Calgary tech darling company suddenly shuts down, laying off hundreds of employees
The warehouse robotics company known as Attabotics suddenly terminated most of their staff earlier this week.
The possible demise of the company — which claims on its website to have more than 300 employees — comes despite it receiving millions of dollars in investment and funding from both private and government sources.
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Calgary-based Attabotics designed and built robotic automated storage and retrieval systems for warehouses. Global News
Attabotics was a self-proclaimed disruptor technology that used robots to automate supply management in vertical warehouses.
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The federal government and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan are amongst the organizations that gave Attabotics money or invested in it.
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Homegrown Calgary company ATTAbotics gets $4.5 million in funding from city
The city of Calgary gave it $4.5 million from its Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund.
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A notice posted on the door of Attabotics headquarters in northeast Calgary tells employees they will be getting 'termination' notice and 'do not go into the office.' Global News
The employees — commonly referred to as 'Atta Peeps' — told Global News that they received a surprise email on Sunday, June 29, 2025, terminating their employment effective Monday and telling them not to go into the office.
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The email was unclear whether severance or even employee expense claims would be paid, but the employees were were told to return all company property.
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The official termination letters — more that 150 of them were expected — were sent out on Monday.
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Industry Canada confirmed to Global News that it has received Attabotics notice that it intends to file for bankruptcy. Provided to Global News
On Tuesday, Industry Canada confirmed it had received the company's notice of intention to file for bankruptcy.
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Attabotics employees tell Global News they found out by email that they were being laid off, but there's no word on how that affects expenses they are owed or possible severance pay. Global News
Attabotics has not responded to Global News' request for comment.
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The company's CEO, Scott Gravelle, who once boasted of increasing revenues from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars within a few months, now has a message on his LinkedIn account that describes him as a 'Recovering visionary. Taking a long deserved break.'
There's no word yet either on what the company's financial troubles mean for clients who now have products potentially tied up in Attabotics defunct supply system.
None of the clients or investors would provide comments to Global News.
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