Manufacturers facing persistent labor shortages are accelerating their adoption of robotics, but most existing solutions are trained for a single repetitive task. Theker, a Barcelona-based AI robotics startup, is taking a different approach: building robots that can be physically reconfigured to handle a variety of jobs. The company just raised $85 million in what it calls “Europe’s largest ever robotics Series A,” according to TechCrunch.
The Challenge with Specialized Robots
Traditional factory robots are designed for fixed, repetitive movements — placing the same cookie in the same box, as co-founder Carla Gómez Cano described. But most industrial processes are dynamic and require flexibility. Theker’s machines are built for that messier reality. Their hands, arms, and overall form can be swapped out or resized depending on the task, whether that’s sorting packages, packing clothing, or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.
“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.
This generalist ambition has attracted early customer Inditex, the parent company of Zara, signaling that Theker’s immediate focus is retail logistics but its broader goal includes heavier industrial manufacturing.
Investor Confidence and Business Model
The Series A round was led by American VC firm CRV and backed by Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment vehicle of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault. TechCrunch reported that Samsung is not yet a client but the two are in advanced discussions; Gómez Cano said the startup would welcome having Samsung as a customer, supplier, and investor simultaneously.
| Investor | Type | Role |
|---|---|---|
| CRV | VC | Lead investor |
| Samsung | Strategic | Investor, potential customer/supplier |
| Aglaé Ventures | Strategic (LVMH) | Investor |
Gómez Cano emphasized that Theker does not run pilots. “We didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” she said, so the team goes straight to logistics or operations departments where deals are real and timelines are shorter. This direct approach has helped the startup secure real-world contracts quickly.
Scaling and Hiring Plans
To demonstrate its technology, Theker operates a showroom in central Barcelona and plans to open others in Europe, the U.S., and Asia. The company will also grow its headcount from dozens to as many as 120 people by the end of the year across tech, deployment, and sales. Gómez Cano noted that Theker has already received over 15,000 job applications, making filtering a challenge.
The $85 million raise significantly exceeded the startup’s initial target of $30 million to $40 million, reinforcing confidence in its reconfigurable approach. Theker intends to keep its headquarters in Barcelona, which is becoming a robotics hub, and Gómez Cano stated that being based in Europe has never been a barrier to acceleration.
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