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Brussels-based robotics company Motion has secured $2 million in pre-seed funding to expand its Humanoids-as-a-Service (HaaS) platform and commercialize existing industrial robot pilots in Europe. The investment round was spearheaded by Extantia Capital, with Norrsken Evolve also participating. Established in 2026, Motion offers humanoid robots to industrial, warehouse, and logistics businesses via a subscription-based model aimed at reducing the high upfront costs and operational complexities associated with the technology.
Instead of requiring customers to purchase and deploy robots individually, Motion charges a monthly fee that encompasses the entire deployment process. This includes data collection, robot selection, task training, IT integration, fleet management, financing, insurance, compliance, and maintenance. Currently, Motion operates five pilots with industrial, warehouse, and logistics companies across Belgium, where its humanoid robots are being trained for tasks such as loading goods into crates, packing containers into boxes, and placing components on conveyor belts, working in tandem with existing employees.
The company is leveraging its technology to tackle labor shortages in European manufacturing, where businesses are increasingly facing challenges in filling operational roles. However, Motion acknowledges that the adoption of humanoid robots remains hindered by financing, integration, regulatory, and operational requirements tied to deploying and managing robotic fleets.
Europe is grappling with a broader robot adoption problem, where issues related to financing, risk, and compliance often precede technological challenges. To address these hurdles, Motion has streamlined the process, turning everything that stands between a factory and its first humanoid robot into a predictable monthly fee.
Motion's founder and CEO, Alexander Stevens, emphasizes that the company's hardware-agnostic model allows customers to use robots tailored to specific applications without being locked into a single manufacturer. Additionally, Motion operates a European software layer, facilitating seamless deployment experience across its network while giving individual customers control over their data.
In addition to its direct deployments, Motion is launching a partner program for system integrators and automation specialists, enabling them to deploy humanoid robots for their clients using Motion's platform.
With the new funding, Motion plans to transition its five existing pilots into full production, augment its team, and expand its robot fleet. The initial focus will be on scaling across the Benelux region.
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