German B2B tech company Unchained Robotics has closed an €8.5 million Series A extended funding round, supported by Direttissima Growth Partners, Navivo Capital, Future Industry Ventures, vent.io, and D11Z.
With the fresh capital, the company aims to scale its technology internationally – addressing one of the biggest hurdles in automation: making robots easy to operate through intelligent software.
Automation is often complex, expensive, and difficult to adapt within existing operations. Robots typically need to be programmed manually, often taking weeks before they’re operational. For many smaller companies, this is a major barrier. Unchained Robotics is changing that.
With its software Luna OS, Unchained Robotics has launched a standardized control system that integrates robots from various manufacturers into production environments – like an operating system for factory robots, as easy to use as a smartphone. This means anyone can operate the robots without prior experience.
Click to automate – no experience needed
Unchained Robotics’ online platform allows companies to search for, find, and integrate the right robots directly into their production lines.
Whether it’s palletizing or packaging – the company also offers a flexible turnkey solution called the MalocherBot, which can be deployed without specialized knowledge. It’s ideal not only for large corporations but also for small and mid-sized companies with limited resources.
Mladen Milicevic, co-founder, says: “We’ve struck a chord with SMEs: everyone is looking for simple and affordable automation solutions that can be implemented quickly, without requiring special expertise.”
More than 300 companies across Europe already use the solution – including well-known names like Vorwerk, Europe‘s largest direct sales company.
Joern Compernass, managing director of Vorwerk Logistik, says: “Unchained Robotics’ solution allowed us to automate quickly and easily – without any additional programming skills or long ramp-up times.”
Entering the US market: First major partnership with Albéa
In addition to its presence in Europe, Unchained Robotics is now accelerating its expansion into the US. Across several locations, the company is launching its first large-scale automation partnership with Albéa Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of cosmetic packaging.
The automation will include packaging and palletizing – with the goal of achieving opex efficiencies and increasing the scalability of local operations. More than 20 robots have already been deployed in factories, with plans to increase that number to around 70 in the future.
The US is known for its openness to technology, yet many companies lack in-house automation expertise. Unchained Robotics’ offering is meeting strong demand – with additional industrial partnerships already in preparation.
The company is now driving its next growth phase: establishing a global robotics standard.
“Unchained Robotics is solving one of the industry’s key structural problems: the lack of standardization. With its operating system Luna OS and the modular Malocherbot cell, robotic automation becomes easily scalable – a crucial step for the future of manufacturing and logistics,” says Christopher Hoffmann of Direttissima Growth Partners, lead investor in the current financing round.
Robotics as a solution to the global labor shortage
The market for simple, standardized automation is growing rapidly. According to a study by Stepstone, around 3.7 million workers will leave the German labor market by 2030. Automation will be essential to keeping businesses competitive – especially in manual tasks like machine loading or palletizing.
Simultaneously, the connection between AI and physical robotics is advancing.
Kevin Freise, co-founder of Unchained Robotics, says: “We envision a future where AI-powered robotic systems not only take over repetitive tasks but also become increasingly adaptable through continuous learning. LUNA OS forms the crucial bridge between intelligent software and physical automation for this purpose.”
Unchained Robotics was named one of Germany’s 50 most promising startups and one of Europe’s 250 fastest-growing startups by tech magazine Sifted.
