RobCo, a Munich-founded autonomous robotics company, has surpassed a $1 billion valuation through a secondary share sale that combines new investment with opportunities for long-standing employees to realize value from their contributions to the company.
According to the company, existing investors including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Greenfield, Kindred, Lingotto and Promus Ventures participated in the round alongside new backers Cherry Ventures and European Tech Collective, a group of founders behind some of Europe’s most successful technology companies.
This valuation milestone follows RobCo’s $100 million Series C announced in January 2026, which was co-led by Lightspeed and Lingotto to expand its Physical AI platform and US operations.
RobCo was founded in 2020 by Roman Hölzl, Paul Maroldt, and Constantin Dresel. The company builds autonomous industrial robotics around a Robotics-as-a-Service model, allowing manufacturers to deploy automation without significant upfront investment. At the center of the company’s next phase is Alfie, a robot designed to combine perception, reasoning and execution for high-mix, unstructured and safety-critical industrial work. According to the company, RobCo plans to commercially launch Alfie at RobCoN, its first annual summit, in Munich on March 4, 2027.
RobCo is expanding rapidly in the US, its fastest-growing market. Customer operations now span more than a dozen states, supported by manufacturing and assembly operations in Austin, Texas, and a laboratory in San Francisco. CEO Roman Hölzl has also relocated to the US to lead the expansion.
The broader robotics market is growing. According to the International Federation of Robotics, factories worldwide installed 603,000 industrial robots in 2025, up 11 percent, while the global operational stock reached 5.079 million robots, up 9 percent. The IFR expects installations to rise another 9 percent to 655,000 units in 2026.
RobCo faces increasingly well-funded rivals. Standard Bots raised $200 million in Series C funding in June 2026 at a $1 billion valuation, while Walden Robotics emerged from stealth in July with $300 million in seed funding at a $1.1 billion valuation, backed by Toyota. UK-based Dexory raised $165 million in its latest funding round to scale autonomous robots and AI-powered warehouse intelligence globally.
Key facts
- RobCo reached a $1 billion valuation through a secondary share sale, doubling its valuation in nine months
- The company plans to commercially launch its Alfie autonomous robot in March 2027
- RobCo operates in over a dozen US states with facilities in Austin, Texas and San Francisco
- Global industrial robot installations reached 603,000 units in 2025, up 11 percent year-over-year