microagi is headquartered in Munich, Germany.
microagi
A former Formula One engineer left the world's fastest race cars to tackle a much bigger engineering challenge: teaching robots to work in factories.Now, his Munich-based startup, microagi, has raised $55 million in the largest seed round secured by a German startup. Hummingbird led the round, with participation from Northzone, LocalGlobe, Village Global, and redalpine. microagi declined to disclose its valuation.Bercan Kilic landed his dream job as an aerodynamics engineer for Red Bull Racing in 2023, joining the Formula One team at the height of its dominance. But the thrill quickly wore off.The engineering was magnificent, he said, but he wanted to put his skills toward something bigger. He set his sights on deploying robots in factories to bring about a world of abundant, low-cost goods and services.microagi helps manufacturers train robots for specific jobs. Rather than building its own robots or AI models, the company records workers using cameras and sensor-equipped gloves. It uses that footage to teach existing robotics models how to perform specific tasks inside a customer's factory.Kilic told Business Insider that five companies are collecting data through its platform, with one preparing to deploy robots in a factory.You may not have heard of microagi, but its consumer-facing arm, shift, went viral this year for offering free apartment cleanings in New York in exchange for recording first-person footage of cleaners doing dishes, mopping floors, and folding laundry. This week, shift began offering free private chefs in San Francisco.
