AILOS Robotics has officially been established as a spin-off from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and its BruBotics research group, following the recent signing of the license agreement. Now fully official, AILOS Robotics raised €3.5 million to accelerate the industrialisation of its patented R2poweR gearbox.
This technology directly addresses a critical bottleneck in the industry, enabling the creation of robots that are significantly lighter, safer, more energy-efficient, and more affordable. It combines the agility of quasi-direct drives with exceptionally high torque density, and is specifically designed for applications like humanoids, cobots, exoskeletons, and prosthetic devices.
The funding round was led by QBIC and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), with participation from Wallonie Entreprendre and finance&invest.brussels. The investment bolsters Europe's ambition to locally manufacture strategic hardware for the rapidly expanding market of human-centric robotics.
(Photo: Co-founders Stein Crispel, Pablo López García, Dirk Lefeber)
“Modern robots demand a new category of actuation,” said Pablo López García, CEO and co-founder of AILOS Robotics. “We combine quasi-direct drive-like backdrivability with the high torque density of advanced gearing, finally removing one of the main barriers to agile, lightweight, and safe robots that can operate alongside humans.”
R2poweR is the result of more than ten years of research, supported by VLAIO and Innoviris. The technology offers low backdrive resistance for safe interaction, very high torque density for high-load joints, and a scalable, quiet, and energy-efficient design suitable for large-scale manufacturing in Europe and the United States.
With the new funding, AILOS is preparing the transition from laboratory to factory and is actively seeking collaboration with robot manufacturers, industrial production partners, and investors.
According to Cédric Van Nevel, Partner at QBIC, AILOS addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks in humanoid and collaborative robotics, and the team possesses the right technology, IP, and vision. Anne Umbach, Investment Manager at HTGF, emphasises that AILOS has the potential to grow into a European technology champion thanks to its unique hardware innovation and strong team.