YK-Robotics raises €1 million to program robot cells with words

YK-Robotics has closed a seed round of €1 million, co-led by Draper B1 and First Drop. The startup's stated goal is to make it possible to program any robotic cell using words rather than specialist code.

Who is backing the round

Beyond the two lead investors, the round includes BStartup, the startup arm of Banco Sabadell, as well as Coben Ventures, Elephant Capital and PnP USA, the US branch of Plug and Play.

According to the announcement, the investors contribute more than capital. The group brings the backing of Banco Sabadell and access to Plug and Play's global network of corporations, which can matter for a company trying to reach industrial customers.

Why it matters

Programming robotic cells has traditionally required specialised engineers and manufacturer-specific tools, which can slow down deployments and raise costs, particularly for smaller manufacturers. A system that lets operators describe tasks in natural language points toward lowering that barrier, and that is the problem YK-Robotics says it is addressing.

The round is modest by the standards of robotics funding, but seed capital of this size is typically used to build out the product and run first pilots. The company has not detailed in the material available how it plans to allocate the funds.

The mix of investors, spanning venture funds, a banking group's startup programme and a corporate innovation platform, suggests the company is looking for both technical and commercial traction. What remains to be seen is how the technology performs in real production environments and which manufacturers adopt it first.