Unitai

Unit AI (unitai.co) is a physical AI company that develops modular automation for each-level inventory management, ecommerce fulfillment and returns, serving retailers, brands and third-party logistics (3PL) providers. Its core product is a standardized, self-contained system described as a two-way vending machine: palm-sized robots automatically store and retrieve thousands of individual items inside a standalone cube that can be installed in a section of an existing warehouse, with predictive software managing inventory and storage density.

The system is positioned as plug-and-play and incrementally scalable, designed to be added to warehouses of varying sizes without redesigning the facility. According to the company, the footprint can be as small as 500 square feet (company materials) or 1,000 square feet (funding announcement), and it targets return on investment in under 12 months. Unit AI markets the platform to warehouses and 3PLs for single-item inventory management, and to retailers for keeping returns close to customers and forward-deploying inventory across a 3PL partner network, which it says unlocks 25-40% cost savings. The company states its system is built to be networked from day one and cites 3PL partners with 35 warehouses.

Founding story

Unit AI was founded by warehouse automation veterans Guy Glass, who previously founded Caja Robotics (acquired by Fives), a goods-to-person warehouse automation company, and Avihou Barkay, President of Plus One Robotics and general manager of Caja Robotics. After decades designing and deploying robotic fulfillment systems, the founders set out to remove the cost, complexity and infrastructure barriers that limited automation adoption.

Business model

Unit AI sells a modular, pay-per-use automation platform combining hardware (compact cube installations operated by small robots) and predictive inventory software. Customers deploy units inside existing warehouses and scale incrementally rather than committing to a full facility automation project.

The company describes a pay-per-use model for its modular system, positioned as roughly 12x cheaper than current systems with payback in under 12 months.

Traction

Within 22 months of founding, the company reported working with retailers and logistics providers including Barrett, ShipCalm, DaVinci and Carter, as well as global apparel brands, plus a pipeline of enterprise brands and 3PLs whose networks collectively ship billions of inventory units annually. Company materials cite 3PL partners covering 35 warehouses.

Latest developments

On 29-30 July 2026 the company announced $12 million in seed funding co-led by Prologis Ventures, Dynamo Ventures and Ground Up Ventures, with participation from eGateway Capital, Recursive Ventures, Think + Ventures, ZEP Fund and Crosscourt, to expand deployment capacity, accelerate product development and support commercial growth across North America.