Insider Brief
- Munich-based robotics startup Filics has raised €13.5 million in a funding round led by Sandwater, Alven, F-LOG Ventures, and the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, with continued support from Capnamic, 10x Founders, and several prominent angel investors.
- The capital will support product development and European expansion of the Filics Unit, a dual-robot system capable of autonomously transporting Euro pallets in tight warehouse environments, offering up to 30% space savings and addressing labor and capacity challenges.
- Founded at the Technical University of Munich in 2021, Filics is targeting full commercialization by 2025, with plans for future capabilities including fully autonomous truck loading in under five minutes.
PRESS RELEASE – Munich-based robotic startup Filics, developer of innovative solutions for autonomous load carrier handling, today announces the successful completion of its financing round. The new investors include Sandwater, Alven, F-LOG Ventures, and the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, alongside Bayern Kapital, business angels Andrei Danescu (founder and CEO of Dexory) and Helmut Schmid (CCO of Filics and former CEO of Agilox), and with continued participation from Capnamic and 10x Founders.
Focus on product development and internationalization
The funds raised, totaling €13.5 million, will mainly be used to expand product development and the robotics platform, as well as to internationalize the business model. Filics plans to make the Filics Unit, the innovative double runner system for automated pallet handling, available for floor block storage systems by the end of 2025 and to prepare for market entry in other European markets in 2026.
Advanced technology in the focus of international investors
“With the new financing round, we are taking the next big step in our growth strategy. Thanks to the strong support, we can further optimize and scale the technology. The trust of our investors is both a tailwind and an obligation,” declares Gregor Kolls, co-founder and CEO of Filics.
Advanced technology in the focus of international investors
Filics is a technology company that focuses on flat transport robots. It develops robots that can safely move weights of up to 1.2 tons, encompassing all standard weights in intralogistics. The robots operate autonomously and can flexibly drive under a wide variety of load carriers.
The “Filics Unit” is the first product and consists of two omnidirectional robots that have been specially developed for handling Euro pallets. The system moves autonomously through the warehouse, traveling under pallets and transporting them, thereby minimizing the space required for maneuvering. The technology enables space savings of up to 30 percent and addresses key challenges in the logistics sector, including space constraints, capacity bottlenecks, and a shortage of skilled workers. The Filics Unit is the first solution in the world that can completely drive under and through pallets and load carriers standing on the floor, allowing it to transport load carriers behind them.
“Our business continues to evolve at a rapid pace and we are constantly exploring innovative ways to use space, personnel, and energy more efficiently, which ultimately benefits our employees and customers,” said Franziska Bossart, Head of the Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund. “We are excited about Filics’ innovative approach to advancing the logistics industry by exploring significant space savings with more flexible and scalable automation.”
“The Filics technology offers not only substantial space efficiency but also a flexible, scalable path to automation of warehouses. For Sandwater, this represents a solution that can truly revolutionize how warehouses are run, requiring less building space, providing increased productivity and a smaller footprint from a genius neat hardware/software combo. We have been truly impressed by the team,” says Morten E. Iversen, partner at Sandwater.
From TUM to industry solutions, supported by a broad industry network
The founders started at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and have been developing the technology since 2021, with early-stage support from reputable backers, such as Dr. Klaus Dieter Rosenbach, former Chief Technology Officer of Jungheinrich AG; Alexander Glasmacher of ELOKON; Arnold Vetter of Vetter Industries; Navid Thielemann and Christian Flick of ThielemannGroup; as well as the ProGlove founders with their investment vehicle OMA Business Angels. The technology is being tested by leading companies such as Bosch GmbH, the DHL Group, and the Nagel Group. The first industrial applications have already begun.
Ambitious plans
The Filics Unit will be further developed for use in floor block warehouses by the end of 2025, enabling up to 66% space savings to be achieved. In the medium term, the company plans to develop the technology further to enable fully autonomous truck loading in under five minutes.
“Our goal is to redefine pallet handling and transform the logistics industry with comprehensive automation solutions. The strong demand for our technology confirms that we have hit the nerve of the times with our solution,” says Helmut Schmid, CCO at Filics.
