Recent financial reports reveal logistics technology company Ocado acquired autonomous mobile robot (AMR) maker 6 River Systems for just $12.7 million - a fraction of the $450 million Shopify paid for it in 2019. This suggests Shopify took a substantial $437.3 million loss divesting the business to Ocado.

Founded in 2015, Massachusetts-based 6 River develops AMRs that provide automated assistance to human warehouse pickers, collaborating seamlessly with them. Per Ocado's report, 6 River's Chuck AMRs are currently deployed in over 100 sites globally serving 70+ customers.

The experienced 6 River founders have strong backgrounds in robotics, software and operations from prior roles at notable companies like Amazon-acquired AGV developer Kiva Systems. The strategic acquisition expands Ocado's automation portfolio beyond its core automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) for online grocery.

6 River will join Ocado's new Intelligent Automation division, established to bring its technologies to non-grocery sectors through a capital-light sales model. This adds AMRs to complement Ocado's ASRS strengths and piece-picking systems from its recent Kindred Systems acquisition. Ocado is progressing discussions with potential clients across industries.

The 6 River deal furthers Ocado's mission to provide end-to-end automation solutions, from AMRs to robotic piece-picking to ASRS. But the originally discrete technologies will take time to integrate into a seamless offering. An investor involved in selling a robotics firm to Ocado noted that while strategically sensible, fully leveraging 6 River's $40-50 million revenue will be a gradual process as the disjointed systems are unified.

Ocado has the engineering talent to make this heterogeneous suite of robots work together optimally. But developing truly integrated systems spanning AMRs, picking robots and ASRS across facility sizes, workflows and verticals won't happen overnight. The fruits of this long-term roadmap toward holistic warehousing automation will take years of software integration and co-development between the platforms.

By acquiring complementary robotics technologies beyond its core grocery automation competence, Ocado is slowly building the pieces for an automated one-stop-shop. But assembling this fragmentary toolkit into a seamless plug-and-play offering for comprehensive warehouse automation still remains a work in progress. The 6 River deal is one strategic move in Ocado's long game to become a global warehouse automation powerhouse.