Robots aren’t new, and have long been used in factories to carry out repetitive tasks like assembling, welding, painting and quality inspection.

“There are many different types of robots that have single applications. But Neura is very much of the belief that the humanoid, or generalist robot, which has multiple use cases and can be adapted to several environments will see huge economies of scale due to this mass applicability,” says Jan Miczaika, partner at HV Capital. 

Traditionally, robots were trained to carry out the same action in the same environment. Now, AI has unlocked the ability for robots to be sent into unfamiliar territories, judge what the task is that needs to be done, and execute it. 

The shift is particularly important for humanoid robots. 

“Maybe one day a humanoid will need to take the subway to go somewhere to perform a task and then come back on its own. That's a completely different level of complexity than stacking boxes,” says Fabian.

David’s vision is that robots could help solve worker shortages in critical industries such as healthcare, at a time when demographic change is causing a decline in Europe’s working-age population. 

“In the same way as the promise of AI is to automate the drudgery, the boring tasks, to allow us humans to be creative and strategic, I think robots will be in a prime position to take over work which is demanding, dangerous and repetitive,” says Jan.

When HV first met Neura, what stood out was the scale of the founder’s ambition.

Where many traditional robotics companies focus on isolated machines or software with narrow applications, David understood that delivering real value to customers requires offering the full-stack of hardware, sensors, AI models, and software.

“It’s much harder for customers, especially non-native robotics companies, to piece together AI models with their own robots and so on, rather than buying a fully working system out of the box,” says Fabian. 

Another unique aspect of Neura is its approach to collecting the data needed to train the AI models that power its robots. Unlike large language models which are trained on text, robots require physical data of humans completing real-life tasks. This data, however, can be expensive and is in short supply worldwide.

Neura solves this problem through creating its own large-scale training environments called Neura Gyms. In big warehouses, Neura has placed workstations resembling kitchens, living rooms and dining areas, where robots can practice manual tasks like folding laundry or walking up and down stairs.

“David is one of the most relentless and most hard-working people I know, with the highest standard in terms of what his organisation should deliver,” says Fabian. “He started out as a social worker and really fundamentally believes that robots will serve humanity.”

“David has the vision, but he’s also an excellent storyteller,” adds Jan. “It goes all the way from the design of the robot to the design of Neura’s website.”

Looking ahead, Neura is focusing on releasing its new version of 4NE1, scaling up the commercial side of the business and becoming a major global player in cognitive robotics.

It’s already established key industrial partnerships with companies such as Schaeffler, Kawasaki, Delta Electronics, Amazon and NVIDIA.

“David’s ambition is not to be the European version of a US or Chinese robotics company, but to have a world-leading position,” says Fabian. “It’s not just a European champion, but a global one.”

Neura’s success has a wider significance in Europe’s competitiveness on the world stage. While it’s clear that the US and China are racing ahead with AI development, robotics could be the area where Europe leads.