The science of robotics has brought us incredible changes through all kinds of areas, from industry to business, going through the medical sector and beyond. Robots are now part of our daily lives whether big or small. They are capable of performing quick, accurate and steady tasks, making them the perfect tool for humans to work within a wide range of situations.
But, what about the creative field? The arts have always been considered inherently human, they are the way our civilization has expressed emotions, hopes, and concerns. So, when it comes to the music -the fine art described in Billy Joel words as an explosive expression of humanity- what can we expect from robots.
You may think that artificial intelligence or robots are just dabbling into the art field but it was the father of computing, Alan Turing, the first person to ever record a computer-generated tune.
As we find ourselves immersed in a digital world we encounter numerous initiatives trying to close the gap between humans and machines. In the music industry, there has been a lot of progress trying to reach a synergic interaction between robots and us.
- Meet The Trons, a self-playing robot band created in 2008 by Greg Locke. Originally from New Zealand, this fruit-picking machine designer turned mechanical leftover and old instruments into the band. Some of the tracks played by the group include the songs Sister Robot and The Trons Theme.
- Another great example of a robot band is Compressorhead a rock band created in 2013 by Frank Barnes a British artist based in Berlin. The group is composed of six robots that play the instruments and only can play rock songs. Their first album Party Machine was released in 2017.
- The same year the project Flow Machines, a Paris-based experimentation lab, gave us the song “Daddy’s Car” (FlowComposer) a melody created by an Artificial Intelligence after analyzing a database of over 13,000 tunes.
Even though there’s still a long way to go between humans and robots these initiatives shows us the incredible lengths we can go to create amazing pieces of music with a helping -robotic- hand.
By Natalia Cardona Mercado for RobotUnion
RobotUnion team keeps on going with the journey to the Robotics revolution! RobotUnion partners and accelerated startups were very busy during the month of May where they participated in different European events looking for investors, new partnerships and new members for our community.
Take a look at some of the robotics solutions present at Viva Tech (Paris), The Next Web (Amsterdam) and Global Robot Expo (Madrid)!
- GR-EX Global Robot Expo (8-9/5/2019)
This B2B international exhibition is focused on innovation, robotics, and related technologies and it takes place every year in Madrid (Spain). GR-EX has four verticals of action: Industry 4.0, Service Robotics, Drones and Aerospace Logistics, as well as Artificial Intelligence. According to our Business Acceleration Manager: Daniel Twal (ISDI) “industrial solutions and collaborative robots are on the rise, each year more startups showcase their solutions at GR-EX, the evolution has been exponential”.
During the 2019 edition, one of the startups accelerated in 1st Open Call, Nido Robotics showcased their solution with high success!
Fantástico nuestro CTO Quique González desde la #GREX19 ¡Os esperamos! Hasta las 19h en el stand L11 de @feriademadrid pic.twitter.com/lJ2t7uoHVA
— Nido Robotics (@nidorobotics) May 9, 2019
Nos lo estamos pasando genial en la #GREX19 Muchas visitas y contactos que seguro darán lugar a muchos proyectos interesantes 👏 pic.twitter.com/n0cg5TumMg
— Nido Robotics (@nidorobotics) May 9, 2019
Some of RobotUnion partners, ISDI and Ferrovial, were also present in order to promote the RobotUnion marketplace and met researchers and corporates in the robotics fields to join our community.
- The Next Web (9-10.5/2019)
The conference had great speakers curated content. was focused on AI and machine learning. Among the speakers was Madeline Gannon, known as the robot-trainer, who is an expert in human-robot interaction. Her company AtonAton (USA) has developed several projects that mix research and art within the robotics field.
The conference had great speakers and very well curated content. 2019 edition had a vertical focused on AI and machine learning. Among the most distinctive speakers was Madeline Gannon, known as the robot-tamer, who is an expert in human-robot interaction. Her company AtonAton (USA) has developed several projects that mix research and art within the robotics field. Below you can see the case of Quipt, an industrial robot that was humanized through code.
Discover more about her work in this video and interview performed by The Next Web.
From the most interesting robotics startups showcased on this event, RobotUnion team has met:
- Robot4Work, a social robot that helps companies in the Hospitality and Service sector;
- Yanu a fully autonomous robot bartender powered by AI and an automated drone company;
- and a long-range drone that delivers medicine Avy.
- Viva Tech Paris (16-18/5/2019)
This event was full of robotic friends! Not only big corporates such as Softbank, ABB and Huawei showcased some of their newest solutions. Also, EDF sponsored a Robotics Park, full of startups.
RobotUnion team was present there in its own booth were the partners from MWCapital Barcelona and Blumorpho promoted the project in front of the Viva Tech audience and the president of France, Emmanuel Macron.
Our #RobotUnion and #ImpactConnectedCar booth was visited by the President of France @EmmanuelMacron. What an honour! @VivaTech #VivaTech pic.twitter.com/FyreEw8uH9
— RobotUnion EU (@RobotUnion_EU) May 16, 2019
First day of #VivaTech with the startups @botsandus and the partner @BlumorphoSAS from the project #RobotUnion and the startups @GoToUgreen and #eiver from #ImpactConnectedCar! Find us until the 18th of May here @VivaTech in booth J14-007 pic.twitter.com/Xlcctli785
— RobotUnion EU (@RobotUnion_EU) May 16, 2019
If you want to see other Robotics solutions presented on ViVa Technology check out this video:
The robotics revolution is coming to the hottest global events. Next stop for the RobotUnion is the 4YFN in Shanghai and IoT Week,
Are you interested in upcoming Robotics events? Join our newsletter to keep updated with the RobotUnion news.
Odense, Denmark, May 2019. The biggest event for direct investment in Odense, home to the world-famous Danish robotics cluster, Odense Investor Summit, will take place on the 26th of June. The event offers a unique opportunity to see the most promising and exciting technologies in the fields of robotics, drones and health tech plus access to relevant network among fellow investors and investor networks.
With the prospect of an estimated growth of 2-300 percent before 2025, the Danish robotics cluster has a unique appeal to international investors. The cluster generated a turnover of € 763 million in 2017 – an increase of 32% since 2015, equivalent of EUR 238 thousand on average per employee. The ripple effect of the cluster is known globally. Since 2015, more than € 750 million is invested in the Odense-based robotics companies. 98% came from private investors, among others American Teradyne, who paid up to € 540 million for two rather young companies.
Odense Investor Summit on June 26 is a platform, where capital-seeking companies from one of Europe´s most dynamic robotics clusters; Odense Robotics.meet investors, who represent ‘smart money’ and risk capital. More than 20 international and Danish Start-ups & SMEs within the areas of robotics, drones, and health-tech participate and meet more than 120 investors that are eager to invest in the areas of robotics, drones, and health-tech.
At the Investor Summit in Odense, which, besides the robot fairytale, is the home town of the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, one can also meet key persons, behind the creation of the successful European hot spot for robotics and automation. The area’s explosive growth rate is closely connected to the unique ecosystem well-known for its strong collaboration between the companies, research & education and the public, which accelerates the growth of many companies in a relatively small area. A total of 98% of companies in Odense Robotics say collaboration is their most important strategic focus area, and 78% of companies collaborate with other cluster companies.
The Danish global market leaders in robotics arms, service robots and end-of-arm-tooling, for example, Universal Robots, Mobile Industrial Robots, OnRobot, Blue Ocean Robotics, Cabinplant, and Jorgensen Engineering are all based in Odense.
Denmark’s robotics industry is world-leading
Today, Denmark’s robotics industry employs 8,500 people and generates EUR 2.4 billion in turnover. In 2025, turnover is estimated to grow to EUR 7 billion and the number of employees can reach 25,000 – a three-fold increase in just six years. The numbers come from the first-ever analysis of Denmark’s robot and automation industry and its contribution to the country’s economy., just revealed in a new report published by Damvad Analytics.
“The Danish robotics industry is a global market leader today in the development and production of robotics technology. The recent report confirms that Denmark has developed a solid foundation for realizing the growth potential of this fast-growing industry, where investors should keep an eye on as it is becoming very attractive for investments being both seed-money and venture capital,” says Mikkel Christoffersen, business manager of Odense Robotics.
Start-ups at all levels with big opportunities
At the Odense Investor Summit, promising ventures from start-up level to advanced level will present their companies. Meet for example:
- Start-up level: A mobile, voice-controlled cutting robot for the construction industry that increases production capacity in building up to 300 percent by Kobots – Voice Responsive Robotics.
- Venture level: Vision technology of Danish TriVision, that can avoid expensive recalls, significantly improve quality and get better OEE -uptime.
- Advanced level: Blue Ocean Robotics is the first robot venture “factory”, that develops, produces and sells professional service robots in healthcare, construction, agriculture, education, and other global markets.
A healthy fast-growing business environment
The City of Odense represents a healthy fast-growing business environment. In the city, more than 130 companies work within robotics, drones and health tech. Odense Investor Summit is bridging the gap between these growth companies and investors. The number of companies in the cluster reached 129 at the end of 2018 – an increase of more than 50% since 2015.
In 2017, 49% of companies said their financial result was acceptable or satisfactory. This strong top and bottom-line growth show a profitable industry successfully performing in terms of both development and sales. Turnover is set to increase significantly in the coming years. Almost 40% of companies expect a 20%+ increase in turnover in 2018 compared to the previous year, and almost 70% expect a 20%+ increase in turnover for 2019-2021 compared to 2017. The total number of employees in the cluster is more than 3,600. No wonder that the vision of the mayor of Odense is that Odense becomes the world’s leading robotics city.
For further information about Odense Investor Summit, please contact
- Michael Hansen, Investment Manager, Invest in Odense, +45 23 414 007, mhann@odense.dk
For further information about Odense Robotics, please contact
- Ulrikke Brandt-Bertelsen, Press Officer, Odense Robotics, +45 51 28 48 64, ulebr@erhvervshusfyn.dk
Read more about three of the ventures that will be present at Odense Investor Summit:
At start-up level: a voice-controlled cutting robot
Kobots – Voice Responsive Robotics presents a mobile, voice-controlled cutting robot for the construction industry that increases production capacity in building with up to 300 percent due to less waiting time while materials are cut effectively and precisely the first time. At the same time, the robot reduces waste and increases safety and work environment. The world’s first voice-controlled flexible cutting system precision cuts most materials from tiles to plaster from the orders given by voice. Due to advanced software, start-up Kobots – Voice Responsive Robotics secures a stable dialogue between the craftsman and the cutting robot – easily, quickly and safely. The entire machine can be set up in 10 minutes and can be stored in two sports bags.
Giving the craftsmen the easy voice responsive access to precision cutting speeds up building processes markedly in small as well as big constructions. At European level, the market for construction alone is € 750 billion. Kobots – Voice Responsive Robotics’s goal is to have a market share of minimum of 5 % in a year.
For further information, please contact Peter Hartvigsen, CEO, Kobots – Voice Responsive Robotics: ph@kobots.dk and +45 4080 1212 or see www.kobots.dk.
At venture level: Vision technology improves packaging quality and reduces waste
The food industry can avoid expensive recalls, significantly improve quality and get better OEE -uptime – using the vision technology of Danish TriVision, which has already increased the efficiency of leading Danish food production companies as Arla Foods and Danish Crown. The technology ensures that premium goods are not discarded due to packaging errors.
For further information, please contact Jesper Bach, CEO, Trivision: bach@trivision.dk and 41104282 or see www.trivision.com.
At established level: A robot venture “factory”
Blue Ocean Robotics develops, produces and sells professional service robots in healthcare, construction, agriculture, education, and other global market verticals. The portfolio of robots includes brands like UVD Robots, a mobile robot to disinfect hospitals and pharmacy industries, Multi Tower Robot, a mobile robot for safe patient handling and rehabilitation, and a handful of other service robots.
All robots in the portfolio are created and commercialized based on reusable technology – and business components enabling the company to launch and scale new robots better, faster and cheaper than others. Each robot brand is set up as a venture company in itself. Blue Ocean Robotics is thus the first of its kind – a Robot Venture Factory.
For further information, please contact Merima Cikotic, Market Intelligence Manager, Blue Ocean Robotics: +45 71 99 56 06 and mc@blue-ocean-robotics.com or see www.blue-ocean-robotics.com
Useful links and downloads
Read the full story of the development of “The leading robot city in the world” from the Lindø shipyard over the Maersk Institute to the focal point of collaborative robots, backed by other robot and automation companies here.
Read the full program of Odense Investor Summit here.
Download more info from Odense Investor Summit and Odense here.
- 40 startups and SMEs selected in the second RobotUnion Open Call will be invited to the Jury Day in Warsaw to pitch in front of Jury and win the possibility to enter the Acceleration program with full technical and business mentoring services and up to €223,000 in equity-free funding.
- Projects participating in RobotUnion will take part in the digitalization of the European Industry, as part of the framework of the Horizon 2020 programme (Grant agreement 779967) and the Digital Single Market of the European Commission.
- The area of open disruptive innovation has attracted most of the applications, followed by manufacturing, healthcare, agri-food, and civil engineering.
RobotUnion, the pan-European robotics acceleration program, closes its second and last open call with 206 submissions. The applications came from 33 countries with the following distribution: Spain (10,7%), followed by UK (9,7%), Italy (8,7%), Israel (8,3%), France and Denmark (7,3%), Germany (6,3%), Netherlands (5,3%), and Poland (4,9%).
RobotUnion project aims to respond to social and industrial needs in the landscape of technological solutions for 5 verticals: agri-food, healthcare, manufacturing, civil engineering, and open disruptive innovation. The last category is for applicant innovations that go beyond the proposed fields.
At the forefront of the applications are solutions involving human-robot interactions and artificial intelligence. In the healthcare vertical the trends go towards rehabilitation and assistance. Startups who applied under the manufacturing vertical are drones and nano-technologies. Submission examples for civil engineering are mapping services and construction mobility. As for agri-food, we can find crop monitoring and harvest machines. Applications of augmented reality and applied to education can be found at open disruptive innovations.
The next steps of RobotUnion
Now each of 100 highest ranked proposals will be evaluated by 4 independent experts with wide expertise in Robotics. At the end of May, the final ranking will be created and the top 40 projects will be invited to pitch in front of the RobotUnion’s 3rd of July at PIAP Headquarters in Warsaw (Poland).
Want to know more? Watch our video from the 1st Jury Day in San Sebastian last year.
After the pitching day, 20 winners will be announced to enter the Feasibility Phase, which is a 2-month period where Business and Technical experts will work with the teams on defining a Feasibility Plan, specifying the project’s technical and market potential. Once the 20 projects are defined, they will all be invited to the Welcome Camp in Odense (Denmark) on 2-3rd October to present their final plans. The 10 projects with the most potential will be then selected to enter the Product Acceleration Phase with full mentoring provided by RobotUnion Technical Experts and will get access to Facilities provided by TOP European Technological Centers from the consortium.
During all the program, startups may get up to €223,000 equity free and receive support from RobotUnion’s investment partners: CHRYSALIX, ODENSE SEED AND VENTURE and BLUMORPHO to raise around €1M of private financing. All startups will take part in RobotUnion communication actions by participating in TOP Robotics events (Global Robo Expo, Viva Technology, EU Robotics Forum) where they can present their solution and meet investors and potential clients.
About RobotUnion
The RobotUnion acceleration program is led by FundingBox, in collaboration with 14 partners, top Research and Technology Organizations, Corporates, Business Mentoring, Communication and Investment experts who all together have created a unique program which gathered researchers and top business professionals who understand the Robotics startup needs and challenges in order to help them to scale up their business.
The 16-month online premium acceleration program does not require to move to one place, it’s done remotely! There will be some special events like bootcamps, networking, Robotics events, business and investment mentoring sessions which might require startups to travel in order to help them to improve their business in different aspects.
During Product Acceleration stage each startup will have a Technical Mentor assigned and will have access to the facilities of the Research Organizations that form part of the Consortium: VTT, DTI, TU DELFT, TECNALIA, and PIAP.
The Technical Mentor will be a Ph.D. or a Senior Researcher from one of RobotUnion’s research organizations, that is, with a wide background in robotics and with an overall vision of all the technologies/abilities addressed. He or she will be allocated to a given startup to match its needs to what is technologically feasible.
In the middle of the product acceleration phase, the business mentoring (Stage 3) will start. This part is managed by ISDI who will incorporate high-level business mentors from IMPACT Accelerator. This stage is focused on helping startups in defining the Business Plan and it will start with Training Master Class Week in ISDI´s headquarters (Madrid), which is a high-quality one-week face-to-face training program.
In the end, 4 startups will enter 3-months period (Stage 4), led by Blumorpho, where besides of making the Proof of Concept of the products developed, they will become a part of a VIP investment program which aims to multiply the Funds received through Private and Public sources.
All Participants will also have the chance to be in direct contact with leaders of the agri-food, healthcare, civil engineering and the manufacturing sector through the participation of corporate organizations including MADE, Ferrovial Servicios, ARLA Foods and FENIN.
Hungry for more? Join our community and newsletter where we will provide you with the updates from the program and interesting content from the Robotics world.
Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobotUnion_EU
The past April 24th we held a webinar session about our second open call, open until April 30th at 13:00 CEST. Watch the video to hear the insights of our partners BLUMORPHO and FundingBox, as well as the voice of the startups being accelerated now by RobotUnion: Nido Robotics and BotsAndUs.
Don’t forget to send your application to robotunion.fundingbox.com
Author: Leire Martínez | Source: Tecnalia
The global medical device market is expected to reach an estimated $409.5 billion by 2023, and it is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 4.5% from 2018 to 2023. We even felt gracious working in a field that supports enhanced quality of life for elderly, care extended by technology, reduction of physical and mental burden for caregivers at the end of the day health benefits for all.
First came the business
On those first days of your startup, when trying to build your initial business model canvas you started to realize you either had several types of customers or you had no clue who your customers were or most probably you were mixing users with clients. […]
Robotic technology in the field of health has had a great impact in recent years. In fact, by 2019, the application of artificial intelligence in robots to work dynamics is expected to increase hospital productivity by 10 to 15 per cent over the next 2 or 3 years, according to Forbes.
There is evidence that many of the tasks traditionally performed by humans are being replaced by more efficient robots, not only in the field of health but also in many other sectors. However, the evolution of this replacement will also depend on the degree of innovation in each country.
At present, the medical sector has robots, mostly directed by human beings, to do many daily tasks. The challenge for the next few years will be to make these tasks autonomous as well. But what are these robots, what do they do and how do they improve medical care? One of the most important tasks, with the greatest number of investigations written about it, is patient care and the social interaction capacity of the robots. In other words, robotics for care and rehabilitation.
“Robots will increase hospital productivity by 10 to 15 por cent over the next 2 years”
However, there are also many other applications that are triumphing in the sector, such as surgery through less incisive and more precise robots. In fact, according to Analytics Insight, the most important robotics companies belong to this sector for the most part. One example is Medrorobotics, which provides invasive surgeries to patients. It even launched an assisted platform to help surgeons in their operations.
In this post, we will focus on describing some of the most important applications in the field of social interaction with humans. This aspect faces one of the main challenges in this century for the robotics sector: to know how humans can interact with robots.
An example of these interactions can be found in a person who needs a robotic prosthesis to do an activity. In fact, even in medical recovery, people can be guided by a robot and not by a doctor. A study published in ASME (The American Society of Mechanical Engineers) states that, after doing case analysis, people trained with robots after a stroke do not show any difference compared to those treated with a traditional therapy measured by humans.
- In Japan, you’ll be cared for by a robot of older age
These types of robots help people regain certain capabilities they have lost. For example, in people with physical disabilities. They are very important robots to improve people’s quality of life. They can also be essential for recovery after a stroke or spinal cord injury. Similarly, there are robots that will replace functions such as accompaniment.
Nursing homes in Japan are already using robots that care for the elderly. The Shin-Tomi nursing home in Tokyo uses 20 different models of robots to care for its residents. Hirohisa Hirukawa, director of robot innovation research at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, told The Guardian in an interview that “the goals included relieving the burden of nursing staff and increasing the autonomy of people still living at home”.
Moreover, the Japanese government has established a strategic plan that expects four out of five people in need of care to agree to robot support by 2020. If you want to learn more, watch the following video.
- A Robot Can Help Children With Autism
A robot’s ability to socialize can also help children with diseases such as autism, as is the case of the British robot Kaspar, created two years ago, which has helped thousands of children in England with autism who have problems with socializing. But what can a robot offer that a human being cannot? In this case, Yale University researcher Brian Scassellati explains in a video how robots possess the degree of socialization indicated for a person with autism since they are not as social as humans and do not cause them anxiety.
“The goals included relieving the burden of nursing staff and increasing the autonomy of people still living at home”
For this reason, robots do not seek to overcome human capabilities, but to complete them. Researcher Brian Scassellati tested his theory through 12 families with autistic children. The robots interacted with them every day for 30 minutes over 30 days. The results were better than expected in all areas. For example, children interacted better with people, were more sociable and able to cope with everyday situations.
The Kaspar robot interact with a child | Redbull
- Robots help us understand depression
Many areas of medicine and science can benefit from robots, including neuroscience. In fact, according to scientist Zachary Mainen, there are many similarities between a brain and a robot programmed with artificial intelligence. Let’s say that software with errors could be a likened to a depressed software. This software would need new ways of capturing information in order not to have any errors. The same can be said of people. They need to reconstruct the information they have in their brains in order to cope with depression.
For this reason, Mainen argues that the evolution of artificial intelligence toward greater flexibility will help scientists understand illnesses such as depression or schizophrenia. Of course, a machine can never understand suffering, however, it can give some guidelines on how we can deal with illness and whether current therapies are the right ones.
- A robot can replace your doctor
There are areas in different, more isolated countries that do not have constant medical care. Today, there are already robots that can diagnose a patient through artificial intelligence. The Japanese firm iFlytek has already developed a robot that has passed the exams required to practice in a hospital in the city of Hefei. For now, the robot is supervised by a human, who must qualify their diagnoses. This video shows you how the robot works.
The relationship between human and robot will be very important in the coming years. For now, the human being will have to take care of the robot, but maybe someday the shoe will be on the other foot.
How many times have you heard about the upcoming “Robotics Revolution”? Probably a lot if you have been in Bucharest this week. The capital of Romania has become the hub of the robotics industry in Europe for a few days, since it has held the 10th edition of the European Robotics Forum 2019 event (ERF 2019), on March 20th-22nd.
FundingBox team couldn’t miss it since our #FundingGrowth has reached the robotics industry with our projects RobotUnion and RIMA (Robotics for Inspection and Maintenance). Our project managers Roi Rodríguez, Izabela Zrazinska and Nicolaj Nigaard were there to present the open calls.
RobotUnion, accelerating startups in robotics
RobotUnion, funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020research and innovation framework and coordinated by FundingBox, supports robotics startups and SMEs on their road to success. The robotics accelerator was one of the initiatives which got a lot of attention when discussing the future of robotics in Bucharest due to its focus on technical mentoring and generous funding. Fresh ideas of already accelerated startups from the 1st open call and the new ones which might be selected in the second open call were discussed among the robotics experts during the event. FundingBox used the opportunity to participate in a panel related to our 5 verticals: agri-food, healthcare, manufacturing, civil engineering, and open disruptive innovation to define challenges that startups should address their solutions.
Izabela Zrazinska, RobotUnion project manager at FundingBox, explained the open call benefits and services among the projects invited to the ‘Traditional Funding Opportunities — Cascade Funding Panel/FSTP’ held on March 21st. Besides that, RobotUnion was also a part of the ‘Entrepreneurship Award’, whose winner, IM Systems, was awarded with the Fast Track option and direct invitation to the Jury Day in Warsaw which will take place in July 2019. In the FSTP session where RobotUnion was presented, FundingBox Project Manager Roi Rodríguez also introduced the AI4EU (Europe’s AI-on-Demand Platform) open calls, and our colleague Ali Muhammad, from our partner VTT, the L4MS (Smart Logistics for Manufacturing) calls.
Izabela Zrazinska explaining RobotUnion open call at the ERF 2019
AI4EU is foreseen to have two types of beneficiaries: AI Prototypes to which individuals can apply and can get up to €6K and a two months support program; and Tech Transfer Experiments addressed to startups that can get up to €180K and a 9-month acceleration program.
Going back to RobotUnion, the European robotics accelerator is currently looking for 20 innovative startups and SMEs to apply for RobotUnion 2nd open call before April 30th, 2019. The beneficiaries will get up to €223.000 in equity-free cash and additional services
- State-of-the-art technical support and access to “premier-class” technology provided by top research and technology organizations like VTT, DTI, TU Delft, TECNALIA, and PIAP.
- World-class training and high-level business mentoring by a pool of tier 1 mentors from Google, Airbnb, Ikea, Yahoo, Prisa, Microsoft, among others, provided by ISDI.
- Internationalization services. Presence in top EU Scaleups events such as 4YFN, Mobile World Congress, Slush, Web Summit and International PR exposure powered by Mobile World Capital.
- Fundraising services provided by Blumorpho (private funding) and FundingBox (public funding).
- Engagement with world top industry leaders such as MADErepresenting world manufacturing leaders like Danfoss, Grundfos or Vestas among others; ARLA in agri-food; FENIN in healthcare, and FERROVIAL in civil infrastructure.
Take a look at what some participating startups of the first open call have to say about RobotUnion and get inspired to make your robotics dream come true!
Somnox, a robot that increases the quality of your sleep:
Chickenboy, a robot that improves chicken welfare at poultry’s farms developed by Faromatics:
Interested? If you need more information, join one of our Info Sessions organized by RobotUnion partners.
RobotUnion lead the discussion about the future of robotics
But that isn’t all. Apart from the open call, RobotUnion is leading the discussion about the robotics revolution in the robot-oriented community. Thanks to the consortium partners, mentors and startups, they gathered more than 600 innovative disruptors, startups, SMEs, mentors, experts, investors, and more in RobotUnion Community, were the discussion is following in a fresh way. On top of that, RobotUnion open call applicants get real-time support from FundingBox team through the application process. Are you curious about RobotUnion Community on FundingBox? Join it now!
You can also check our supporting communities who participate in the discussion about the future of robotics, and become part of the supportive community, spreading the word about our program.
Nikolaj Nygaard with a robot at the ERF 2019
RIMA, building the European network of robotics Digital Innovation Hubs
RIMA is a 4-year project, supported by FundingBox and funded by the Horizon 2020 initiative, aiming to establish a network of 13 Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) on robotics sharing best practices and providing services to facilitate uptake of Inspection and Maintenance (I&M)technologies. It also aims to help small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) to develop novel solutions for different industry sectors.
RIMA’s challenge is to reinforce this connection and to provide education and training on robotics I&M, and to connect the value chain -research, technology companies, service providers, end users and investors- for accelerating economic growth in the field. For that, it will offer services including support to testing and technology transfer, coaching and training on robotics for I&M, process optimization and communication. Up to 50.5% of RIMA’s budget will be distributed to SMEs to run experiments using FSTP.
The main goal of RIMA is the constitution of a sustainable and scalable (open to new members) DIH network aligned with the industrial and European policies and ambitions.
Nikolaj Nygaard, RIMA project manager at FundingBox, also presented the project and RIMA’s open call at the European Robotics Forum 2019. RIMA will select 50 cross-border Technology Transfer & Technology Demonstrator Experiments through 2 open calls. Startups and SMEs can apply, and a total of €8.1M funding will be distributed to support these experiments. Stay tuned, because the first RIMA open call will be launched this Spring!
Do you think “the robots are coming”? At FundingBox we do, and we are coming with them!
RobotUnion is an initiative designed to increase the number of startups and SMEs in Europe in robotics-related fields. We will invest €4 million in 40 companies during 2 open calls from 2018 to 2020 and will provide them state-of-the-art technical support and access to “premier-class” technology, World-class Training and high-level Business Mentoring, Internationalization services and Engagement with world top industry leaders.
Are you looking for opportunities to gain funding and interact with big players in the robotics field? We have the perfect opportunity for you!
We are currently looking for robotics startups to join our 2nd call (open until the 30th of April at 1 pm CEST), below you can find de dates and places where our info sessions will take place.
- TUDelft Info Session (Netherlands)
When? 19th March 17:00 – 19:00 CEST
Where? RoboValley, Julianalaan 67a – 2628 BC Delft
- VTT Info Session (Online)
When? 27 March 2019 14:00 CEST
Where? Webinar session
To register follow the link: https://bit.ly/2Ex2e4a
- PIAP Info session (Poland)
When? 28 March 2019 13:00 – 13:45 CEST
Where? Automaticon Room B2
- DTI-MADE-ODENSE Info Session (Denmark)
When? 3 April 2019 13:00 – 16:00 CEST
Where? DTI, Forskerparken 10F, 5230 Odense
- TECNALIA Info Session (Spain)
When? 10 April 2019 9:30 – 11:30 CEST
Where? Paseo Mikeletegi, 2, San Sebastián Guipúzcoa
Salas Venaqueros, Tenaceros y Ferrones
Click here to register
- MWC Info Session (Spain)
When? 10 April 2019 19:00 CEST
Where? Edificio MediaTIC, Mobile World Capital Offices – Room 8
To register follow the link: https://bit.ly/2JbFvQZ
- Ferrovial (Spain)
When? 17 April 2019 10:00 CEST
Where? Ferrovial Servicios – Las Tablas
Room Los Andes
- ISDI Info Session (Online)
When? 23 April 2019 18:00 CEST
Where? Webinar
To register follow the link: https://bit.ly/2VffMsg
- Blumorpho Info Session (Online)
When? 24th April 12:00 CEST
Where? Webinar
To register follow the link: https://bit.ly/2Uapgsh
RobotUnion is the first European acceleration programme that aims to discover, support and fund startups and SMEs in the robotics industry. Launched within the framework of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme.
RobotUnion has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Grant Agreement no 779967. The content of this website does not represent the opinion of the European Union, and the European Union is not responsible for any use that might be made of such content.