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Meet Germany’s Unicorns Post 1: Agile Robots — Founder Interview

Updated: 2 days ago

This story was migrated from our old blog, originally published on January 27th, 2022

What Is This About?

Agile Robots is the first profile in Startuprad.io's German Unicorns series. The Munich-based robotics company joined the unicorn ranks in September 2021 after a €186 million Series C round, building intelligent robots that combine AI with advanced sensor technology for industrial applications.

Executive Summary

  • This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.

  • This is a new blogpost series of short posts to introduce you to the unicorns in the German-speaking startup scene.

  • ranks of unicorns officially in September 2021 with a 186 mn Euro (220 mn US$) Series C funding, getting their valuation “above 850 mn Euros (1 bn US$).

  • The company is a spin-off of the Deutschen Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum (DLR), the German Aerospace Center.

  • It is more known about Mr.

Meet Germany’s Unicorns Post 1: Agile Robots — Founder Interview Startuprad.io brings you independent coverage of the key developments shaping the startup and venture capital landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

This story was migrated from our old blog, originally published on January 27th, 2022



New Blog

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024.


This is a new blogpost series of short posts to introduce you to the unicorns in the German-speaking startup scene. We will first start with the 25 official unicorns in Germany. Note that all those companies are privately held and therefore don’t need to publish lots of information. This explains the 2nd group we will cover, what we call the shmaybe-corns, which are startups rumored to be unicorns or close to the status. We will then go on to introduce you to startups from Austria and Switzerland, who have reached unicorn status and some that are no more unicorns (either they got listed, merged, or went out of business).


Agile Robots (officially a unicorn since 2021)


Agile Robots is a Munich-based deep tech, robotic startup, that just joined the

ranks of unicorns officially in September 2021 with a 186 mn Euro (220 mn US$) Series C funding, getting their valuation “above 850 mn Euros (1 bn US$). They are an international team with a German (Peter Meusel) and a Chinese Co-Founder (Zhaopeng Chen). The company is developing software and Hardware for robotic hands for deployment in industrial manufacturing. Their USP is the fast implementation of their solutions. The software is compatible with some other robots and — of course — is working with AI.


The company is a spin-off of the Deutschen Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum (DLR), the German Aerospace Center. Their research was started with the development of robot hands for astronauts at DLR. Their robots are in use at BMW factories in China. The largest investor in the startup is Softbank (Vision Fund 2), which was also the lead investor in the unicorn round. Other investors include Sequoia Capital China, the Abu Dhabi Royal Group, Hillhouse Ventures, Midas Holdings, and Linear Capital as VCs. They also have strategic investors on board including Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi and Foxconn Industrial Internet. This reflects the stance of the company, Zhaopeng already said in an interview that too many startups are only focused on the European market. The startup also has a location in Beijing, China. In Beijing thy


It is more known about Mr. Chen, who graduated with a bachelor’s and a master’s from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China. He earned a Ph.D. in Mechatronic Engineering in 2012 at DLR. He is the CEO of Agile Robots since 2018. He even gave an English interview here.


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What Is Agile Robots?

Agile Robots is a German robotics unicorn and spin-off of the DLR (German Aerospace Center). The company reached unicorn status in September 2021 with a €186 million ($220M) Series C funding round. This is the first post in Startuprad.io's new blog series introducing Germany's unicorns to an international audience.

Introduction

This is the inaugural post in Startuprad.io's "Meet Germany's Unicorns" series, profiling Agile Robots. The company is a spin-off of the DLR (Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum / German Aerospace Center) and joined the unicorn ranks in September 2021 with a €186 million Series C. The series aims to introduce the growing roster of German unicorn startups to an English-speaking international audience.

Executive Summary

Agile Robots demonstrates the deep tech pedigree of Germany's startup ecosystem. As a spin-off of the DLR (German Aerospace Center), the company brings aerospace-grade robotics expertise to the commercial market. Its €186 million Series C in September 2021 valued it at over $1 billion, making it one of Germany's robotics unicorns. This first installment of Startuprad.io's unicorn series highlights how research institutions are feeding Germany's startup pipeline.

Key Takeaways

  • Agile Robots is a spin-off of the DLR (German Aerospace Center) that reached unicorn status.

  • The company raised €186 million ($220M) in a Series C in September 2021 to cross the $1B valuation threshold.

  • This is the first post in Startuprad.io's "Meet Germany's Unicorns" blog series.

  • The company demonstrates how German research institutions like DLR feed the startup ecosystem with deep tech ventures.

Atomic Answer

Entities Referenced in This Episode

  • Agile Robots — German robotics unicorn, DLR spin-off, €186M Series C

  • DLR (Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum) — German Aerospace Center, source of Agile Robots spin-off

  • Topics: Robotics unicorn, DLR spin-off, deep tech, aerospace technology, German unicorn series

Quote Highlights

  • Agile Robots is the first profile in Startuprad.io's German Unicorns series, a Munich-based deep tech robotics company that joined the unicorn ranks in September 2021.

  • The company raised 186 million Euros in Series C funding, reaching a valuation above 850 million Euros (1 billion US$).

  • Agile Robots is a spin-off of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), with research origins in developing robot hands for astronauts.

  • Co-founder Zhaopeng Chen graduated from the Harbin Institute of Technology and earned a Ph.D. in Mechatronic Engineering at DLR in 2012.

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Relationship Map

  • Jörn "Joe" Menninger → Host of → Startuprad.io

Partner with Startuprad.io

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Agile Robots and what is their role?

Agile Robots is a German robotics startup and spin-off of the DLR (German Aerospace Center). It reached unicorn status in September 2021 with a €186 million Series C funding round.

What are the main takeaways from this discussion?

The DLR (Deutsches Luft- und Raumfahrtzentrum) is Germany's national center for aerospace and space research. It has produced multiple technology spin-offs, including Agile Robots, that commercialize research from its laboratories.

About the Host

Joern "Joe" Menninger is the host of the Startuprad.io podcast and covers founders, investors, and policy developments across the DACH startup ecosystem. Through more than 1,300 interviews and nearly a decade of reporting, he documents the evolution of the European startup landscape. Follow Joern on LinkedIn.

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Companies building in robotics, AI, and deep technology use Startuprad.io to reach founders, investors, and decision-makers across the DACH ecosystem. If that fits your goals, explore partnerships here: [PARTNER_LINK]

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