While humanoid robots are not yet ready to replace factory workers, the industry is eagerly anticipating their arrival. With labor shortages becoming a pressing issue, manufacturers are increasingly interested in startups that promise rapid automation without typical compromises.
This is the vision behind Theker, an AI robotics startup aiming to surpass robots designed for single tasks. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works perfectly, but most processes aren’t like that,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano explained to JS.
Theker is crafted for a more chaotic reality. Unlike humanoid robots built with a fixed form, such as those by Boston Dynamics, Theker’s machines are designed to be adaptable. Their components like hands, arms, and overall structure can be modified or resized based on the task, whether it’s sorting packages, packing clothes, or managing bottles and cans in warehouses.
Inditex, the parent company of Zara, has become an early supporter, indicating where Theker’s aspirations begin, rather than end. The broader objective of the company is to transition from retail to more industrial environments like manufacturing, where the complexity and scope of tasks are significantly greater.
This ambition to be a generalist has solidified Theker’s position as a promising startup in Europe, attracting considerable investment. The Barcelona-based company has secured $85 million in what it claims is “Europe’s largest ever robotics Series A.” (There seems to be no larger record found in our archives.)
Following a record-breaking seed round less than a year ago, this Series A was spearheaded by American VC firm CRV, with support from a diverse group of investors, including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment arm of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.
Gómez Cano mentioned that while Samsung is not yet a client, discussions are progressing well. Theker would be eager to have the Korean corporation as a customer, supplier, and investor all at once, a combination that would provide both revenue and credibility in large-scale manufacturing.
She further stated that she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” choosing to bypass innovation departments and head straight to logistics or operations, where agreements are concrete and timelines are shorter.
To prove its capabilities, Theker has established a showroom in central Barcelona and plans to open more as it expands throughout Europe, the U.S., and Asia. The team will also grow its workforce in technology, deployment, and sales.
“We already received 15,000 job applications and have to filter like crazy,” Gómez Cano noted. She anticipated the team could expand from dozens to up to 120 individuals by year’s end, then corrected herself: “I am saying that, but I also said that we’d raise $30 or $40 million!”
The successful fundraising, which doubled Theker’s initial target, also strengthens the startup’s commitment to maintaining its headquarters in Barcelona, a burgeoning robotics hub, and to leveraging Europe’s tech ecosystem. “It has never been a barrier to acceleration for us, so we are making the most of it,” Gómez Cano stated.
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