This Factory Robot Refuses to Specialize — and Just Got $85 Million to Prove It

Humanoid robots aren’t yet ready to take over factory floors, but manufacturers are desperate for automation that can adapt on the fly. Labor shortages have pushed companies to look beyond single-purpose machines that can only do one thing over and over. That’s where Theker comes in.

The Barcelona-based AI robotics startup just closed $85 million in Series A funding, which it claims is the largest ever for a European robotics company at this stage. CRV led the round, with participation from Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment arm of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault. The company’s backers also include Inditex, the parent company of Zara, signaling that retail is just the starting point.

Theker’s robots are built to be reconfigured. Instead of a fixed humanoid shape, the machines can swap out hands, arms, and even their entire form depending on the job — sorting packages, folding clothes, or handling bottles in a warehouse. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works perfectly, but most processes aren’t like that,” said co-founder Carla Gómez Cano.

The startup plans to move beyond retail into heavier industrial settings like manufacturing. Gómez Cano said she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu didn’t build Theker to run pilot programs. They skip innovation departments and go straight to logistics or operations, where deals are real and timelines are short. Samsung is not yet a customer, but advanced discussions are underway.

Theker has a showroom in central Barcelona and plans to open more across Europe, the U.S., and Asia. The team expects to grow from dozens to up to 120 people by year’s end — though Gómez Cano laughed that she’d previously predicted raising only $30 or $40 million. The company’s ability to double its target has only strengthened its commitment to staying in Barcelona, a growing robotics hub. “It has never been a barrier to acceleration for us,” she said.