky, in the United States (US), and was formed last month by husband-and-wife team Bruce and Beth Robbins. They are also co-founders of fellow Kentucky-based company Lafayette Engineering, which was launched in 1989. Lafayette Engineering specializes in the design and installation of controls for automated industrial warehouse conveyor and sorting systems. The company’s clients include Dick’s Sporting Goods and wine and spirits distributor Fedway.
Founded in 2015 by CEO Scott Gravelle, Attabotics aimed to disrupt the massive commerce fulfillment industry by increasing the flexibility and speed of warehouse processes and reducing warehouse needs, allowing retailers to place robot-run fulfillment centres closer to urban areas. The company’s system was inspired by the vertical, 3D structure of ant colonies.
Attabotics replaced the aisles of traditional fulfillment centers with a storage structure and robotic shuttles that more effectively used space. The firm’s tech had been adopted by large retail companies including Canadian Tire, Nordstrom, and Tesco.
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Developing and delivering that system required lots of capital, and Attabotics had raised approximately $220 million CAD in total equity funding from a group of high-profile investors, including the Government of Canada, Export Development Canada (EDC), the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, and US industrial manufacturing giant Honeywell—which it reportedly had a chance to sell to for $350 million USD in 2020.
Attabotics shifted to commercialization in 2022 and saw annual revenues surge as high as $11.4 million CAD. But yearly sales fell to $3 million during a “tumultuous” 2024 amid rising interest rates, constrained consumer spending, lower e-commerce demand, global uncertainty, and supply chain disruptions, according to court filings.
Those filings also said the company, which was never profitable, posted growing annual losses that peaked at $49.5 million in 2024. According to The Logic, technical challenges hobbled the tech’s growth and strained relations with customers.
The documents indicate Attabotics’ business began to stabilize between late 2024 and early 2025, and it secured $30 million CAD in new business. However, it says Attabotics’ cash flow challenges spooked investors and stalled its attempt to raise a Series D round, leaving it unable to meet its obligations.
Attabotics’ largest creditor, EDC, served it with a notice in June. Filings state that Attabotics began the shutdown process the following month with assets of almost $32 million CAD and liabilities of more than $73 million.
Feature image courtesy Attabotics.