Humanoids aren’t quite ready to replace factory workers, but industry can’t wait. Faced with labor shortages, manufacturers have shown growing interest in startups that promise faster automation without the usual trade-offs.
This is the bet back Thekeran artificial intelligence robotics startup that aims to go beyond robots trained for a single task. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works great, but most processes don’t,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano told TechCrunch.
Theker is designed for this dirtier reality. Unlike humanoid robots designed around a fixed form—think Boston Dynamics—Theker’s machines are built to reshape themselves. Hands, arms and their overall shape can be replaced or resized depending on the task, whether it’s sorting packages, packing clothes or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.
That Zara’s parent company Inditex has signed on as an early backer is a sign of where Theker’s ambitions begin, not end. The company’s broader goal is to move beyond retail into heavier industrial environments such as manufacturing, where the complexity and scale of manual tasks are even greater.
This overarching ambition has helped cement Theker’s position as one of Europe’s hottest startups to watch — and raise capital accordingly. The Barcelona-based startup just raised $85 million in what it calls “Europe’s largest robotics Series A.” (Nor have we found a larger one in our records.)
Less than a year later a record sports lapthis Series A was led by US VC firm CRV and backed by a mix of traditional and strategic investors, including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment arm linked to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault.
Gómez Cano said that Samsung is not yet a customer, but that both are in advanced discussions. Theker would welcome having the Korean company as a customer, supplier, and investor all at once—a trinity that would give the startup both revenue and credibility to produce at scale.
She also noted that she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” so the team is bypassing innovation departments altogether and going straight to logistics or business, where the deals are real and timelines are shorter.
To prove that the company can really pull this off, Theker has a showroom in downtown Barcelona and plans to open more as it expands to Europe, the US and Asia. It will also increase its headcount in technology, development and sales.
“We already received 15,000 job applications and we have to filter like crazy,” said Gomez Cano. She estimated the group could grow from dozens to as many as 120 people by the end of the year, then caught herself: “I say that, but I also said we’d raise $30 or $40 million!”
That Theker was able to raise twice its goal also bolsters the startup’s belief in keeping its headquarters in Barcelona, a growing robotics huband in Europe’s wider technology ecosystem. “It’s never been a barrier to acceleration for us, so we’re making the most of it,” Gómez Cano said.
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect our editorial independence.
