Barcelona's THEKER secures €73M to implement AI-native factory robots that adapt through on-the-job learning.

      Barcelona-based THEKER has secured €73 million ($85 million) in a Series A funding round to enhance its generalist factory robots for industrial production settings. The investment was predominantly led by CRV, with contributions from Samsung, LVMH, Cathay Innovation, 20VC, Henkel Ventures, Korelya, and Bright Pixel Capital. This investment marks Samsung's inaugural investment in a Spanish firm, LVMH's first engagement with the Spanish startup scene, and CRV's first foray into Spain.

      This funding round comes less than a year after THEKER achieved Spain’s largest seed round, raising €18 million. The quick transition from seed to Series A indicates what the company describes as genuine commercial deployment momentum, rather than merely laboratory trials.

      Co-founder Carla Gómez Cano stated, “We didn’t create THEKER to conduct pilot projects; we established it to deliver robots capable of functioning immediately upon arrival and to continuously enhance their performance thereafter.”

      THEKER is pioneering a new type of industrial robot: AI-native generalist machines that adapt in real time to varying environments, mixed SKUs, irregular shapes, and operational fluctuations without the need for manual reprogramming. In contrast to conventional industrial robots, which are inflexible and expensive to reconfigure, THEKER asserts that its systems can be deployed in just days and are capable of learning continually during production.

      The robots are already in use in various production environments throughout Europe, focusing on manufacturing, logistics, and retail. According to the company, they assist operators in boosting throughput, minimizing downtime, and addressing ongoing labor shortages.

      Founded by Gómez Cano and Jiaqiang Ye Zhu, THEKER combines advanced visual technology, control systems, and large language models in robots that function without pre-set instructions. The funds will be allocated to enhancing its proprietary AI and robotics technology and expanding the team in software, electronics, mechanical engineering, and deployment efforts.

      Reid Christian, general partner at CRV, remarked, “What Carla, Jiaqiang, and the team have developed is exceptionally unique—an advanced technical platform combined with real commercial deployment momentum. We believe THEKER has the potential to emerge as one of the defining robotics firms of this era.”

      This funding occurs alongside a surge of investments in European robotics in 2026. Germany’s RobCo secured €100 million for modular AI-driven manufacturing solutions, while Stuttgart-based Sereact raised €93 million to expand its physical AI platform into the US. NEURA Robotics raised up to $1.4 billion in the largest full-stack robotics funding round to date. Although THEKER's funding is comparatively smaller, it carries a significant implication: Samsung and LVMH, two of the world's leading industrial and luxury conglomerates, are making their first investments in a Spanish startup focused on robotics, rather than software.

      The disconnect between research demonstrations and reliable robots in actual factory settings is where many robotics companies falter. THEKER asserts that it has successfully bridged that gap. Whether these robots perform as expected at scale across various industries and locations remains to be seen, and the €73 million is intended to address that question. Factory trials conducted by Siemens and Nvidia in Germany have demonstrated that industrial deployment is feasible, and THEKER is wagering that Barcelona can spearhead this advancement.