Agile robots on the expansion course: New headquarters in Munich and billion dollar goals

Published on: June 5, 2025 / update from: June 5, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Agile robots on expansion course: New headquarters in Munich and billion dollar goals - creative image: Xpert.digital

Agile Robots: Munich -based company on the way to the sales billion

With the opening of its new global headquarters, the Munich company Agile Robots has reached an important milestone and at the same time announced ambitious growth plans. The company, which started in 2018 as a spin-off of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), is aiming for a billion in sales in the medium term and has strengthened its position as a leading robotic company in Germany in recent years through strong growth and strategic takeovers. The international orientation with production locations in Europe, China and India is particularly remarkable, whereby the founder Zhaopeng Chen repeatedly emphasizes that the company roots are clearly in Germany and that Chinese investors only hold a single -digit percentage.

The new headquarters and the growth strategy

With prominent support from the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, Agile Robots recently ceremoniously opened his new global headquarters in Munich-Sendling. "This new global headquarters is more than a new building for us. It is a symbol of how far we have come," said Dr. Zhaopeng Chen, founder and CEO of the company. What started in 2018 as a small spin-off with ten employees has developed into a scale-up with over 2,300 employees worldwide, 900 of them in Germany alone.

The economic development is also impressive. In recent years, Agile Robots has regularly doubled its sales and recently reached around 200 million euros. With over 10,000 automation solutions installed worldwide, the company is now aiming for even higher goals. "I am confident that we can achieve more than one billion euros in sales in the medium term," Chen said at the opening of the new headquarters. The company wants to make production in industry more intelligent, more flexible and efficient.

The growth strategy is based not only on organic growth, but also on strategic takeover. Franka Robotics, Bär Automation and ideal works - a joint venture with BMW are now also part of the portfolio of Agile Robots. In addition, the company recently adopted the AISTUP AUDEERING, which developed deep learning technologies.

From research to global robotics player

The success story of Agile Robots begins at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), where the two founders Zhaopeng Chen and Peter Meusel worked as robotic researchers. Chen, enthusiastic about robots since childhood, studied engineering in China and did his doctorate at the DLR, where he developed a new humanoid hand-a much-noticed milestone in robotics research.

The company, founded in 2018, has specialized in the development and production of highly flexible and adaptive robotics systems, with the aim of closing the gap between artificial intelligence and robotics. The company's mission is to create highly developed but user -friendly robots that can perform complex tasks with precision and efficiency.

The focus of Agile Robots is less with large, heavy industrial robots, but rather in smaller, intelligent robots that work with artificial intelligence. According to the company, the fields of application are the automotive industry and electronics production, with customers such as the Taiwanese Foxconn Group (Apple supplier) and BMW in China.

The product portfolio and technologies

Agile Robots offers a wide range of robotic solutions. The portfolio includes intelligent, sensitive robots, mobile robots and AI-based software solutions such as the Agilecore automation operating system. The company has developed software and hardware products independently, including the intelligent, power-controlled robot “Diana”, medical robots, humanoid five-finger hands and a flexible intelligent production platform (FIP).

The technology of Agile Robots is characterized by the combination of artificial intelligence with strength sensors and robot vision. This unique combination enables intelligent, user-friendly and affordable robot solutions that facilitate safe human-robot interaction. The robots can adapt to different environments and perform a variety of tasks, which enables the company to operate a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare and logistics.

The way to the Unicorn and the financing

An important milestone in the company's history was the series C financing round in 2021, in which Agile Robots collected $ 220 million. With this financing, the company achieved an evaluation of over one billion US dollars and thus became the first German “robot-in-one horn”.

The financing round was led by the Japanese investor Softbank, followed by other financial investors such as the Abu Dhabi Royal Group, Hillhouse Ventures, Sequoia Capital China and strategic investors such as the Xiaomi Group and Foxconn Industrial Internet. Agile Robots received a total of $ 350 million by 2021.

Eric Chen, Managing Partner at Softbank Investment Advisers, said: “Agile Robots combines artificial intelligence with advanced robot technology in order to solve some of the most demanding problems in industry, and is the latest example for our continuous support of the growing European and Chinese technology sector.”

The China question and the international focus

In recent years there has always been speculation about a possible Chinese influence on Agile robots. These discussions were partially fueled by the fact that the company has a location in Beijing in addition to its headquarters in Munich and produces in China.

However, Zhaopeng Chen has decidedly rejected this speculation: "Our roots are in Germany and our biggest investor comes from Japan. We have production in China. But Chinese investors only hold one percentage of the company." According to the company, the majority of capital lies with the Japanese technology giants Softbank as well as the Taiwanese technology company Foxconn and the founders.

In fact, Agile Robots is today a global company with locations in Germany (Munich, Kaufbeuren, Gemmingen), China (Beijing, Changsha, Chongqing, Harbin, Kunshan, Shenzen, Zhengzhou) and India (Bangaluru, Chennai). This international orientation enables the company to “implement top technology from Germany worldwide and to meet the requirements of global markets”, as Chen emphasizes.

In Germany, the company invested 80 million euros last year alone, including a new research laboratory in Munich. According to Chen, the Bavarian location offers “excellent technology research and a broad industrial basis”.

Agile Robots: AI integration drives the goal of the sales billion ahead

After the phase of strong investments and acquisitions, Agile Robots now focus on continuing its growth and achieving his goal of a billion sales billion. The integration of AI into production is the focus of the strategy.

The robotics industry in Germany has developed dynamically in recent years. "We have strong players in the cobot area in Germany," said Susanne Bieller, Secretary General of the World Robotics Association IFR. The technological ideas from universities, research institutions and start-ups were partly transformed into flourishing companies, and some had already grown out of the start-up phase and developed into competitive companies.

In this environment, Agile Robots positions itself as a leading company that drives the integration of artificial intelligence and robotics and relies on German engineering and international market presence.

Agile Robots: From the research idea for a billion -out assessment

The success story of Agile Robots shows how a global company with a billions of bills can result from a research idea at the DLR within a few years. With the opening of the new headquarters in Munich, the company underlines its connection with the location of Germany, while it is also expanding globally.

The ambitious growth goals - more than one billion euros in sales in the medium term - testify to the company's self -confidence. Despite the international orientation with strong focus on the Chinese market, CEO Zhaopeng chen emphasizes the company's German roots and rejects speculation about a dominant Chinese influence.

The combination of German engineering, international financing and global market presence could prove to be a successful strategy to survive in the highly competitive market for robotics and automation and to generate further growth.

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