Congratulations you are one of the finalists of the 9th Deep Tech Award! What does the Deep Tech Award mean to you and what was the motivation behind your application?
Thank you very much! The Deeptech Award is looking for ideas and innovations that are relevant for the future. I think that our solution is a product that offers exactly that. An award like this is always a good opportunity to see where you stand. How is the idea or product assessed and understood by others? Making it to the final round is certainly also confirmation for us that we are on the right track. Gaining more publicity, getting to know other participants and, of course, expanding our network are also part of it. And the prizes are ultimately motivating too, of course 😉
Berlin is said to be one of the few German hubs for technological innovation. How do you experience the local tech infrastructure and how is it influenced by the Deep Tech Award?
Berlin has a very broad-based education and research landscape. We benefit from this when it comes to exchange and finding the right and good people who are enthusiastic about our project and want to make their contribution. We can draw on a wide range of companies that want to make their production more innovative, more digital and, of course, more efficient with a higher degree of automation. This creates good synergy effects that benefit both sides. The Deep Tech Award helps to generate visibility and bring different stakeholders together.
Your category robotics was opened for the first time in the Deep Tech Award 2024. Why do you think this is important for the robotics scene in Berlin?
The robotics scene is rather small compared to other clusters like Munich. I think that the Berlin startup ecosystem could do with more hardware startups and that’s why it’s a great idea to introduce robotics as a category. This area will become much more relevant in the future, not least because robots will also become accessible to new target groups thanks to new interaction methods that also benefit from AI, such as voice control. There are exciting research projects in the field of robotics at Berlin’s universities. If these projects become start-ups that receive more attention and support through the Deep Tech Award, then that is very good news for Berlin as a business location.
Let’s shift the perspective and talk about you a little more. You applied with your Cobots. Please give us a little glimpse into your founding story and your key motivation to build this product.
We started out as a classic garage start-up. During Corona, I (Kilian) had the time to take a closer look at the idea of a continuous robotic arm (i.e. one that moves like an elephant’s trunk). The first tests were carried out on a 3D printer and gradually a more mature concept emerged. Our participation in the Berlin Startup Scholarship with Bosch and Liebherr proved to us that our idea has potential. Together with HTW Berlin, we then applied for EXIST funding. These stages helped us a lot to develop an MVP from the initial ideas and tests and at the same time to understand which customers and problems we should address first.
The motivation is quickly explained. Although robots have been in use in many production halls for decades, there is still so much room for improvement. The KIRO24 (AI Robotics Conference) in Berlin, where we were also able to present our start-up, showed once again that robotics is not just the classic 6-axis robot arm. If we want to further increase the level of automation in our industry and effectively counteract the shortage of skilled labour, then we need good ideas and new concepts in automation. And we are contributing to this with our system, the potential worldwide is enormous.
Why do you think made Continuum Innovation the finalists list and why is it Deep Tech?
I think we provide a fresh technological approach. When we talk to the industry, our product is quickly explained (a robot that moves like an elephant’s trunk), there is always an immediate idea where a conventional robot or cobot cannot be used and we can offer a solution. As a hardware startup, we are also quite exotic and stand out, especially in Berlin. We are deep tech because we are developing a sophisticated product. Mastering 24 degrees of freedom is not exactly trivial. No one else offers the integrated sensor technology that makes our robot so tactile. But of course this is not an end in itself. We are developing a product to help the industry overcome the challenges mentioned above.
What is the key technological innovation within your Cobots and why does it advance the state of the art?
The creation of a light, flexible and tactile arm is the innovation. It helps to integrate robots more quickly or for the first time.
As already mentioned, we show that there are concepts beyond the classic robot and that the industry also has a demand for such new solutions. It’s also about bringing robots closer to people. This is possible thanks to more tactile robot arms. In the medium term, this will also enable them to be used in completely different sectors and generally help to make robots easier and safer to use.
What was the biggest obstacle in your developing process? How did you overcome it?
We have pursued a highly iterative development process right from the start. Hardware development is always slower than software and requires more resources. I think we have mastered this well so far. Certifying our robot and developing it from an MVP to a finished robot is certainly the biggest challenge, and we still have that ahead of us.
How do your Cobots enhance the interaction between humans and robots, and what measures have you taken to ensure safety and efficiency?
Safety is one of the key points and we have focussed on this from the very beginning. As already mentioned, it’s all about simple integration and safe interaction between man and machine. Our sensitive sensors enable the robot to recognise soft touches. It’s about safety, of course, but it’s also about ensuring that colleagues in the company enjoy working with the robot. This is the only way to create the synergies that enable genuine collaboration in manufacturing, for example. The fact that fewer safety devices are required and the robot has a very small footprint also helps with integration.
In which industries do you see the most significant impact of your Cobots, and what feedback have you received from industry partners?
Whether we are talking to the foreman of a small company or the management of a large corporation that wants to automate more: the characteristics and skills we offer give these people a direct idea for an application scenario. Initially, we are focussing primarily on the mechanical engineering manufacturing sector, but we have also held talks with the chemical industry and see potential in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
How do your Cobots contribute to sustainability, and what metrics do you use to measure its success?
Sustainability has many different facets. We want to enable companies to produce with more automation. This is the only way to future-proof Germany as an industrial location. The alternative is that production sites are relocated abroad. Preventing this and at the same time enabling reshoring, i.e. the return of production to Germany or Europe, means shorter and more reliable delivery routes. At the same time, our robot enables better and safer working conditions.
Where do you see the future of robotics heading, and how does your project align with or shape that vision?
We see robotics in all areas of our lives. The shortage of skilled labour will not be solved in the foreseeable future; only more automation can counteract this. And this is exactly where we want to offer a solution. We are seeing great progress in software, see the hype about LLMs (Large Language Models). The hardware must try to keep pace. Robots can make people’s lives easier, both at work and at home. Robotic hoovers are already doing that today. But of course there’s more to it than that. Our project provides a component, a technical solution for this.
What do you wish for in our technological or digital future?
I wish for a responsible approach to the opportunities that these technologies create for us. Innovation should always serve people and be developed with this in mind. We must always explain this progress and make it accessible so that no one in society is left behind.
What advice would you like to pass to young entrepreneurs and tech innovators who want to reach their goals and maybe also want to take part in the Deep Tech Award 2025? Since out of 100 applicants you made it into the finalists, we figure you have some real pro-tips here.
From a developer’s point of view, it’s clearly about experimenting and being creative. It has never been so easy to develop complex technical solutions, the hurdles are much lower than they used to be.
And there are no bad ideas to start with. If you are convinced, you should launch a test balloon. Talk to potential customers right at the start, even if you don’t have a product yet, build on their feedback and then you can prioritise the specifications. However, I would also like to say to hardware start-ups that a lot of consulting and coaching is geared towards SaaS and often does not address the problems of hardware.
The BSS provides a good introduction and EXIST ensures that you are taken seriously. On the personnel side, you should think carefully about who you include in the founding team and resolve conflicts directly rather than delaying them.
Thank you so much for all your fascinating insights! Deep Tech can not wait to host you at the Deep Tech Award 2024! See you on the 11th of July!
