“In the AI age, taste will become even more important,” tech investor and Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham recently observed.
By my own reckoning, the crêpes cooked up by a Swiss robo-chef, which I devour on a Sunday afternoon in Zurich, more than pass the taste test.
Robert Hennig, 28, is cofounder and CEO of Maus Robotics, a young Basel-based company risking culinary heresy next door in France. At a recent hackathon hosted by ETH Zurich, his automated crêpe maker drew crowds, turning out one every 90 seconds.
“I’ve always thought robots should make people happy,” says Hennig, whose self-funded creation is increasingly in demand at events.
He grew up in a family of makers: one grandfather made watches; the other was an electrical engineer. As a child, he built model railways; later, he joined robotics clubs in school. "I was always hands-on," he says. His grandmother made crêpes every Friday.
The idea took shape during his PhD at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), when the campus canteen shut down, leaving students scrambling for meals. "We went six months without having something proper to eat," Hennig recalls.
This experience got him thinking about reliable food prep. “We’ve come a long way technologically,” he says. “But we still cook with pots and pans — it’s medieval.”
Completing his doctorate brought clarity. "Do I want to be stuck to my phone any longer, trapped by an algorithm, or do I want to bring joy to the real world? I'm giving the world a warm snack, that’s a pretty positive impact."
Pixar also influenced that vision. Hennig points to 2007 family film Ratatouille, in which an anthropomorphic rat secretly directs a failing chef to culinary acclaim. "That idea stuck with me," he says. The company logo — a rodent — nods to the idea, appearing to direct the crêpe-making process.
Building the v1
Maus Robotics is a two-man, bootstrapped team: Hennig and his brother Marten, who handles the business side. The pair are deliberately moving slowly on funding: a potential raise in late summer is on the table, though Hennig suggests they may look beyond traditional venture capital.
Crêpes stood out as an ideal starting point: quick to prepare and less complex than dishes like pizza or pasta.
To understand the job, Hennig worked in a crêperie, learning the traditional Breton technique — pouring batter onto a large hot plate and spreading it manually with a wooden tool.
It proved harder to replicate than expected. He began building his first prototype in August 2025, which is a world away — visually, at least — from sleek humanoids. The hardware cost just 5,000-6,000 Swiss francs (or between €5,400 and €6,500). The real challenge was figuring out how to spread the batter evenly. "There are lots of different aspects," he explains. "The spatula gets dirty and that becomes tricky."
He eventually devised a new method for spreading the dough, now being patented.
While others aim to automate entire kitchens, Maus is taking a simpler approach. "We want to be like a small vending machine."
Demand is already coming from fairs and event organisers, and the startup is making money. For now, the plan is to build a handful of units — three or four — and deploy them at events. A second-generation version is due by the end of June.
Scaling will come later. "We want to build ten or 20 later this year," Hennig says. "Maybe hundreds in the future."
