Robot makers fill their war chests in fight against Amazon

The new cash for Locus followed a $15 million injection in July for 6 River Systems Inc., a robotics company founded by ex-Kiva executives

A few years ago, Amazon.com triggered a robot arms race when it purchased a company called Kiva Systems, maker of automated warehouse robots. Now its competitors are landing bigger and bigger cash injections to lay low the e-commerce giant.

Locus Robotics, a spin-off of a warehouse company that decided to build its own robots after the Amazon deal back in 2012, raised another $25 million in venture capital, bringing its total funding to more than $33 million, the company announced last week.

The new cash for Locus followed a $15 million injection in July for 6 River Systems Inc., a robotics company