Robotics (2025)

The dream of building robots that can perform tasks on par with (or better than) humans is attracting VC dollars aplenty, as visioning and AI technology become cheaper and powerful enough to distinguish between the different environments robots need to master.

Germany appears to be leading the European field. German companies Neura Robotics and Sereact have raised the largest and fourth largest European robot deals respectively in 2025 (more on both below). Dresden-based Wandelbots, which has raised over $100m from investors, offers a platform that helps individuals without technical backgrounds to programme and train robots, while Darmstadt-based Energy Robotics provides software designed for the management of robot fleets in challenging remote environments.

A handful of AI-powered “humanoid” robots — aka futuristic robots that can act like humans — have secured enormous funding rounds. Norwegian robotics firm 1X — which raised over €100m in 2024 from OpenAI and other investors — this month unveiled its latest two-legged robot butler, Neo Gamma. Images of the robot show it performing a number of household chores like making coffee, doing the laundry and hoovering. Germany’s Neura Robotics, which is also developing a humanoid, raised a €120m Series B this month (the investors reportedly propositioned the company, rather than the other way round, and the deal closed in a month). There’s hype for humanoids, tempered with reality: these robots feel a long way from commercial scaling and deployment.

European startups are going up against behemoths like Meta, Tesla, Google and OpenAI, which have all ramped up robotics development. A key battle: who can develop leading robot software? Google’s DeepMind team and Meta both recently trumpeted advances here (Paris-based robot maker Enchanted Tools is testing DeepMind’s software in its characters). Warsaw-based Nomagic, beneficiaries of the second highest robotics fundraise of 2025 so far ($35.6m), is developing a software “library” of different objects and how warehouse bots should move, pack and handle them. Germany’s Sereact, meanwhile, raised a $25m Series A in January to develop generalist software for a number of industrial robots. It’s riskier to bet on potential hardware winners than software winners at this point, Sereact founder and CEO Ralf Gulde explains to Sifted. “Whoever has the most real world data will win the game. Sereact will have so much data, it’ll be very hard to catch up with us.” (Scroll on for a full interview with Gulde).

Other bot developers with momentum in Europe include Estonia’s Starship Technologies, which runs an autonomous robot delivery service in 80 locations around the world, and Cambridge unicorn CMR Surgical, which makes robot arms to aid surgeons. Dublin-based Akara Robotics is trialling its cleaner bots in UK and US hospitals, while Zurich-based ANYbotics is leasing its four-legged bots for inspection work in harsh environments such as chemical factories and nuclear facilities.

Robots are having a hard time breaking into several industries. They’re great in warehouses and greenhouses — where things can be precise and managed — but a poor fit for rough-terrains. Construction for example has hardly benefited from robots, as Sifted uncovered last year, though a few European startups — Monumental, Kewazo and Gropyus being the most prominent ones — are making progress. Japan leads the world for service bots (you can order from a fleet of cat-themed robot waiters in one Tokyo restaurant). France's Enchanted Tools sees a future for its friendly bots as greeters and guides in restaurants and at events — the company is scoping a Series A raise later this year.