Neura Robotics Inside - Visit of the probably next unicorn (1/2)

A few days ago, I was finally able to meet David Reger (photo above), founder and managing partner of Neura Robotics, in person. The meeting took place at the premises of his startup in Metzingen. Neura Robotics is one of the world's best-funded robotics startups with US$86 million to date(link). I would not be surprised if the valuation would soon exceed US-$ 1 billion. During the last capital increase, the share of the Chinese Han's group was reduced. The basis for this was an agreement made at the time of founding: if Reger and his team reach the fixed targets, they can involve Western shareholders in the course of capital increases and, above all, receive the IP (see below).

In addition to the high amount of financing, which should soon increase significantly, the young company differs from other startups in many ways. Reger is convinced that the only differences between today's models are quality and price. The price of a robot reaches only 10 to 30% of the total investment costs. David Reger wanted cheaper cobots, lower integration costs and additional differentiating features such as secure recognition of humans.

Short development phase

Apparently based on the experience of the executives, the presentation of the first own products took place within 2 years after the foundation, which took place in 2019. The team had already had the typical learning curve that university startups in particular have to cover, learning the difference between theory and practice. David Reger, for example, previously worked for 7 years at a Swiss automation specialist and was already developing cobots there. Nevertheless, "MAiRA," which the team claims is the first cognitive robot (probably priced at less than €40,000), contains numerous functions and techniques that were not previously available in cobots (see below). In addition to the robot arms, "MAV", a mobile robot that also has cognitive capabilities, was presented last year. With this, new ground was broken. Neither Reger nor the Chinese shareholders of Han's Robots had a mobile robot before.

Completely new functions

David Reger is convinced that only those who introduce something completely new can succeed or, to quote him:

"We have lost today's market, we are focusing on tomorrow's market."

It is therefore logical to develop the next generation of robotics. Just as the cobot represents a further development of the classic industrial robot, Reger and his team have taken the next evolutionary step with the "cognitive robot," one might think. No current robot before was autonomous, they were just programmed, Reger said. That's why Neura Robotics introduced cognition: Seeing, thinking along, understanding, learning and reacting to the environment.

The "MAiRA" series responds to voice commands, recognizes people, learns by simply pointing and subsequently adapts to changes. For example, "MAiRA" can weld a line if the user has previously traced it with his finger. If the part is positioned differently during the next welding process, "MAiRA" still knows how to weld. A tool like the "TracePen" from Wandelbots is therefore not necessary. Wandelbots also always requires the same position of the part to be welded.

"MAiRA" manages all this with the help of the wide use of artificial intelligence. Recognizing humans is very important because of the maximum speed of 4.5 m/sec. If a human approaches, the speed is reduced.

Hardly any additional purchases

With a few exceptions that I know of (igus and ELITE ROBOTS), all robot manufacturers buy in the most important motors, gears, encoders. I.e. different manufacturers use comparable parts, for example from Kollmorgen, Harmon Drive or TQ. Thus, the technical conditions are similar and the savings potential is limited. Neura Robotics has broken through this hidden standardization with its own products: These offer more functions in some cases, but often cost only a fraction of the previous price, according to Reger. The next step is to offer these self-developed components to other manufacturers. Some components are installed in robots from the sister brand Han's Robot. All core know-how, such as sensor technology, is manufactured in Germany. There is a mutual dependency with the partners in China.

Safety has priority

Extremely important for Reger is security. For him, this has the very highest priority and must not be sacrificed, for example, to the desire for scaling. In the past, some market players have cut corners here. Neura Robotics, on the other hand, uses a new type of technology that enables robots to recognize people safely and without contact.

The second part, which is expected to be published tomorrow, will focus on the broad product range, the robotics market also outside the industry, current sales figures and sales .

Vowever, are we networking? LinkedIn
-> To the Cobot group on LinkedIn(Link)

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The author of this blog is significantly involved in the AI/robotics project Opdra. He advises robotics companies and investors on market analysis and funding/subsidies. More about him can be found here.