microagi, a Munich-based startup founded just ten months ago, has closed a $55 million seed round , what it claims is the largest seed round ever raised by a German company. The round was led by Hummingbird, with participation from Northzone, LocalGlobe, Village Global, and redalpine. The valuation was not disclosed.
The founder's backstory is almost too cinematic to be real. Bercan Kilic landed his dream job as an aerodynamics engineer for Red Bull Racing in 2023, joining the Formula One team at the height of its dominance , but the thrill quickly wore off. He wanted to put his skills toward something bigger: deploying robots in factories to bring about a world of abundant, low-cost goods and services. So he left F1 and started microagi in a Munich hacker house.
What microagi actually does
microagi helps manufacturers train robots for specific jobs. Rather than building its own robots or AI models, the company records workers using cameras and sensor-equipped gloves, then uses that footage to teach existing robotics models how to perform specific tasks inside a customer's factory. Think of it as the integration layer between frontier robot AI and the messy reality of a factory floor.
The business model is a two-sided flywheel:
- For AI labs: microagi provides the labs with data, the labs provide models, and then microagi layers on proprietary customer data to make its customers happy.
- For manufacturers: microagi adapts its partners' models using each customer's factory data, then helps deploy them on robots. Its customers span the automotive, logistics, and food industries.
Kilic declined to name microagi's model partners, though companies building this type of technology include Physical Intelligence, Skild AI, and Generalist AI. The platform is hardware-agnostic, meaning it can work with different robot bodies.
Don't miss what's next in AI
Join 300,000+ engineers and researchers who get the signal, not the noise.
- Full access to in-depth AI research breakdowns
- Be the first to know what's trending before it hits mainstream
- Daily curated papers, repos, and industry moves