Why We Invested in Loki Robotics

Why We Invested in Loki Robotics

We have never seen so much progress in robotics as in the last year. From new foundation models and open-source projects to simulation platforms, the developments are rapidly increasing. It seems like every day there is a new fancy demo video of a humanoid break-dancing: yet, these robots are not making it into the customer’s hands fast enough and at scale. We believe it could, you just have to be smart about how and which problems you solve.

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Enter Loki

Loki is building autonomous robots that can clean the way people do. They are tackling one of the most complex use cases in robotics: cleaning. Unlike controlled factory or warehouse workflows, cleaning requires operating in spaces such as public restrooms, office kitchens, and high-traffic areas.

But why start with cleaning? For starters, there is real demand for automation with companies already paying billions on it annually, while at the same time it involves skills that might very well lay the foundation to general-purpose robotics.

And this is one of the core insights of the Loki team; robots don’t need to be general-purpose from day one. They can start by mastering one domain, generate revenue while doing so, and collect the kind of diverse, real-world data that unlocks autonomy over time.

The cleaning vertical possesses all the right ingredients to be the optimal wedge: the market is huge (>$350B globally), the tasks are repetitive, and are still largely performed manually. The environments are semi-structured, but complex enough that very few robots today can handle them well. We believe this makes for a great market to go after.
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Why now?

Three major trends make this the perfect time to build a company like Loki:

1. Advances in robotics foundation models: Core perception, control, and navigation components are improving rapidly, making it possible for teams to achieve capabilities that once took years to build.
2. Growing enterprise demand: Labor shortages, rising operational costs, and increased standards for cleanliness mean that facilities are actively looking for reliable automation.
3. Cultural readiness: After years of seeing robots in warehouses and factories, the world is ready for them to show up in everyday environments, starting with high-ROI tasks like cleaning.
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From building self-driving cars and drones to cleaning toilets

Miks and Antonio are deeply technical founders with backgrounds in autonomous systems and robotics, who met at ETH Zurich. At ETH they worked together in the Formula Student team, where they won competitions across Europe. Post studies, Miks spent time building autonomous drones at Wingtra while Antonio was working on self-driving cars at Motional (and running a LLM-based side-project that got to 15k users in under 3 months). The Loki team is a rare combination of ambitious, humble and technically adept founders, who are not afraid of getting their hands dirty. In five months, they’ve taken Loki from an idea to a working robot with multiple LOIs in place, and we’re excited to lead their pre-seed round with participation from our friends at Acecap and Unruly Capital

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Looking forward:

With human performance being the ultimate benchmark for physical labor efficiency, Loki was built with the goal of surpassing it. As a first step, Loki is engineered to become the world’s best cleaner, purpose built for that exact task. Join them, as they build towards the next step: becoming the autonomous operational layer at the backbone of the facilities that we spend most of our time in.

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Loki is hiring!