Stuttgart-based Sereact, a startup focused on AI-powered robotics, today announced that it has raised €25 million in funding to further accelerate the deployment of its innovative Vision Language Action Models (VLAM) to robotics.
The Series A round was led by Creandum, alongside significant participation from existing investors Point Nine and Air Street Capital, and prominent business angels, including former Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg, Mehdi Ghissassi (ex Google DeepMind), Ott Kaukver (Skype), Lars Nordwall (ex neo4j), Torsten Reil and Niklas Köhler (both Helsing).
“With our technology, robots act situationally rather than following rigidly programmed sequences. They adapt to dynamic tasks in real-time, enabling an unprecedented level of autonomy,” said Ralf Gulde, CEO and Co-founder of Sereact.
Founded by Ralf Gulde (CEO) and Marc Tuscher (CTO) in 2021, Sereact develops AI-powered robotics solutions that are deployed across various industries and use cases for major customers in the US and Europe. Its AI software equips robots with general purpose visual and manipulation capabilities, enabling them to perceive their environment and devise intelligent strategies to perform a wide range of physical tasks.
From precise handling of individual objects to tackling complex logistics and manufacturing processes, the systems analyse and solve unfamiliar situations in real time. This allows for anomaly detection, process optimisation, and the setting of new standards in flexibility and efficiency for autonomous systems.
Robotics is the next frontier for AI, as improved models and inference enable machines to handle increasingly sophisticated tasks and learn to adapt to their environments without constant customisation.
For example, robots equipped with advanced AI can pick and pack items in e-commerce warehouses, handling fragile or irregularly shaped products. In logistics, they can autonomously sort goods, conduct quality checks, automate inventory management, and optimise workflows, reducing delays. This has potential to drive productivity, address labor shortages, and even create new industries.
According to Sereact, they were the first to combine zero-shot visual reasoning, which enables robots to perform tasks they have not been explicitly trained on, with natural language instruction via chat so that non-technical users can operate them on-site. This capability, called PickGPT, means that Sereact’s solution can be deployed by customers within a single day and immediately start delivering cost savings.
Starting with warehouse automation, Sereact has experienced rapid commercial adoption with customers including BMW, Daimler Truck, Bol and Active Ants. This real-world deployment of its products creates a real-time data flywheel from which Sereact systems learn to continually improve beyond systems trained primarily on synthetic data.
“Most AI robotics companies are currently hardware-first. What sets Sereact apart is their software-first, foundational approach which means they have the potential to become the brain of any robot that requires vision and autonomous capabilities. The opportunities here are endless and it’s great to see this kind of innovation coming from Europe,” said Johan Brenner, general partner at Creandum.
The new funding will be used to expand R&D efforts to support additional robot hardware platforms, such as mobile robots and humanoids, as well as to develop solutions for more complex tasks beyond logistics and manufacturing. Sereact will also expand its US presence via partnerships and expanding its local team.
“We’re on an exciting journey to become the leading platform for robotics applications that forever changes the daily lives of people and businesses,” says Gulde. “This oversubscribed round and our rapid technology progress enables us to democratsze robotics and set new standards for autonomous systems in global markets.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/01/sereact-secures-e25-million-to-develop-robotics-hardware-and-expand-to-the-us/
