Humanoid robots are not ready to replace factory workers at scale, but manufacturers are already searching for faster automation options. Labour shortages continue to push industrial companies toward robotics startups that promise more flexible automation without the usual limits of single-task machines.
That demand sits behind Theker, a Barcelona-based AI robotics startup building robots for more variable industrial work. The company wants to move beyond machines trained to repeat one narrow task in one controlled environment.
“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 told TechCrunch.
Theker targets that messier operating reality. Unlike humanoid robots built around one fixed body shape, Theker’s machines are designed for reconfiguration. Their hands, arms, and overall form factor change depending on the task.
The same platform could sort packages, pack clothing, or handle bottles and cans in a warehouse. That flexibility matters for logistics and manufacturing sites where product sizes, materials, and processes change constantly.
Inditex, the parent company of Zara, joined as an early backer. Its involvement gives Theker a clear retail and logistics starting point, though the startup’s ambitions extend beyond fashion supply chains.
The broader goal is to move into heavier industrial settings, including manufacturing. Those environments contain more complex manual tasks, larger volumes, and higher demand for adaptable automation.
That generalist strategy has helped make Theker one of Europe’s most closely watched robotics startups. The company has now raised $85 mn in what it calls Europe’s largest robotics Series A round.
The raise comes less than one year after Theker closed a record seed round. U.S. venture capital firm CRV led the Series A, with backing from traditional and strategic investors including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment vehicle connected to LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault.
Gómez Cano said Samsung is not yet a customer, though the two companies are in advanced discussions. Theker would welcome Samsung as a customer, supplier, and investor at the same time, giving the startup revenue, manufacturing credibility, and strategic reach.
She said she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu did not create Theker to spend years in pilots. The team avoids innovation departments and goes directly to logistics or operations teams, where purchasing decisions connect more closely with real deployment needs.
That approach reflects a wider frustration in industrial automation. Many robotics companies spend long periods testing technology without moving into paid production environments.
Theker wants to shorten that path and prove its machines through operational use.
To support commercial deployment, Theker has opened a showroom in central Barcelona. The company plans to open more locations as it expands across Europe, the U.S., and Asia.
The startup will also expand its headcount across technology, deployment, and sales. Gómez Cano said Theker has already received 15,000 job applications and needs to filter aggressively.
She estimated the team could grow from several dozen employees to as many as 120 people by the end of the year. Then she acknowledged the company had already exceeded her own funding expectations.
Theker raised roughly twice its original target, strengthening its confidence in staying headquartered in Barcelona.
The city has become a growing robotics hub, and the company sees Europe’s technology ecosystem as an advantage rather than a constraint.
“It has never been a barrier to acceleration for us, so we are making the most of it,” Gómez Cano said.
According to Beinsure analysts, Theker’s funding round shows how industrial AI is moving from software-only automation into physical operations. The opportunity sits in robots that adapt to changing factory and warehouse tasks, rather than machines locked into one workflow.
Investors are betting that labour shortages, logistics pressure, and manufacturing reshoring will reward robotics platforms that deploy quickly and handle operational variation.
