Humanoids aren’t ready to replace factory workers yet, but the industry can’t wait. Manufacturers facing labor shortages are increasingly turning to startups that promise faster automation without the usual tradeoffs.
That’s the bet behind Theker, an AI robotics startup that aims to go beyond robots trained for single tasks. “It would work perfectly if you always had to put the same cookies in the same box, but most processes don’t,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano told TechCrunch.
Theker is designed for that messy reality. Think Boston Dynamics. Unlike humanoid robots, which are designed around a fixed geometry, Taker’s machines are built to be reconfigurable. You can swap and resize your hands, arms, and overall shape to suit your tasks, such as sorting packages, packing clothes, or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.
The signing of Zara’s parent company Inditex as an early backer shows where Theker’s ambitions begin, not where they end. The company’s broader goal is to move beyond retail to more labor-intensive industrial environments, such as manufacturing, where the complexity and scale of manual labor is greater.
This generalist ambition helped cement Theker’s position as one of the hottest startups to watch in Europe, and it was able to raise funding accordingly. The Barcelona-based startup has just raised $85 million in what it calls “the largest robotics Series A in European history.” (We have not found anything larger in our records.)
The Series A, which comes less than a year after its record seed round, was led by American venture capital firm CRV and supported by a combination of traditional and strategic investors, including Agrae Ventures, an investment vehicle with ties to Samsung and LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.
Gomez Cano said Samsung is not yet a customer, but the two companies are in talks. Teker would welcome the Korean company to be a customer, supplier and investor at the same time. This will provide startups with both revenue and reliability in large-scale manufacturing.
She also noted that because she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” the team is skipping the innovation department entirely and working directly on logistics and operations, where deals are realistic and timelines are short.
To demonstrate that the company can actually do it, Theker has a showroom in central Barcelona and plans to open other showrooms as it expands into Europe, the US and Asia. We will also increase headcount in our technology, deployment, and sales departments.
“We have already received 15,000 job applications and have to sift through them like crazy,” Gomez Cano said. She estimated that her team could grow from a few dozen people to up to 120 people by the end of the year, but then she said to herself: “I’m saying that, but I’m also saying we’re going to raise $30 million or $40 million!”
Theker’s success in raising twice its funding goal also reinforces the startup’s belief that it will remain headquartered in Barcelona, a growing hub for robotics, and the broader European technology ecosystem. “It’s never been an obstacle to acceleration for us, so we’re making the most of it,” Gomez Cano said.
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