Robotics startups in Europe 1/2

Startups in the field of robotics have been able to raise a lot of money in recent months. In Germany, German-Chinese startups were at the forefront. The really big tickets were pulled by Asian and American star investors. As high as the funds raised were, they seem low compared to other industries: startups from the insurance, finance or even RPA sectors have often received many times more money. Pure software in a mass market is easier to scale than hardware in - still - manageable markets. So to increase its market potential, Neura Robotics wants to additionally go into the home and into businesses beyond manufacturing. The photos in the link show where the journey can go (please scroll down).

Interesting startups all over Europe - robot arm almost only in Germany

Robotics startups are steadily contributing to a turning point in time: Cobots are becoming more widespread, cheaper and, above all, easier to operate. Time for an overview that also introduces European robotics startups beyond the German-speaking world. One thing in advance: in the course of this elaboration, I found that there are comparable startups in different countries. However, due to their concentration on the local market, they have not yet made an appearance in Germany.

France

The French startup scene is particularly successful. The reasons for this are the good education, the support from the state and the access to investors. Doctolib (no robotics!), known for reseriving doctors' appointments, received 500 million euros in mid-March 2022 to drive the digitization of doctors' offices. The best-funded robotics startup is Exotec. The logistics robotics provider has received US$450 million to date and is valued at US$2 billion. There are few players in the robotic arm space. ISYBOT specializes in grinding.

MIP-Robotics offers small cobots in Scara design. Since their introduction more than 6 years ago, however, there have been no significant further developments. So far, Niryo has sold around 1,300 small robots with ranges of around 40 cm.

Instead, French robotics startups occupy numerous interesting niches. One example is mobile robots for agriculture. In large and geographically diverse France, agriculture plays a major role. Tibot 's approach could be unique worldwide:

Great Britain

With the UK, the EU lost one of its most technologically advanced countries. During the pandemic, this was demonstrated by the rapid development of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine. In the field of robotics, the UK scored with the first autonomous road repair robot. At the same time, robotics clusters were formed. In addition to London, which is virtually an inherent center, in Edingburgh. There, over 22 million pounds have been invested in a robotics and AI center. With Karakuri, the best canteen automation company is based in London. London is also home to Automata. The company supplies labs in what appears to be larger volumes with its compact Cobot. Although the retail price of just £8,000 doesn't quite fit ABB's typical pricing strategy, the robotics group has taken a stake in Automata. The startup recently raised another 50 million and now wants to automate the entire workflow in the lab. So the cobot was just the beginning. The company is currently looking to enter the American market.

Italy

In Italy, there is a robotics cluster around Pisa. In general, most companies are located in the north of the country. Various interesting startups with a medical-surgical focus should be highlighted. Smartrobots seems to be particularly interesting for industrial robotics. In the classic beautiful Desgin not only a workplace is secured, but also gestures of the user are converted into robotics commands. The blog reported on the Milan-based company at the end of 2020(link).

Robot hands and more introduces qbrobotics. They mimic human movements and are compatible with Doosan, Franka, Universal Robots, Fanuc, ABB and Kuka, among others.

MAKR SHAKR uses a Kuka as its robotic arm. The company has impressively replaced the bartender with a robot. Tactile Robots ensures that mobile robots change their direction by a slight stuss. AutomationWare was already referred to last.

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-> To the Cobot group on LinkedIn (Link )

In my own right/advertisement
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.