Right now robotics is moving from demos to real deployments, and whoever builds the core technology in the next few years will set the rules for the next few decades. A challenge like this gives European teams a way to compete on ambition, not only on budget.
Interview Lukas Ziegler
Lukas Ziegler is the founder of botnanza and an angel investor in early-stage robotics startups. He has visited more than 150 robotics companies and publishes content on global robotics insights with around 250,000 followers. He is also a venture partner at First Momentum and Cybernetix and lectures at Warsaw University of Technology Business School.
Why must this challenge exist, and why now?
The next 3-5 years will decide if Germany and Europe will play a central role in the emerging mass market of AI-based and humanoid robots. So, we need an instrument for swiftly turn our excellent research results into successful companies of large international format. The SPRIND challenge offers a great platform towards this goal.
What's the biggest bottleneck holding back European robotics?
It's scale-up capital and the confidence that comes with it. We have great researchers and strong industrial customers, but too many teams raise a small round, build something impressive, and then move to the US or get acquired before they can grow. We need investors and buyers here who are willing to back hardware for the long haul.
What's one thing you wish the general public understood about robotics?
Robots aren't coming out of nowhere to replace everyone. Most of them are doing boring, repetitive, or dangerous work that people already don't want to do. The more people see real robots up close, the less scary they become, and that's a big part of why I do what I do.
If you could delegate one physical task to a robot tomorrow, what would it be?
The dangerous jobs in industries like mining, energy, and oil and gas. Inspecting a pipeline, working deep underground, or checking equipment in explosive or toxic environments still puts people at serious risk every day.
What would a real breakthrough in robotics in the next three years look like?
A general-purpose robot that can walk into a new warehouse or factory and become useful within a day, without months of custom programming. That means learning from a handful of demonstrations and working safely next to people. Once the setup cost drops like that, adoption will speed up everywhere at once.