Insider Brief
- Logistics startup Stord has raised $250 million in a Series F round at a $3 billion valuation and launched Stord Labs, a new Atlanta-based physical AI and robotics lab aimed at strengthening its challenge to Amazon’s fulfillment ecosystem.
- The funding round included Strike Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, G Squared, Bond and Lux, while Stord Labs will develop robotics, agentic AI and automation technologies for deployment across the company’s network of nearly 100 facilities.
- Stord said it plans to use live operational data from more than 1,000 customers and over $15 billion in annual gross merchandise volume to train and refine AI systems designed to improve efficiency across its logistics platform.
Logistics startup Stord has raised $250 million in a Series F round at a $3 billion valuation and launched a new physical AI and robotics lab in Atlanta to go up against Amazon’s e-commerce and fulfillment network.
The round was led by existing investors and included Strike Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Franklin Templeton, Baillie Gifford, G Squared, Bond and Lux, according to Stord.
Alongside the funding, Stord unveiled Stord Labs, a dedicated environment at its Atlanta headquarters focused on developing robotics, agentic AI and advanced automation technologies. The company said the lab will allow it to test and validate systems against real-world fulfillment operations before deploying them across its network of nearly 100 facilities.
“For years, every independent brand has been left to figure out on their own how to compete against the consumer experience Amazon has spent decades and hundreds of billions building,” noted founder and CEO Sean Henry. “By every measure, independent brands have been losing. Stord exists to level that playing field. We give independent brands the complete commerce stack: the fulfillment network, software and AI, to deliver a consumer experience that surpasses Prime.”
Henry said Stord’s combination of integrated operations and network scale creates reinforcing efficiencies that improve speed, cost and performance, with advances in AI and physical intelligence accelerating those gains for customers.
Stord said the initiative reflects a broader strategy built around connecting physical infrastructure, software and AI into a unified operating platform. Rather than developing systems in isolated simulations or demonstration environments, the company said it plans to train and refine technologies using live operational data generated across its logistics network.
The company said it processes more than $15 billion in gross merchandise volume annually across over 1,000 customers and captures roughly 8 billion data points each year. Stord said the scale of those operations gives it an expanding pool of real-world data to improve efficiency and automation across its network.
Founded as a commerce infrastructure company, Stord provides fulfillment, software and logistics services intended to help brands compete with the delivery expectations established by major e-commerce platforms, particularly Amazon. The company said its revenue has grown roughly tenfold over the past four years, with software emerging as one of its fastest-growing segments.
