FCF Robotics
Venture Capital Report

The ‘FCF DeepTech Series’ is a quarterly series of reports tracking European venture capital funding trends within four main DeepTech verticals. We highlight deal counts, volumes, investor interests, subsector trends, geographic hotspots, IPO activity as well as M&A / trade sale activity. Each quarter one of the four verticals – CleanTech, Advanced Manufacturing, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Robotics – is examined individually.

FCF Fox Corporate Finance GmbH is pleased to present you another report as part of its research series “FCF DeepTech Series”.

This edition of the ‘FCF DeepTech Series’ focuses on VC funding developments within the European Robotics vertical. The European Robotics vertical has been split into six main subsectors:

  • Commercial Robots
  • Consumer Robots
  • Drones
  • Industrial Robots
  • Medical Robots
  • Robotic Enablers

Key Findings:

  • The Robotics Venture Capital sector faces significant downwards trend: after a peak in 2021 with €1.9bn in funding volume across 384 transactions, funding activity has continuously declined, resulting in only €1.0bn of capital raised within 170 deals in 2023 (Q3 YTD). This indicates that the VC winter has now arrived in the Robotics sector as well.
  • Funding volumes are strongly driven by mega deals: since 2021, yearly total funding volumes were mainly driven by mega deals (>€100m):
    • 2021 with CMR Surgical (€497m, €239m), Agile Robots (€184m, €107m), Skyports (€116m) and eCential Robotics (€100m) – 52% of total volume
    • 2022 with Exotec (€295m) and Scandit (€132m) – 23%
    • 2023 with Distalmotion (€142m) and CMR Surgical (€142m) – 28%
  • 70% of robotic IPOs were in Scandinavia by Scandinavian companies: Despite a low number of VC deals in the Scandinavian countries, the majority of IPOs – 7 out of 11 in total since 2018 – were placed there on the NASDAQ OMX or the Oslo Stock Exchange. However, these IPOs are small IPOs with volumes in the low double-digit and even single-digit million range. The only exception was the mega-IPO of AutoStore Holdings in 2021 with a volume of €1.9bn. This suggests that the public capital market is a viable option for fundraising start-ups in the Nordics.
  • Robust M&A exit environment for robotic start-ups: After a slow year 2021 with only 2 M&A exits a record year 2022 with 11 M&A transactions followed. The year 2023 also shows a robust M&A environment with 6 deals YTD. It can be assumed that the currently difficult financing environment influences that development.

DEEPTECH RESEARCH SERIES

The “FCF DeepTech Series” is a quarterly series of reports tracking European venture capital funding trends within four main DeepTech verticals. We highlight deal counts, volumes, investor interests, subsector trends, geographic hotspots, IPO activity as well as M&A / trade sale activity.
Each quarter one of the four verticals – Cleantech, Advanced Manufacturing, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Robotics – is examined individually.

Each report is a quick reference for investors, corporates and professionals for the funding trends within the respective vertical.

Cleantech Venture Capital Report
European VC Funding trends, IPO and M&A activity in the CleanTech sector

Advanced Manufacturing Venture Capital Report
European VC Funding trends, IPO and M&A activity in the Advanced Manufacturing sector

Industrial Internet of Things Venture Capital Report
European VC Funding trends, IPO and M&A activity in the IIoT sector

Robotics Venture Capital Report
European VC Funding trends, IPO and M&A activity in the Robotics and Drones sector

NEWS & PRESS