RobCo Lands In the US: Highlights from Our San Francisco Launch

On September 9^th,  RobCo officially launched in the United States. To celebrate, we invited partners, customers, investors, and industry leaders to our new San Francisco HQ for an evening of insightful presentations, networking, and lively discussion. After a warm introduction from our founder, guests heard from leading investors, explored our US market strategy, and saw customer stories brought to life.

As our CEO and Founder, Roman Hölzl, noted, RobCo’s journey from Munich to San Francisco has been rapid, powered by five years of growth and R&D. While the United States is a new market, with different customers and a unique set of challenges and opportunities, our mission remains the same: Automate the ordinary, so humans can do the extraordinary.

Couldn’t join us? Fear not. Here’s what you missed.

A Once-in-a-Generation Market Moment

Why the US, and why now?

To frame the opportunity, CRO Arjan van Staveren shared findings from a RobCo survey of 400 US industrial decision-makers:

• 95% plan to increase automation in the next 1-3 years.
• 61% are accelerating plans due to reshoring efforts.
• 73% are influenced by federal incentives.

Yet cost remains the number one barrier to adoption. Traditional, high CapEx models of automation don’t fit today’s pace of change or demand.

Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) models break down this critical barrier, and 42% are considering this option already. With RobCo, industrial businesses only pay when robots are running, deploy within weeks not months, and gain full end-to-end support and simplicity.

Highlights from the Stage

Investor Perspectives: The Next Automation Wave

Alfred Lin of Sequoia and Raviraj Jain of Lightspeed joined us for a candid investor panel.

Key insights:

• Humanoids are overhyped – automation isn’t about replacing humans but enabling production in spaces that, in reality, aren’t designed for people.
• Profit isn’t a dirty word. Organizations embracing automation aren’t letting people go – they’re growing their business
• Integration is everything. RobCo’s seamless hardware-software approach removes the common friction of mismatched systems that don’t work together - a key reason Sequoia “chased down” the investment. 

Scaling in the US: Lessons from Verkada

Filip Kaliszan, CEO of Verkada and RobCo board member, shared how Verkada successfully scaled from Europe to the United States. He described how hardware is having its “as-a-service” moment and the power of organizations today that solve problems in the physical and digital world.

He also highlighted the need for a nuanced go-to-market strategy, stressing that the US is no more homogenous than Europe.

Automation in action: Customer use cases

To close, Lorenzo Pautasso, GM RobCo US, showcase real-world impact:

• Wildpack Beverages is automating monotonous co-packing tasks that previously occupied a chain of ten workers.
• Dyna Energetics, a leader in energy-sector manufacturing, is modernizing factory operations to relocate labor where it’s most needed.
• Additional projects, from plastics extrusion to explosive-materials handling, illustrated how RobCo helps companies meet labor shortages and safety challenges head-on.

Key Takeaways

Automation empowers, it doesn’t replace.
58 % of the workforce is open to automation; companies see it boosting satisfaction and reducing repetitive work

The US is ripe for robotics.
95 % of industrial leaders plan to automate within three years, with strong federal incentives driving action.

Robotics is the next big growth wave.
Only one-third of companies use robots today, while nearly half are testing or planning deployments

Barriers are breaking.
Robotics-as-a-Service slashes costs and cuts deployment time to as little as three months, far faster than the industry norm

Simple, modular, ready to scale.RobCo’s no-code software and plug-and-play hardware make advanced automation easy for any factory 

Are you ready for robotics, Built Different?

RobCo’s US debut marks just the beginning.If you’re exploring automation, we invite you to connect with our team and see how RobCo can help your business automate the ordinary, so your people can do the extraordinary.

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