In the next 3 years we will have auto-complete for the real world. You do a task, press a button, the robot steps in and repeats the task. This alone will enable all kinds of new small businesses.

Interview Andreas Klinger

A full-body portrait of Andreas Klinger, leaning with his back against a gray wall covered with colorful letters. One leg is bent, and both hands are in his jacket pockets.

Andreas Klinger is founder and investor at PROTOTYPE, an early-stage fund that backs European founders in robotics, automation and manufacturing. Before that he was CTO at Product Hunt and On Deck, and held senior roles at AngelList and CoinList. He also started EU Inc, an initiative for a single European legal structure for startups.

Why must this challenge exist, and why now?

We are at a breakout moment for Physical AI. Every industry will be rethought through new machines. Europe is an industrial hub and known for building the best machines. We cannot lose this race.

What's the biggest bottleneck holding back European robotics?

  1. A lack of a functional capital market on continental scale limiting the appeal of risk capital as investment class
  2. A mindset that you could outsource building of the best things but somehow still be the builder of the best things 
  3. A generational and network split between new-gen hardware startups and market-leading supply chain vendors.

What's one thing you wish the general public understood about robotics?

It's not about removing 1-2 jobs from a process. If your job is only cost dependent it has been outsourced to low-salary markets 10 years ago already. It's about rethinking what is possible to build. Eg in the past the introduction of CNC machines didn't reduce labor costs for machinery builders. They allowed them to offer completely new features and products in a globally competitive market. Additionally automation will allow us to bring back industries we thought long-lost. Eg textile manufacturing.

If you could delegate one physical task to a robot tomorrow, what would it be?

In the next 3 years we will have auto-complete for the real world. You do a task (eg pack xmas boxes for your online shop), press a button, the robot steps in and repeats the task.  This alone will enable all kinds of new small businesses.

What would a real breakthrough in robotics in the next three years look like?

The big question mark of the next 3-8 years in how general robotics will be. Can they repeat constraint tasks in specific environments. Or can they be thrown at completely new scenarios without any context. Currently nobody has an answer for this timeline but it's the largest opportunity of our generation.