Barcelona-based AI robotics startup Theker has raised what it says is the largest robotics Series A round ever in Europe. The $85 million round in Theker was led by US VC CRV, with other investors including Samsung, LVMH, Cathay Innovation, 20VC and Henkel Ventures.

Existing investors Inditex and Kibo Ventures also participated in the round. The Series A funding round follows less than a year after Theker, founded in 2022, raised €18 million in seed funding.

Theker says it's building AI-native generalist robots for industrial environments.

Theker says it’s building a new category of industrial robotics, which operate autonomously and are “AI-native generalist robots capable of adapting in real time to changing environments”, contrasting with “traditional industrial robots that are rigid, task-specific and costly to reconfigure”.

Its tech lends itself to industries like logistics, retail, food and beverage, and waste management, it says.