LONDON — French technology unicorn Exotec, a warehouse robotics innovator, has selected Spreckley PR to handle its retained UK communications brief after a competitive pitch process.

The account has been won in partnership with Spreckley’s fellow GlobalCom PR network partner covering the Benelux region, Progress Communications. The two agencies will provide national and regional PR support to Exotec in their respective markets.

Headquartered in Lille, France and with offices in the US, Germany and Japan, Exotec raised $335 million in Series D funding in January this year to become France’s 25th unicorn. It is also eighth in the Financial Times’ top 1000 list of fastest-growing European companies in 2022.

Exotec’s flagship product, Skypod, is an order picking system with robots that can climb racks up to 12 metres high to retrieve and deliver products autonomously, before delivering totes to human-staffed or automatic picking stations.

Spreckley’s brief is to spearhead Exotec’s entrance and rise in the UK market, and build upon Spreckley’s 30-year history of promoting innovative technology businesses. At the same time, Progress Communications will manage Exotec’s PR and launch in the Benelux region, with teams present on the ground for support in Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Exotec communications manager for Western Europe Camille Paplorey said: “Exotec has experienced phenomenal growth over the last two years, so we needed international PR support that could cope with the speed and dynamism of our expansion. We wanted an agency not just with tech expertise, but also proven retail, ecommerce, supply chain and logistics media experience, so Spreckley and Progress made the perfect fit.

“The fact that they were able to come together and provide us with one, united pitching team for both markets to support our ongoing growth plans was a major advantage. We can’t wait to see the results of our partnership.”

Spreckley PR CEO Richard Merrin said: “Exotec is the true definition of a market leader. They’ve been pioneers in the warehouse robotics space for several years now, and their technological innovation is only matched by the resounding business success their innovative products have achieved. The whole team are thrilled to work on such an exciting account.”

At Progress Communications, managing director Miek Gielkens added: “Exotec is in a very exciting sector as robotics becomes more and more important to many brands. Working alongside Spreckley in the UK allows us to combine strategic thinking and strong execution across multiple markets.”