Munich Startup: Who are you and what do you do at Visevi Robotics? Please introduce yourselves briefly!
Visevi Robotics: We are Nicolas Alt (37) and Stefan Lochbrunner (31), and we are working on the robot revolution. We believe that robots should support us, especially in monotonous or dangerous tasks, to improve our quality of work and life. Our goal is to use camera-based software to teach robots intelligent and sensitive gripping. With our patented "camera-based sensor technology," we simplify the hardware and mechanics of robots, making them accessible even to small businesses and private households.
Nicolas holds a doctorate in electrical engineering with a focus on robot perception, and Stefan Lochbrunner holds a master's degree in electrical engineering. We met at Prof. Steinbach's Chair of Media Technology at TUM.
Munich Startup: What problem does your startup solve?
Visevi Robotics: When intelligently grasping delicate objects, a robot must capture and process a great deal of information: The type of object, its precise location, geometry, strength and weight, as well as obstacles, all play a role. We are developing software to capture and process this information using cameras (computer vision). However, vision is not enough; robots must also detect forces and tactility, which ultimately leads to very complex sensor technology and hardware. That's why we're working on making this invisible information visible via the camera – the “camera-based sensor technology”.
Arms and grippers have huge potential
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Visevi Robotics: Intelligent service robots, controlled by cameras, have indeed experienced a boom in recent years. Just think of robot vacuum cleaners in the home or mobile delivery robots in logistics companies. However, arms and grippers are rarely seen on these systems – the technology is simply still too complex and expensive. Yet the potential is enormous: Service robots could assist with delivery tasks in any large office complex, restaurant, hotel, or factory site.
Munich Startup: What have been your three biggest challenges so far?
Visevi Robotics: For one thing, we had to invest a lot of energy into finding product-market fit. We're committed to a "lean startup" approach, trying to find customers and understand their problems with minimal prototypes. The challenge here is finding customers who are particularly open to innovation, because in robotics, a lot of effort is traditionally invested in prototypes and trade show demos.
A challenge of a completely different kind for us as a spin-off of the TUM to acquire the IP we developed there. This is a lengthy process, and TUM naturally keeps its own "entrepreneurial" success in mind during the negotiations.
And finally, of course, we – like many others – have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis: Firstly, because projects and thus sales have been delayed, and secondly, because trade fairs have disappeared as an important channel. However, we also see new opportunities in this, such as increased interest in automation and better acceptance of video calls, including for live demos.
Munich Startup: How are things going?
Visevi Robotics: We have been able to acquire three well-known industrial robotics companies as customers and implement our technology in innovation projects. Thanks to these projects, we are bootstrapped so far. However, we plan to seek investors in the future so that we can ultimately appeal to a broader customer base.
Munich has become a robotics center
Munich Startup: How do you rate Munich as a startup location?
Visevi Robotics:In recent years, some great opportunities have developed, and we've met many founders through various networking events. This exchange is especially important for raising awareness of entrepreneurship during university. This is the only way to ensure that promising startups continue to emerge here in the future.
Of course, it's also particularly important for us that Munich has developed into a center for startups in the field of robotics and related technologies. However, compared to larger cities, it's noticeable that a few providers and investors dominate.
Munich Startup: Bicycle or e-scooter?
Visevi Robotics: Sure, e-scooters are practical in the city, especially now. But taking them to the lake or the mountains? A bike is a lot more fun!
