Matthews Automation Solutions expands investment in Freespace Robotics

Freespace Robotics announced that Matthews Automation Solutions, a division of Matthews International Corporation (NASDAQ: MATW), has expanded its strategic investment in the company and purchased a flagship Freespace ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval System) for deployment and system integration in its newly launched Atlanta center.

The announcement follows a successful joint showing at ProMat 2025, where Freespace was spotlighted in Matthews Automation Solution’s exhibit. The partnership drew significant interest from logistics professionals, integrators, and facility operators seeking next-generation, high-throughput order fulfillment automation. In fact, at the show Freespace won Start Up of the Year for their innovative high-density cube design. Building on that success, Freespace will expand its presence with Matthews Automation Solutions at MODEX 2026, where it will debut enhanced capabilities and new deployment models optimized for a wide range of warehouse needs from the first to last-mile.

“Freespace Robotics addresses key industry challenges—modularity, system interoperability, and rapid deployment,” said Gary Cash, SVP and General Manager of Matthews Automation Solutions. “We’re excited to deepen our relationship and bring this innovative platform directly to our customers.”

The Matthews-backed deployment will serve as a live showcase of Freespace’s full-stack solution, which tightly integrates advanced robotics with Matthews’ proven warehouse execution system called NEXUS. NEXUS WES software will orchestrate inbound and outbound workflows, inventory management, and sequencing tasks through seamless integration with the Freespace hardware—delivering real-time insights, control, and efficiency from a single dashboard.

“Matthews has been a valuable strategic partner, and their increased investment and system purchase reinforce the real-world demand for a smarter, more unified approach to warehouse automation which includes over-sized goods and parcels,” said Karl Sanchack, COO of Freespace Robotics. “As the market moves beyond piecemeal solutions to material handling, we’re delivering the flexibility, performance, and scalability that operators need to stay competitive.”

Freespace Robotics’ high-density ASRS cube reimagines order fulfillment by consolidating sortation, sequencing, buffering, each-picking, and storage into a compact, modular design that fits both greenfield and existing facilities. Its intelligent “Carrier” robots can reach the deepest storage lanes in under 40 seconds while executing simultaneous put-away and retrieval. Carnegie Foundry, the unique AI and autonomous robotics venture studio from which Freespace was spun out and the world leading experts of Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center, collaborated to bring the disruptive high-density ASRS cube design to market.

The system architecture expands both vertically and horizontally, supports goods up to 100 pounds from small items to traditionally non-sortable packages, and fits seamlessly into both new and existing facilities. With all maintenance components located outside the cube and a rail-powered design that eliminates batteries, Freespace maximizes uptime, safety, and sustainability and, also, simplifies maintenance of the robotic carriers and exit systems like lifts and conveyors. From cross-docking and goods-to-person fulfillment to last-mile staging, Freespace enables warehouse operators to achieve higher throughput – across more of the order fulfillment process – with less complexity and space.

With backing from Matthews International, U.S. Steel Corporation, NFI Industries, and Carnegie Foundry, Freespace continues to scale operations and bring to market a new class of automation solutions built for adaptability, performance, and resilience.