sewts has successfully closed a Series A for EUR 7 million

Robotics startup sewts closes EUR 7 million Series A financing round, backed by investors such as Bayern Kapital. AI and robotics to revolutionize textile industry.

Munich / Landshut - Artificial intelligence and robotics are increasingly finding their way into the textile industry. Bavarian startup sewts has successfully closed a Series A financing round totaling 7 million euros. The round was supported by investors such as Bayern Kapital, APEX Ventures and HTGF, who have already been involved since the 2021 seed round. In addition, new international investors such as Emerald Technology Ventures, CNB Capital, EquityPitcher Ventures and Nabtesco Technology Ventures were attracted.

The use of AI and robotics in various industries is steadily increasing. While solutions already exist for processing solid materials, automation remains a challenge for malleable materials such as textiles. Especially in the apparel and textile industry as well as in large-scale laundries, the need for manpower is noticeable.

We will use the fresh capital to drive our growth ambitions internationally. This includes the introduction of further VELUM systems in large international laundries and, as a next step, the improvement of our prototype for the automatic processing of returns in e-commerce.

Alexander Bley, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Director sewts

This is where sewts comes in: Founded in 2019 by former mechanical engineering students Alexander Bley, Tim Doerks and Till Rickert, the Munich-based startup aims to become a leader in the automation of processes involving easily deformable materials. With the help of specially developed control and image processing software, robots can predict and react to the behavior of these materials in real time.

One example of sewts' success is its VELUM product, launched in 2022. This robotic unit supports large-scale industrial laundries by taking crumpled towels and other textiles to folding machines. Up to 700 textiles per hour can be processed at human-like speeds. VELUM thus contributes to automation and helps address labor shortages as well as increase efficiency.

It brings the production and recycling of textiles closer to the consumer market again. In this way, sewts makes an important contribution to overcoming the labor shortage in textile companies as well as to achieving the global climate goals.

Monika Steger, Managing Director Bayern Kapital

Parallel to the market launch of VELUM, sewts is already working on further automation solutions along the textile production cycle. With the support of the Otto Group, a prototype for the automatic processing of returns in e-commerce has been developed. In the long term, the company aims to enable the automated production of clothing with the help of robotics.