"German entrepreneurs are rarely said to set overly ambitious goals. While American founders like to recite the "Next Billion Dollar Company" story to potential investors, German entrepreneurs are often content with much less: gain market share, consolidate, expand gradually, and avoid getting cocky – those are their own aspirations.
David Reger is different. The 37-year-old Swabian has a big goal in mind: the market for humanoid robots. Machines that are modeled on humans, visually resemble them, and can interact thanks to cameras, sensors, and microphones.
There's widespread agreement in the technology world: humanoids could be the next "big thing." iPhone giant Apple has abandoned its car project and is instead investing large sums in robotics. Tesla's still enormous stock market valuation is now largely based on "Optimus" – Elon Musk's humanoid assistants, which are used in its own factories. Chinese tech companies have long been in the process of conquering the robotics market anyway.
Compared to all the tech giants, David Reger and his company Neura Robotics from Metzingen at the foot of the Swabian Alb are setting ambitious goals. "We can win the race with the USA," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung a year ago.
He hasn't lost any of that momentum to this day. Quite the opposite: "This week we're taking the next big step."
Reger's focus is on the world's leading trade fair Automatica in Munich, which from Tuesday to Thursday will provide the major stage for everything related to intelligent automation and robotics.
Mipa is the name of the household robot that Neura will present to the world public for the first time in detail, after the machine – order price €10,000 – has been gradually pushed into the spotlight over the past few weeks. Visually, Mipa could have come from a science fiction film in the Star Wars saga: Slimmer than their R2-D2 and equipped with two gripper arms, the robot rolls independently through the hallways thanks to autonomous navigation and is capable of learning. It can be programmed to vacuum, Neura promises to set the table or make beds. This will soon be possible in its own training centers called Neuragym, where the robots' physical artificial intelligence will be trained. Neura has just announced a collaboration with Vorwerk. The manufacturer of appliances such as Thermomix and vacuum cleaners will program an app for Neura. Other household appliance manufacturers are expected to follow.
The big advantage lies in the fact that, using its own software called Neuraverse, robots can be constantly programmed for new skills. Reger draws a comparison: This works similarly to the Apple Store when new apps are added. His machines in the commercial sector prove that this works. There, the various models can be programmed accordingly and turned into milling machines or precision welders.
If Reger's calculations work, the ambitious statements seem justified. The hardware itself for humanoids has been available for years. What everyone is working on is software-driven control. This allows the control and scaling of the machines. When it was revealed that Tesla's Optimus robot could not actually function autonomously as a bartender or dancer during its presentation in the fall, the outcry was huge. Neura, on the other hand, impressed even its US competitors at the logistics trade fair in Chicago last fall with 50 autonomously operating robots. Even more machines will be on display in Munich.
Anyone who talks to David Reger realizes that the man with the high-styled hair has long been busy with his next projects. He is working with Jensen Huang, the iconic CEO of the chip company Nvidia, on the development of the robot 4NE-1, a made-up name that translates as "for everyone." Huang and Reger recently visited German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Reger also has a close relationship with Open AI CEO Sam Altman; the German is now well-known among American tech pop stars.
Reger is constantly traveling the world to meet customers and partners or to raise new funds for the next steps in growth. In January, Neura announced a financing round of 120 million euros. It was important to Reger that the investors are exclusively European. He maintains good relations with Americans, and China has also played a role in Neura's growth story. But he has never relinquished control of the patents; he emphasizes that all development and the majority of production take place at home.
Reger wants Germany and Europe to play a key role in this technology are present. New financing talks are currently underway. However, he dismisses reports of a billion-dollar round as speculation. Reger's (local) patriotism is matched by his still pronounced Swabian sing-song accent. He advises the Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, Winfried Kretschmann, and he is also a frequent guest in Berlin. When Reger speaks, his thoughts often flow without punctuation. He sees things in a broader context and has written a robotics strategy for Germany in which he both denounces rigid German labor law as a brake on innovative start-ups and proposes a robot tax to ensure that the enormous profits in the future do not benefit only a small group of owners.
It's a long road for a trained model maker and designer who, quite by chance, ended up at a Swiss mechanical engineering company, where he worked on industrial robots for seven years, even though he actually wanted to work in the automotive industry. When he realized that his ideas were reaching their limits, he founded his own company, Neura, in 2019. In his search for sources of funding, he brought on board a Chinese partner, Han's Laser Technology, which he bought out during the coronavirus crisis, with its supply chain disruptions, temporarily pledging his private home for this. Today, Neura employs 600 people, two-thirds of whom are located in Metzingen, where there are nine production halls. Annual sales are approaching the 100 million mark, and Reger estimates the order backlog at 1.3 billion euros. For him, these are passing items. From his perspective, the visionary journey is just beginning.” [1]
1. Ein Schwabe fordert Apple und Tesla heraus: David Reger hat den Robotikhersteller Neura gegründet. Wer ist der Mann, der mit seinem Haushaltsroboter den Markt umkrempeln will? Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 23 June 2025: 24. SVEN ASTHEIMER
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą