Humanoids aren’t quite ready to replace factory workers, but industry can’t wait. Faced with labor shortages, manufacturers are showing growing interest in startups that promise faster automation without the usual compromises.
This is the bet behind Thékeran AI robotics startup that aims to go beyond robots trained for a single task. “If you always have to put the same cookie in the same box, that works perfectly, but most processes aren’t like that,” co-founder Carla Gómez Cano told TechCrunch.
Theker is designed for this more complicated reality. Unlike humanoid robots designed around a fixed shape, think Boston Dynamics — Theker machines are designed to be reconfigured. Their hands, arms, and overall shape can be swapped or resized depending on the task, whether it’s sorting packages, packing clothes, or handling bottles and cans in a warehouse.
The fact that Inditex, Zara’s parent company, was an early backer indicates where Theker’s ambitions begin, not where they end. The company’s broader goal is to move beyond retail into heavier industrial environments like manufacturing, where the complexity and scale of manual tasks is even greater.
This generalist ambition has helped to consolidate Theker’s status as one of the European startups to watch – and raise capital accordingly. The Barcelona-based startup just raised $85 million in what it calls “the largest robotics Series A ever in Europe.” (We couldn’t find any larger ones in our archives either.)
Less than a year later a record turnaroundthis Series A was led by US venture capital firm CRV and backed by a mix of traditional and strategic investors, including Samsung and Aglaé Ventures, the investment vehicle linked to LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault.
Gómez Cano said Samsung was not yet a customer but the two were in advanced discussions. Theker would be happy to have the Korean company as both a customer, supplier and investor – a trio that would give the startup both revenue and credibility in large-scale manufacturing.
She also noted that she and co-founder Jiaqiang Ye Zhu “didn’t build Theker to run pilots,” so the team skips innovation departments entirely and goes straight to logistics or operations, where deals are real and timelines are shorter.
To demonstrate that the company can actually achieve this, Theker has a showroom in central Barcelona and plans to open more as it expands across Europe, the United States and Asia. The company will also increase its headcount in technology, deployment and sales.
“We have already received 15,000 applications and we have to filter like crazy,” Gómez Cano said. She estimates that the team could grow from a few dozen to 120 people by the end of the year, then pulls herself together: “I said that, but I also said that we would raise 30 or 40 million dollars!
The fact that Theker managed to double its target also reinforces the startup’s conviction to maintain its headquarters in Barcelona, a growing city. robotics centerand more broadly in the European technological ecosystem. “It has never been an obstacle to acceleration for us, so we are making the most of it,” Gómez Cano said.
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Anna Heim is a writer and editorial consultant.
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As a freelance journalist at TechCrunch since 2021, she has covered a wide range of startup topics, including AI, fintech and insurance, SaaS and pricing, and global venture capital trends.
Since May 2025, his reporting for TechCrunch has focused on Europe’s most interesting startup stories.
Anna has moderated panels and conducted on-stage interviews at industry events of all sizes, including major technology conferences such as TechCrunch Disrupt, 4YFN, South Summit, TNW Conference, VivaTech and many others.
Former LATAM & Media editor at The Next Web, startup founder and Sciences Po Paris alumna, she speaks several languages fluently, including French, English, Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese.