European robotics startups are advancing warehouse automation, surgical robots, agricultural drones, and industrial inspection. Germany, Denmark, and Switzerland lead in hardware innovation, with growing software layers for autonomy. We track 87 organisations in this sector across 6+ countries.
87 entries.
Deep-tech firm building AI-powered smart glasses that replicate guide-dog function for the visually impaired, using pedestrian autonomous-driving perception and haptic head-steering. Tested with 300+ blind users across ~30 countries.
Aerones is the world-leading provider of robotic wind turbine maintenance and inspection services. Founded in 2015 by Dainis Kruze and Janis Putrams, the company deploys rope-suspended robots guided by AI software to perform blade cleaning, leading-edge erosion repairs, lightning protection checks, and autonomous visual inspections — completing tasks up to four times faster than manual methods. A Y Combinator W18 graduate, Aerones has raised $115 million in total including a $62 million Series B in 2025, serves customers representing over 50% of global wind power capacity, and operates in 30+ countries.
Agile Robots is a Munich-based robotics company founded in 2018 as a spin-off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). It builds robots that combine precise force-torque sensing with AI-driven computer vision to handle delicate industrial tasks such as assembly and inspection. Backed by investors including the SoftBank Vision Fund, it manufactures both robotic arms and complete automation systems and is one of Germany's most valuable robotics startups.
The United Nations' flagship AI-for-good event, organized by the International Telecommunication Union. It convenes governments, technology companies, startups, academia and UN agencies around applied AI for the Sustainable Development Goals, with a large exhibition, robotics demos and a startup and innovation track. It is one of the largest AI gatherings in Europe, relevant to founders seeking visibility, partners and policy context.
A two-day London AI conference for senior decision-makers in AI and robotics innovation at the Kensington Conference and Events Centre. Relevant for an AI founder seeking enterprise customers and a senior-level audience.
Germany's leading trade fair for nursing and elderly care services, attracting care providers, hospital managers, and technology vendors. Features exhibitions on care-tech, assistive robotics, and patient monitoring innovations. Day tickets cost about EUR 30. Particularly relevant for HealthTech and robotics startups targeting the aging population sector.
Amena Ventures is a Dublin-based early-stage venture and venture-partner firm incorporated in 2021, co-led by Managing Directors José Sousa and Sukhdev Hansra, whose backgrounds span investment banking, corporate finance and business transformation across Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. It focuses on seed and pre-seed investments in hardware-intensive sectors — robotics, autonomous systems, IoT and space-tech connectivity — primarily across the EMEA region. Beyond capital, Amena positions itself as a hands-on operating partner, supporting founders on business development, fundraising, governance and talent. Its portfolio — concentrated in Portugal — includes Connect Robotics (autonomous drone delivery), Ethiack (AI-powered ethical hacking, €4M seed 2024), Xpectraltek (multispectral imaging) and Connected (NB-IoT satellite connectivity, acquired by Open Cosmos in 2025).
Arena Tehnologij is Slovenia's central event dedicated to science, innovation and creativity — a full-day, free public exhibition of the latest Slovenian technologies with interactive demos, talks and workshops on artificial intelligence, security and the digital future. The 2026 (3.0) edition is held at Technology Park Ljubljana and promises more exhibitors than the roughly 50 technology actors who took part in 2025.
Armenia's flagship engineering, science and art forum, organized annually since 2017 by the Enterprise Incubator Foundation and the Engineering Association at Engineering City in Yerevan. The 2026 edition runs under the theme "Physical AI: Engineering Intelligence for the Real World", with talks and discussions spanning robotics, embedded systems, sensors, electronics, semiconductors and manufacturing. It gathers 1,000+ engineers, researchers, students, tech companies and industry leaders.
ARX Robotics is a Munich-based defence technology company building autonomous mobile robotics and digitalisation platforms for European armed forces, founded by former German Bundeswehr officers. Its products include the Gereon RCS tracked reconnaissance robot, the Hector autonomous wheeled platform, and Mithra OS, a software system for modernising existing military vehicle fleets. The company positions itself around strengthening Europe's technological resilience and sovereignty in defence. In 2025 it expanded its Series A round to a total of 42 million euro, with backers including HV Capital, Omnes Capital, the NATO Innovation Fund, Project A and Speedinvest.
Atlas Aerospace is a Riga-based UAV manufacturer founded in 2015 by Ivan Tolchinsky that produces lightweight reconnaissance drones for military and civilian use. Its flagship drone weighs under 2 kg, is man-portable, and carries a camera for real-time intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Atlas is a NATO supplier and has delivered over 200 drones to Ukrainian armed forces for battlefield reconnaissance. Beyond defence, the company's systems are used by Norwegian mountain-rescue teams and firefighting services worldwide. Atlas is a member of MilTech Latvia, the national defence industry cluster.
Augmenta is an Athens-founded agriculture technology company that developed a real-time, camera- and AI-based variable rate application (VRA) hardware platform for farming. Its multispectral camera system retrofits onto existing agricultural machinery such as tractors, sprayers and spreaders, processing field conditions on the fly to automatically apply the optimal amount of inputs. The aim is to increase yields and reduce unnecessary chemical and fertiliser usage. In March 2023 Augmenta was acquired by CNH Industrial for $110 million and integrated into CNH's precision-technology portfolio, while retaining operations in Greece and the US.
AutoStore is a Norwegian robotics and warehouse automation company that invented the cube storage system, a high-density automated storage and retrieval technology used by major retailers, logistics providers, and manufacturers worldwide. The system uses robots moving on a grid to retrieve bins from a densely packed cube, dramatically increasing warehouse storage capacity while reducing the physical footprint required. AutoStore went public on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2021 and serves over 1,250 installations across 50+ countries. The company is one of Norway's most valuable technology exports and a global leader in warehouse robotics innovation.
Ukraine's flagship defense-tech summit, organised by the Brave1 cluster with the Ministry of Defence & Ministry of Digital Transformation. 5,000+ participants; 2025 edition closed $100M in deals. 2026 focus is global scaling and joint US/EU production.
Accelerator by Budimex for construction-tech startups in green construction, AI, robotics, and site automation. Offers pilots on construction sites, industry mentors, and potential investment or procurement. Scope: Regional (Poland and CEE).
Buildit is a Riga-based hardware and IoT accelerator-VC hybrid founded in 2014, operating as the first accelerator in the Baltics and Nordics focused on physical-device startups. It runs cohort programmes and provides pre-seed funding up to €250k for Latvia-incorporated startups, with seed follow-on up to €1.5M for Baltic and Nordic companies. The firm has made over 120 investments and manages the Buildit Latvia Pre-Seed Fund (2022 vintage). Portfolio companies span energy, health tech, smart living, and robotics, including Aerones.
Engineering company that designs and licenses precision miniature actuators using patented Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) technology for smartphone camera autofocus/OIS, AR/VR, wearables and medical devices; shipped in 75M+ devices.
International trade fair for food and beverage technology at Fiere di Parma. Hosts World Pasta Day 2026 alongside new Bakery and Beverage districts, showcasing AI, automation, robotics, traceability and energy-efficiency solutions for the food industry.
Tehnopol-run opener of Estonian Defence Week at Kultuurikatel Creative Hub. Brings dual-use startups, NATO defence companies, end-users, and investors together with pitches and a dozen-plus booths. Free with mandatory registration.
Dexory is a UK-based warehouse intelligence company that combines autonomous mobile robots with AI software to give logistics operators real-time visibility into their inventory. Founded in 2015 as BotsAndUs, it rebranded to Dexory in November 2022 after pivoting toward warehouse inventory intelligence. Its purpose-built robots autonomously scan warehouses and feed data into the DexoryView cloud platform, which builds real-time digital twins of facilities for inventory tracking and operational optimisation. The company serves sectors including third-party logistics, retail, manufacturing, and air cargo, and is headquartered in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
Diffusion Capital Partners (DCP) is Istanbul's leading deep-tech focused venture capital fund manager, with a team that began operations in 2007 and the fund formally established in 2015. DCP closed its first fund at €37M and launched a second fund targeting €35M, backing startups in BioTech, AgroTech, CleanTech, Robotics, Material Science, and Nanotechnology across Turkey and the broader region. The firm has made over 44 investments, primarily at Seed and early Series A stages with initial tickets typically below €500K. DCP's cumulative team experience spans over 70 years in high-tech sectors, offering portfolio companies business development, legal, and operational support alongside capital.
Denmark's largest digitalisation and deep-tech conference and expo at Øksnehallen, with 100+ sessions across multiple stages including startup pitches, drawing around 4,700 specialists, leaders, and researchers.
International naval defence conference connecting Nordic & EU industry with Ukraine's frontline maritime expertise. 30+ military, government, and industry speakers plus 40+ manufacturers of unmanned naval systems, with Day 2 dedicated to live demonstrations.
Distalmotion develops Dexter, a hybrid robotic surgery platform intended to make robotic-assisted minimally invasive procedures more accessible to a broader hospital base. The system allows surgeons to move between robotic and laparoscopic workflows during operations to improve flexibility and operating-room integration.
Eelume is a Trondheim-based deep-tech company spun off from NTNU and SINTEF that develops snake-like autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for subsea inspection, maintenance and repair. Its flexible, modular robots can be permanently stationed at seabed docking facilities at depths up to 500 metres, performing tasks without surface support vessels. In July 2025 the company launched its M-Series AUVs for deep-sea operations, and in September 2025 Equinor acquired the Eelume S vehicle following successful field demonstrations. Eelume also formed a strategic partnership with Maritime Robotics in October 2025 to advance ocean exploration.
EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) is Switzerland's second federal technical university, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva. Ranked among Europe's top research universities, EPFL has become one of the continent's most prolific generators of deep-tech and life-sciences startups, producing over 400 spin-off companies since 2000. Notable alumni companies include Nexthink, SOPHiA GENETICS, Astrocast, and Distalmotion. EPFL Innovation Park, located adjacent to the main campus, houses hundreds of startups and bridges academic research with commercial application across quantum photonics, precision health, robotics, and digital finance. The park includes an ESA BIC Switzerland programme that incubates space-tech startups. For founders in the Lake Geneva region, EPFL provides a uniquely dense combination of technical research infrastructure, institutional support, venture-ready talent, and direct access to EPFL's technology transfer office.
ETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) is one of the world's leading technical universities, consistently ranked in the global top ten for engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. Founded in 1855 by the Swiss federal government, ETH Zurich has produced 22 Nobel laureates and is the academic origin of many of Europe's most important deep-tech companies, including Scandit, Planted, and Araris Biotech. Its Technology Transfer Office (ETH Transfer) manages IP licensing and supports spin-out creation, having enabled over 500 spin-off companies. ETH Zurich's Pioneer Fellowship and Student Project House programmes provide early-stage support to founders still on campus. For founders in the Swiss ecosystem, ETH Zurich is the deepest single source of engineering talent, research partnerships, and institutional credibility across fields from quantum computing and robotics to materials science and food technology.
Exotec is a Lille-based warehouse robotics company founded in 2015 by Romain Moulin and Renaud Heitz. Its flagship Skypod system uses fleets of autonomous robots that move in three dimensions across warehouse racking to pick, store, and prepare orders at high speed. Exotec became France's first industrial robotics unicorn after a $335 million Series D in 2022 at a $2 billion valuation. The company serves major global retailers including Decathlon, Gap, Uniqlo, and Carrefour across Europe, North America, and Asia. Exotec demonstrates that France can produce world-class hardware and robotics companies, not just software.
Europe's largest food innovation congress at Bilbao Exhibition Centre, with 250+ exhibitors and 320+ speakers covering automation, robotics, AI, packaging, and sustainability across the food and beverage value chain. Italy is 2026 guest partner country.
FAST is a non-profit organization founded in 2017 by Ruben Vardanyan, Noubar Afeyan, and partners, with the mission to build a research and innovation ecosystem in Armenia across AI and data science, advanced materials, biotechnology, and robotics. It has funded over 260 researchers, supported more than 800 entrepreneurs, and backed 35+ startups through grants, acceleration, and a university-linked education-research-commercialisation model.
Generative Bionics builds intelligent humanoid robots designed for real industrial environments, spinning out of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa where over 20 years of robotics R&D underpins the company's technology. Founded in July 2024 by Daniele Pucci, Alessio Del Bue, Marco Maggiali, and Andrea Pagnin, the company raised €70 million in December 2025 — one of Europe's largest humanoid robotics rounds — led by CDP Venture Capital's AI Fund with AMD Ventures, Eni Next, and Tether. Its robots, built on the iCub and ergoCub programs, are targeting deployment in manufacturing, logistics, and hazardous environments.
Gideon Brothers develops AI and 3D-vision-based autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling in manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing. Their flagship product TREY is an autonomous forklift for trailer loading and unloading, using stereoscopic cameras and deep learning for navigation. The company raised a $31 million Series A in 2021, led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, with backing from DB Schenker and Prologis Ventures.
Founded in 2013 by Manuk Hergnyan, Pierre Hennes, and Yervand Sarkisyan, Granatus Ventures is a Yerevan-headquartered deep-tech VC with ~$40M AUM and offices also in London and Singapore. The firm focuses on university spinouts across AI, biotech, advanced computing, robotics, industrial automation, and climate tech, sourcing deals from Oxford, Cambridge, and Berkeley. Notable portfolio companies include BlueQubit (quantum software), Gecko Robotics (industrial inspection unicorn), and Zoundream (infant cry analysis). As of 2025 the fund remains actively deploying capital across its global deep-tech mandate.
Gravity Ventures is a deep-tech startup incubator and venture builder based in Nicosia, operated by the Cyprus Research and Innovation Centre (CyRIC). Founded in 2016, it is described as the only deep-tech incubator in Cyprus, supporting startups in robotics, AI, IoT, photonics, advanced manufacturing, and MedTech. The programme covers idea validation, product design, prototyping, mentoring, commercialisation, IP protection, and funding access. Gravity Ventures has incubated 18 startups and invested over €10 million across its portfolio.
The world's largest industrial trade fair, Hannover Messe draws 130,000+ visitors and 4,000+ exhibitors across AI, robotics, hydrogen, and Industry 4.0. Young Tech Enterprises offers startups subsidized booths and pitch stages. Tickets EUR 35-80. Essential for deeptech founders seeking pilot customers among global manufacturers and energy firms.
Hard2beat is a Wrocław-based pre-seed and seed venture fund founded in 2024 by Maciej Zawadziński — a serial entrepreneur with three exits including Piwik PRO (sold to Kirk Kapital in 2023) — alongside Maciej Frankowicz and Konrad Trzyna, who previously ran Shape VC's BRIdge Alpha programme. The fund closed at 84M PLN (~€20M), with PFR Ventures providing 56.5M PLN under the FENG programme and 30 private investors contributing the rest. Hard2beat backs Polish deep-tech founders from pre-revenue to early revenue with 1–3M PLN initial cheques and follow-on up to 8M PLN, targeting teams with a genuine technical moat in cybersecurity, medtech, biotech, devtools, dual-use/defence, gamedev, robotics and spacetech — explicitly avoiding B2C and shallow AI. By mid-2026 it had made seven investments including the open-source cybersecurity platform Defguard, autonomous UAV startup DefendEye, Alzheimer's wearable developer Neuromedical, neuroprotection biotech Pikralida, Unreal Engine AI copilot Ludus AI, and devtools company Graftcode (€2.1M, led with DigitalOcean Ventures, 2026).
HighTech Venture Days is an exclusive, curated matchmaking event pairing selected European deep-tech and hardtech startups with international VCs, corporate VCs, family offices and industry leaders. Focus areas span semiconductors, robotics, advanced materials, renewable energy, mobility, space and defense. It emphasizes one-on-one investor meetings over a traditional trade-fair format, built directly for capital-seeking founders.
Founded in 2016 by Davide Turco, Elizabeth Tosto, Antonella Grassigli, and Alvise Bonivento, Indaco Venture Partners SGR is Italy's largest independent venture capital management company, with over €350 million in assets under management across six funds. The firm specialises in proprietary-technology companies at Series A and B, with deep expertise in electronics, robotics, medtech, advanced materials, and digital sectors. Notable portfolio companies include Newronika (adaptive deep brain stimulation), Sibylla Biotech, Almawave, and Codasip; exits include Silicon Biosystems and Directa Plus. Indaco's differentiated focus on hardware-intensive and science-driven startups sets it apart from Italy's mostly software-focused VC landscape.
Bitkom's Innovators' Pitch 2026 live finals featuring startup teams in future technologies for logistics and education. Application deadline was February 23, 2026 (now closed); live pitch takes place March 19, 2026 with equity-free prize money and ecosystem visibility.
A professional drone-industry conference and exhibition at HCA Airport, organised by Denmark's robotics cluster Odense Robotics. Covers defence, legislation, and advanced air mobility — relevant for hardware and dual-use founders.
Iron Wolf Capital is Vilnius-founded deep tech and AI fund established in 2018, with additional offices in London and Tallinn. Its second fund, closed at €100 million, is the largest seed-stage deep tech fund in Baltic history, targeting 25 early-stage companies across AI, photonics, robotics, and space innovation built by Baltic founders and diaspora globally. The team combines backgrounds from Deutsche Bank, YPlan, and early Lithuanian VC history; initial tickets run €0.5–2 million and the fund typically leads or co-leads rounds. Iron Wolf has backed over 20 startups covering sectors from agritech and pharma to defence-adjacent AI.
Europe's largest intralogistics exhibition, held annually in Stuttgart with 60,000+ trade visitors. Covers warehouse automation, robotics, supply-chain software, and material handling innovation. Day tickets cost about EUR 30-50. Essential for logistics tech startups seeking partnerships with enterprise warehouse operators and supply-chain decision-makers.
Lydia Kavraki is the Noah Harding Professor of Computer Science at Rice University, internationally recognised for her work in robotics, motion planning, artificial intelligence and computational biomedicine. She is a plenary speaker at NANOTEXNOLOGY 2026 in Thessaloniki.
UK's premier national exhibition for engineering and manufacturing at NEC Birmingham, showcasing CNC, 3D printing, tooling, and factory automation. Free with registration, attracting 25,000+ engineering professionals. Particularly relevant for advanced manufacturing, robotics, and industrial automation startups seeking partnerships with UK manufacturers.
14th edition of Europe's largest open-innovation faire, held at the Gazometro Ostiense. Schools, university labs, early-stage startups and independent makers exhibit side by side across robotics, AI, IoT, digital fabrication, agritech, sustainability and space.
Manna is Europe's largest drone delivery operator, having completed over 250,000 regulated commercial UAV deliveries across Dublin, Cork, and expanding US and European markets. Founded in 2018 and built entirely in Ireland, the company raised a $50 million Series B in April 2026 from investors including ARK Invest, ISIF, and Coca-Cola HBC, bringing total funding to $110 million. Manna is expanding to 40 new US bases and has partnered with Uber Eats for European aerial delivery markets.
Marathon Venture Capital was founded in 2017 by George Tziralis and Panos Papadopoulos (co-founder of BugSense, acquired by Splunk) in Athens to back ambitious Greek and diaspora founders building global technology companies. Fund I reached €32M and Fund II expanded to €70M; Fund III closed at €75M in May 2025 (with €20M from EIF), bringing total AUM to approximately €175M. The fund leads seed rounds of €500K–€1M in sectors including cybersecurity, AI, defense tech, robotics, and energy. Notable portfolio companies include Hack The Box (cybersecurity training, $55M Series B led by Carlyle) and Augmenta (precision agriculture robotics, acquired by CNH Industrial for $110M).
Head of Physical AI at the global technology and consulting firm Capgemini, working on the intersection of artificial intelligence, robotics, and the physical world. He researches and applies embodied and physical AI to industrial use cases, and is a confirmed speaker at the Techpoint Conference 2026 in Kristiansand.
Robotic microsurgery company behind the Symani Surgical System, pairing the world's smallest wristed NanoWrist instruments with tremor reduction and motion scaling for open soft-tissue microsurgery. FDA clearance 2024.
Monumental is an Eindhoven-based construction robotics startup developing autonomous bricklaying robots designed to address chronic labor shortages in the European building industry. The company's robots use computer vision and AI to lay bricks with high precision on active urban construction sites, automating one of the most physically demanding trades. Backed by leading European deep-tech investors, Monumental is scaling deployments across the Netherlands and targeting broader European expansion.
Central Europe's largest industrial trade fair, held at the Brno Exhibition Centre with Industry 4.0 and the digital factory as core themes. A key venue for hardware, industrial-tech, and manufacturing-software founders.
Neulogy Ventures is one of the leading deeptech venture capital funds in Central and Eastern Europe, established in 2014 and operating from Bratislava with a Luxembourg fund structure. It manages €65 million in assets under management across approximately 30 portfolio companies in 10 countries, writing cheques of €200,000–€3 million primarily at Seed and Series A stages. The fund targets mission-driven Slovak and CEE technology companies addressing climate change, healthcare, and industrial automation. Institutional co-investors include the European Investment Fund, Slovak Investment Holding, and Tatra banka.
NEURA Robotics is a German high-tech company founded by David Reger that develops cognitive robots combining integrated sensing with artificial intelligence for human-robot collaboration. Its product lineup includes the 4NE-1 humanoid robot, the MAiRA cognitive collaborative robot with integrated 3D vision and voice recognition, the LARA lightweight robotic arm, the MiPA service robot, and the MAV autonomous mobile robot. The company designs and manufactures its intelligent robots in-house. In June 2026 NEURA announced a record Series C of up to $1.4 billion at roughly a $7 billion valuation, led by Tether with backers including Nvidia, Amazon and Qualcomm.
No Isolation is a Norwegian scale-up founded in 2015 that develops telepresence robots to combat social isolation. Its flagship product, the AV1 robot, serves as a physical avatar in classrooms for children with long-term illness or special education needs, keeping them connected to school and peers when they cannot attend. The company now serves over 900 customers across 19 countries with more than 3,000 AV1 units deployed in around 2,500 schools, supporting over 10,000 children. No Isolation won the 2025 EURORDIS Company Award for Health Technology.
Nomagic was founded in 2017 in Warsaw by Kacper Nowicki, Marek Cygan, and Tristan d'Orgeval. The company builds AI-powered robotic pick-and-place systems for warehouse order fulfilment, training its models on large volumes of real-world operational data. It raised a $22M Series A in 2022 backed by Khosla Ventures and Almaz Capital, with subsequent rounds bringing total funding above $80M, making it one of the most heavily funded Polish robotics companies.
Odense Robotics is Denmark's national robotics and automation cluster, connecting companies, universities, and public partners in the Odense region. The hub supports startups through business development, talent programs, and investor matchmaking, and it helps scale a dense robotics supply chain anchored by global leaders. Odense Robotics also promotes Denmark internationally as a robotics hub and drives collaboration in areas like drones, cobots, and industrial automation. It is a key engine behind Denmark's robot valley reputation.
Open Circle Capital is a Vilnius-based early-stage fund founded in 2017, backed two-thirds by the Lithuanian public institution INVEGA and one-third by private investors, with a mandate to invest up to €20 million in the commercialisation of Baltic technology. The fund targets ICT, robotics, high-tech, AI, and IoT companies primarily in Lithuania and Northern Europe, writing seed-stage cheques. Its 17-company portfolio has recorded three acquisitions — Frontu, Eddy Travels, and Paysolut — and the partners collectively bring experience spanning more than 80 technology-transfer transactions and seven previous funds. The team has prior exit history with global acquirers including Facebook, Saab, and Eli Lilly.
Origin Robotics is a Latvian defence-tech company founded in 2022 by Agris Kipurs and Ilja Nevdah in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The company develops advanced autonomous UAV systems combining AI computer vision with cost-effective hardware. Its flagship BEAK system is a man-portable, mid-range precision-guided weapon with a 15 km reach already deployed by Latvian and Ukrainian armed forces, while BLAZE is an autonomous counter-UAS interceptor using radar and AI vision. Origin has raised €4 million in pre-seed funding led by Change Ventures and secured an additional €4.5 million European Defence Fund grant.
World's leading trade fair for industrial coating technology, held in Karlsruhe with 500+ exhibitors and 10,000+ trade visitors. Covers surface treatment, powder coating, automation, and quality control. Day tickets cost about EUR 30-50. Relevant for materials science, robotics, and industrial automation startups serving the manufacturing sector.
Photoneo is a Bratislava-based robotics and machine-vision company focused on giving industrial automation systems reliable 3D perception in difficult physical environments. Its technology is built for tasks where standard 2D imaging or lower-quality depth sensing breaks down, such as picking mixed objects from bins, sorting items on fast-moving lines, or guiding industrial robots through high-precision work. That makes Photoneo important in the real economy layer of European tech, where better software alone is not enough and the limiting factor is accurate machine perception tied to physical execution. The company therefore sits at the intersection of robotics, manufacturing, logistics, and AI-enabled industrial automation. In ecosystem terms, it is a strong example of Slovak deep-tech with direct relevance to fulfillment, production, and warehouse efficiency across Europe. It also complements other automation businesses in the directory by representing the sensing layer that physical automation depends on before workflow software and robotics orchestration can deliver full value.
Co-founder and CEO of MAHI, working on autonomous and maritime technology solutions. He is a confirmed speaker at the DroneHorizon summit during Port of the Future Week 2026 in Antwerp, addressing autonomous systems for ports.
A three-day showcase of autonomous and sustainable port technology at Quay 102 in Antwerp, with live demos, expert sessions and international cross-port collaboration. It opens with DroneHorizon, a B2B and B2G matchmaking summit on unmanned and autonomous systems for ports and critical infrastructure, positioning Antwerp as a European testbed for future port operations.
Co-founder and CTO of Exotec, leading the engineering behind its autonomous warehouse robots. He co-founded the company with Romain Moulin in 2015.
Develops grain-of-rice-sized microrobots designed to navigate inside the human brain to deliver therapeutic molecules, implant electrodes or collect cellular data, aiming to make neurosurgery safer and more precise for conditions including glioblastoma.
Robovision provides Industrial Vision Intelligence Infrastructure — a no-code platform that governs AI vision systems at scale across food & beverage, packaging, semiconductor and horticulture manufacturing. Rather than building one-off vision models, customers deploy Robovision to monitor, adapt and standardise all vision inspection points across multi-site operations as production conditions change. Founded in 2013 in Ghent by Jonathan Berte and Tim Waegeman, the company raised $42 M in Series A funding in 2024 led by Target Global, Astanor Ventures and Red River West, bringing total funding to $65 M. Robovision employs 130+ people and is expanding in the US and Europe.
Co-founder and CEO of Exotec, the warehouse-robotics company behind the Skypod system. He turned the Lille-based startup into France's first industrial-tech unicorn, serving global retailers.
Semirobotics is a Warsaw-based medtech robotics startup that developed FIDI, an assistive feeding robot designed for people with upper-limb disabilities who cannot eat independently. The system combines 3D vision, AI-based motion planning, and adaptive utensils to align with the user's posture, pace, and food preferences, restoring dignity and autonomy during meals. Semirobotics targets hospitals, care homes, and individual users, addressing a significant unmet need in assistive technology. The company is part of Poland's emerging robotics and medtech scene and has received EU innovation funding.
SIDO Lyon is Europe's leading B2B show for IoT, AI, robotics, and XR, organised by Infopro Digital Trade Shows at the Cité Internationale de Lyon on 16–17 September 2026. The 2026 edition gathers 300+ exhibitors and around 210 speakers across some 70 conference sessions, with dedicated zones for sustainable tech (Impact by SIDO) and collaborative robotics (Innorobo by SIDO).
SPS Italia 2026 was the 14th edition of Italy's leading trade fair for industrial automation and digital manufacturing, held 26-28 May 2026 at Fiere di Parma and organised by Messe Frankfurt Italia. The edition drew 37,528 attendees and 720 exhibitors across six pavilions, built around five core themes — cyber security, AI agents, software-defined manufacturing, robotics & Physical AI, and ESG. A Digital District (Industrial IT, Focus AI, Start-Ups, Academy), 50+ conferences across three arenas, and the SPS Italia UP Challenge for startups make it a key selling and partnership venue for industrial-tech founders.
Starship Technologies is a Tallinn-founded robotics company building autonomous sidewalk delivery robots for last-mile grocery, food, and package delivery. Founded in 2014 by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, the company has completed millions of commercial deliveries across the US, UK, and Europe. Starship's six-wheeled robots navigate sidewalks using computer vision and sensor fusion, and have raised over $100 million in funding. The company operates in university campuses, suburban neighborhoods, and city centers, making it one of the most deployed autonomous delivery platforms globally and a flagship Estonian robotics success.
Student-run summit at Olma Messen with 7,000+ attendees, 1,000+ investors, and 1,500+ startups. Highlights include the START Summiteer pitch competition and high-volume investor-founder matchmaking.
Representative of Exail Robotics Belgium working on autonomous and unmanned maritime systems. He is a confirmed speaker at the DroneHorizon summit during Port of the Future Week 2026 in Antwerp, addressing autonomous robotics for ports and critical infrastructure.
The national robotics gathering, organised by ETH Zurich's RobotX at the StageOne Convention Center, showcasing Swiss robotics research, spin-offs, and live demos. For a robotics or hardware founder it concentrates the Swiss robotics talent pool, lab spin-offs, and industrial partners into one day.
First edition of an Industry 4.0 trade show at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, with 100+ exhibitors, 4,000+ visitors and 40+ conferences on industrial software, IT/OT convergence, AI, connected robotics and supply chain 4.0.
TEKNOFEST 2026, the world's largest aviation, space and technology festival, is hosted in Şanlıurfa on 30 September – 4 October 2026 at GAP Airport. Organized by the Türkiye Technology Team (T3) Foundation with the Ministry of Industry and Technology under the National Technology Initiative, it runs 50+ technology competitions across aerospace, AI, defence, energy and agriculture, plus air shows, a startup programme, hackathons and exhibitions.
Turkey's flagship aerospace and technology festival at Istanbul Airport, attracting 1.7 million+ visitors with technology competitions, drone racing, space-tech exhibits, and a startup expo. Organized by the Turkish Technology Team Foundation with government backing. Free admission. Particularly strong on defense tech, aerospace, and hardware.
Founded in 2016 by Andrus Oks and partners, Tera Ventures is a Tallinn-based early-stage VC that invests in born-global digital startups across Estonia and the broader Nordic-CEE corridor including Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Czech Republic. The firm invests €200K–€1.5M from its €45M Fund II with substantial reserves for follow-on. Tera has been backing AI-powered innovations for over 15 years, spanning Enterprise SaaS and Robotics/DeepTech, and maintains offices in Tallinn, Helsinki, and Los Angeles. The fund has made 65+ investments across its lifetime, with a portfolio spanning fintech, network security, and AI.
90th edition of Greece's largest general trade and innovation fair at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Center, with Japan as Honored Country; combines tech pavilions, startup showcases, and government innovation programming over nine days.
Three-day tech and innovation festival organized by NTNU, SINTEF, and the City of Trondheim, showcasing the research-driven technology cluster of central Norway (robotics, ocean tech, autonomous systems, energy). Features deep-tech exhibitions, investor matchmaking, and startup demos from the Trondheim Tech Port cluster. Tickets NOK 500-2,000.
Uni.Fund was founded in 2018 in Athens by Katerina Pramatari (Professor at Athens University of Economics and Business), Panos Lioulias, Sotiris Papantonopoulos, and Stelios Eliakis, with backing from the EquiFund programme. Fund I deployed €30M into 23 pre-seed and seed companies commercialising research from universities and research institutions across Greece and Europe. Uni.Fund II launched in 2023 with a €50M target, extending the same thesis to spin-offs and deep-tech startups at pre-seed through early Series A. Focus sectors include IoT, fintech, healthcare, robotics, and SaaS.
Universal Robots was founded in Odense in 2005 and pioneered collaborative robots that are safe, flexible, and easy to program for small and mid sized manufacturers. The company introduced affordable robotic arms like the UR5 and helped establish the global cobot category. After strong growth, Universal Robots was acquired by Teradyne and continued expanding its product line and ecosystem. It is a cornerstone of Denmark's robotics cluster and a global automation leader.
Venture to Future Fund (VFF) is a state-backed venture capital fund established in 2019 through a joint initiative of the European Investment Bank, the Slovak Ministry of Finance, and Slovak Investment Holding. It launched investments in June 2020 with an initial €40.4 million mandate, subsequently expanded by €15.3 million from the Slovak Recovery and Resilience Plan in 2024, extending its investment period through 2026. VFF focuses exclusively on Slovak innovative SMEs and EU companies with capital ties to Slovakia, deploying €400,000–€7 million per company. Since inception it has backed 16 companies including Photoneo, Sensoneo, Fuergy, and Powerful Medical.
Industrial robotics company building autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and fleet-management software for warehouses and factories. VersaBox's platform coordinates mixed AMR fleets across intralogistics tasks and integrates with WMS/MES systems. Backed by Movens Capital.
Wandelbots is a Dresden-based robotics company founded in 2017, spun out of TU Dresden, that makes industrial robots easier to program. Its software abstracts away vendor-specific robot languages so that a single interface can control robots from different manufacturers, and it has moved toward AI-driven ('Physical AI') robot control for manufacturing.
WeedBot builds autonomous laser weeding machines for organic vegetable farming, using computer vision and directed laser beams to destroy weeds without chemicals or manual labour. Founded in 2020 out of research at the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, the company raised €425k in a round led by Overkill Ventures in 2023. Its Lumina Laser Weeder is initially targeted at carrot cultivation, with plans to expand to other row crops.
A free city-scale festival blending an edutainment fair, an education summit, hackathons, and a startup contest. An ecosystem and talent-pipeline event — relevant for founders recruiting young technical talent or running edtech and STEM products in Cyprus.
Zeabuz is a Trondheim-based maritime autonomy startup founded in 2019 as a spin-off from NTNU. It develops autonomous, zero-emission electric ferry systems for urban waterways, combining advanced sensors, navigation and AI to operate without a crew. In 2023, Zeabuz and Torghatten launched Estelle in Stockholm — the world's first commercial autonomous passenger ferry. In 2025 the company signed a Letter of Intent with Haugesund municipality for Norway's first autonomous city ferry, connecting three urban waterfront locations, and is providing autonomy solutions to additional Scandinavian ferry operators.