Trener Robotics Raises €26M To Advance Industrial AI Automation

The round was co-led by Engine Ventures and IAG Capital Partners, with participation from Cadence and Geodesic Capital via Nikon’s NFocus Fund, alongside Shanda Ventures, Emergent Ventures, Fitz Gate Ventures, Techable VC, Radius Capital Ventures, and Raisewell Ventures. Following its Seed round, Trener Robotics’ total funding now exceeds €31 million ($38 million).

Founded in 2024 by CEO Dr. Asad Tirmizi and CTO Dr. Lars Tingelstad, Trener Robotics is transforming robotics by combining advanced AI with pre-trained skill models for task-specific expertise.

Dr. Tirmizi previously contributed to robotics and haptics programs at Vicarious, Google, and ByteDance, while Dr. Tingelstad served as Associate Professor of Robotic Production at NTNU.

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Their software, Acteris, enables robots to think, adapt, and perform complex tasks with ease. Unlike traditional coding, Acteris lets operators describe tasks in natural language, converting instructions into executable automation. Using physical AI, the platform handles vision, language and movement, adapting in real time to unstructured production environments and changing parts.

Headquartered in San Francisco and Trondheim, Trener Robotics’ team includes industry veterans from Universal Robots, ABB, Vicarious, Google, KUKA, Autodesk and TikTok, bringing deep expertise in robotics and technology.

In 2025, Trener Robotics gained strong momentum, partnering with over 15 solution and integration providers across Europe and the U.S. and integrating leading robot brands such as ABB, Universal Robots and FANUC into Acteris.

The company reports that the market for flexible, adaptable automation is growing at a 14.3% CAGR, fueled by ongoing labor shortages, rising demand for high-mix production and increasing operational costs driving manufacturers to adopt solutions with fast return on investment.

“For decades, industrial robotics has been limited by dynamic complexity, confining millions of robotic arms to repetitive, single-purpose tasks in highly controlled environments,” says Dr Asad Tirmizi, co-founder and CEO of Trener Robotics. “We’re fundamentally changing this transforming robots into intelligent, adaptable teammates by replacing procedural programming with a control system that supports a growing library of production-ready skills.”

In 2025–2026, the European robotics and industrial AI sector saw continued investment in automation platforms and intelligent control systems.

Poland’s Nomagic raised €8.3 million to scale its AI-driven physical operations platform following a €41.5 million round earlier in 2025. London based Neuracore secured €2.5 million for a unified robot learning infrastructure while Switzerland’s Flexion raised €43 million for reinforcement learning in humanoid robotics and Forgis secured €3.8 million to automate industrial machines.

In Germany, RobCo closed €100 million to expand modular AI-driven manufacturing systems, and SEAL Robotics raised €1.7 million for AI-enhanced modular robots in container logistics.

Together, these disclosed rounds total around €158 million invested across European robotics startups, underscoring a growing push toward adaptive, AI-enabled industrial automation a space where Trener Robotics’ €26 million Series A fits, particularly in developing intelligence layers and learning systems for industrial robots.

“When we co-led Trener Robotics’ Seed round, we saw a team with a clear vision to solve one of automation’s biggest bottlenecks,” says Reed Sturtevant, General Partner at Engine Ventures. “Their execution and ability to rapidly scale has been remarkable. This traction positions Acteris as the intelligence layer for physical automation and reinforces their ability to scale through partner-led distribution.”

“Industrial automation is at an inflection point with Trener Robotics well-positioned as a platform accessible to manufacturers of all sizes, creating a repeatable path for expanding capabilities beyond CNC machine tending. This is precisely what small and mid-sized enterprises globally need to compete as AI redefines manufacturing,” says Dennis Sacha, Partner at IAG Capital Partners.

About Trener Robotics

Trener Robotics (formerly T-ROBOTICS) develops a Physical AI platform that adds intelligence to industrial robots. Its software, Acteris, enables robots to learn, adapt, and perform complex tasks using natural language instructions, vision and movement. Headquartered in Norway and the U.S., the company empowers manufacturers with flexible, AI-driven automation.