Fruitcore Robotics raises €23 million to further commercialize Horst robot

Fruitcore Robotics, the startup creator of Horst robots, has raised €23 million to “enable companies of all sizes – from medium-sized businesses to global corporations – to introduce robotics and automation solutions into their manufacturing”.

Three years after its market launch, Fruitcore Robotics is already automating several hundred different applications in 29 different industries in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. The 60+ partner network in the DACH region and Italy is being continuously expanded.

Internationally renowned venture capital firms Capricorn Partners and Kompas, and the high and deep tech investor XAI technologies are investing in Fruitcore Robotics for the first time.

Existing investors are also confident: UVC Partners, Matterwave Ventures, CNB Capital, the family business Pecon and the btov Private Investor Network are participating in the financing round. The capital is intended to accelerate product innovation, sales and marketing and international expansion.

At the heart of Fruitcore Robotics’ success are the intelligent robotics solutions based around the Horst (Highly Optimized Robotic Systems Technology) “digital robot”, which provides companies of all sizes with access to industrial-grade, highly productive robotics.

Even small and medium-sized companies without prior experience can easily and quickly get started with automation and digitization. The barriers to entry are low – low investment costs, fast implementation, intuitive programming and high performance all come together to fulfill the claim.

Hardware, software, connectivity and services are offered in an easy-to-use end-to-end solution. Horst can be used for loading and unloading machines, for stacking, sorting and packaging products, for handling turned, milled and stamped parts, but also for pick and place applications for small parts.

Jens Riegger, managing director (CEO) and co-founder of Fruitcore Robotics, says: “With the closing of our Series B financing, we are again a big step closer to our goal of making robotics and automation solutions accessible to the masses.

“We see that the demand for high-quality and easy-to-use robots in the market is steadily increasing. Therefore, we will use the new capital primarily to serve the demand for our robotics and automation solutions as well as digital products in the European market. By the end of 2023, Fruitcore Robotics aims to open up a large part of the European market.”

Patrick Heimburger, managing director (chief revenue officer) and co-founder of Fruitcore Robotics, says: “We are still at the beginning of the robots’ growth trajectory, especially in medium-sized businesses, and we are convinced that with our ‘digital robot’ Horst we are one of the game changers and thus a driving force for the broad use of robots in the manufacturing industry. We would like to thank our investors for the trust they have placed in us.”

Josef Mardijan, member of the executive board (CFO) of Fruitcore Robotics, says: “In times of political and economic uncertainty, the current financing round with a significant volume of €23 million once again confirms the attractiveness of our business model and not least the trust placed in our team, of which we are very proud.

“The company now employs more than 100 people and will create attractive jobs at its Constance and Villingen sites through further growth.”

Benjamin Erhart, general partner at UVC Partners and lead investor of Fruitcore Robotics, says: “Fruitcore Robotics addresses a major pain point of our economy: scalable automation in small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

“This is a key to addressing the critical situation of delivery times, growing demand, and production again increasingly focused on Europe on time. All this must succeed without having automation specialists in the mass of companies.

“Since our initial investment in 2021, fruitcore’s team has proven that through incredibly deep software expertise – the majority of developers are software engineers – they have created an offering with the ‘digital robot’ that is perfectly tailored to the needs of mass customers.”

Andreas Strasser, partner at Kompas said: “Empowering businesses to make their manufacturing and supply chains more efficient and sustainable through automation will unlock huge benefits across industries.

“We believe in investing in the people and ideas that will accelerate digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, which will help to solve labor shortages, reduce waste and myriad other benefits.

“In Fruitcore Robotics we see exceptional founders who share our values. We are delighted to be involved in this funding round and look forward to supporting the team as the company scales up.”