Universal Robots A/S

Their company develops and sells industrial robots that automate and streamline, monotonous, and mundane industrial processes. They enable the production department to assign their staff to jobs they enjoy; jobs that provide them with a challenge and add value to the company. The idea of creating a light and inexpensive robot, that is easy to install and programme arose in 2003. Kristian Kassow was working on an analysis of the requirements for robots in the food industry. Meanwhile, Esben Østergaard and Kasper Støy were working on a PhD project about the market for robots. Together, they discovered that the robotics market is characterised by heavy, expensive, and unwieldy robots. Based on their experience, they decided, with help from investor Syddansk Innovation, to establish Universal Robots with the intention of making robot technology available to all. In 2008, the Danish state investment fund saw the potential in the company and,together with Syddansk Innovation and the company’s management, they invested DKK 10 million in the business.

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