Greater Zurich is a top European robotics hub. But who builds it?

This artic published by The Big Byte, the research publication of The Big Search, an executive search firm specializing in leadership and talent across Europe's technology and DeepTech sectors.

At an event in Berlin a few months ago, Andreas Klinger, GP at Prototype Capital, said the most exciting thing on the horizon in Europe is robotics. It has the potential to scale quality, quantity, and complexity in ways that weren’t possible a few years ago. 

While London and Paris have staked their position on LLMs and software, the Greater Zurich Area has become Europe’s leading hub for robotics and embodied AI. The region has built that position over time and benefits from (1) a concentrated robotics and engineering talent pool, (2) world-class university labs, and (3) a cluster of global research centres. 

The result is a disproportionate share of robotics startups founded in this region, and those that aren’t, like Neura Robotics, have opened offices here anyway. 

We wanted to understand that ecosystem through a talent lens. So, we mapped 64 DeepTech robotics and autonomous systems companies founded in the Greater Zurich Area. We identified 300+ individuals across founders and current leaders, from Head to C-level, across all functions. 

This article was compiled in collaboration with the DeepTech Practice at The Big Search and supported by the Greater Zurich Area. We also spoke with Domitilla Di Marco, Head of Talent at Amazon RIVR, and Camilla Mazzoleni, Co-founder of Forgis, which designs, automates, and optimises production using industrial intelligence. 

ETH Zurich is the main robotics founder pipeline

The 2026 European DeepTech Report from Dealroom ranks ETH Zurich first in Europe for alumni-founded startups. We found the same pattern: 68% of founders in the Greater Zurich robotics ecosystem studied there. On top of that, 60% hold a diploma in robotics, autonomous systems, mechatronics, electrical or mechanical engineering, or computer science, with a documented specialisation in robotics or autonomous systems. That technical density is an asset, but it comes with a trade-off.

Main pipelines for Greater Zurich Area robotics founders

The Big Byte analysis identified several recurring founder pipelines within Greater Zurich's robotics ecosystem. Many founders gained experience at global technology and industrial companies such as ABB, NVIDIA, Bosch, Hexagon, and Disney Research. Others emerged from leading ETH Zurich research environments including the Robotic Systems Lab (RSL), Autonomous Systems Lab (ASL), Soft Robotics Laboratory, Wyss Zurich, and the Institute of Neuroinformatics. The ecosystem also increasingly recycles talent through successful robotics startups such as ANYbotics, Sevensense, Wayve, and RobCo, whose alumni have gone on to found or lead new ventures.

Applied research experience is another hallmark of this founder pool. 63% have robotics experience through corporates, research labs, and robotics startups, excluding student roles even where those were held during PhD programmes. 

This pool is almost entirely an ETH Zurich network effect. The Robotic Systems Lab is the main factory for robotics startups in the Greater Zurich Area. Some founders also cut their teeth at ETH spinouts before launching their own. Beyond RSL, ETH’s Soft Robotics Lab and Autonomous Systems Lab, ABB, NVIDIA, Disney Research Studios, and Hexagon Robotics are the other leading feeder environments for Zurich robotics founders.

The Swiss system of financing independent research and building an ecosystem where startups turn that research into products directly feeds the founding pipeline. International tech organisations reinforce this further. Many have opened offices in the region specifically to access its robotics and AI talent. In doing so, they create a two-way exchange: local talent gains experience on applied, real-world problems, while the ecosystem grows denser and more internationally connected.

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The trade-off is operational depth. Most experience in this pool comes from research labs, not from building sales pipelines, managing P&Ls, or scaling teams. For many, the founding company is their first role outside research or academia – and 86% are first-time C-level executives.

Serial founders are one answer to that gap. As in our previous piece, we found that 16% have founded or led a robotics venture before. The Greater Zurich robotics ecosystem is beginning to recycle its own talent. Some founders are building again in the same domain, often with better investor networks, GTM instincts, and more operational discipline the second time around.

Serial entrepreneurs are strengthening the ecosystem

One sign of a maturing ecosystem is the emergence of serial founders. Several entrepreneurs in Greater Zurich's robotics sector are building new ventures after previously founding, scaling, or leading other robotics companies. Examples include Mina Samir Kamel (Nautica Technologies), Hanspeter Fässler and Marco Hutter (Gravis Robotics), Jasmine Kent (Dufour Aerospace), Eris Dhionis Sako (Duatic), and Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler (Roboa), all of whom bring experience from earlier robotics ventures.

The most represented functions in the Greater Zurich robotics ecosystem 

We identified 257 current leaders, from Head to C-level, across all functions in the Greater Zurich Area. The tech/engineering/R&D function is the most represented, with CTO being the most common title. 

Overall, 35% have robotics experience through corporates, research labs, and robotics startups – rising to 51% among tech talent. Engineers working on autonomy, controls, perception, locomotion, or hardware integration bring expertise on physical constraints that software-only engineers often don’t. 

That said, many of the challenges in building a robotics company aren’t uniquely robotics challenges. These companies also need expertise across logistics, operations, machine learning, cloud systems, distributed computing, embedded software, manufacturing, quality, and product development. 

If we exclude ETH’s robotics labs, the main feeder is ABB, especially among tech leaders. Talent with industrial automation backgrounds often route through ABB before stepping into leadership roles at robotics startups. 

The other main pipeline is movement between robotics ventures. Auterion is the most successful company so far. It expanded to the US, raised $130M at the end of 2025, and closed the year at around $100M ARR. It has also produced talent that goes on to lead elsewhere, especially on the commercial side: Ben Simmen is now Head of Product at Amazon RIVR after being Head of Marketing at Auterion from the early days through the $41M Series A in 2022. Laurent Zimmerli is VP Growth at Voliro, after being Head of Product Marketing at Auterion during the same period.

And for others without a robotics background, the paths in are more varied than you might expect: 

1. Some leaders came straight from university into their current company and grew internally. 
2. Finance & people leaders arrive through cross-sector moves from consulting or banking – a robotics background matters less in their case. 
3. Others come from adjacent industries, either selling software and components for autonomous systems or applying automation themselves in automotive, aerospace, defence, or industrial manufacturing. 
4. And for commercial leaders, as we saw in our RobCo piece, great salespeople don’t need to come from the same industry to succeed. With the right structure and onboarding, someone who has never sold robotics can thrive.

The Greater Zurich Area has built a self-reinforcing robotics ecosystem where talent, research, and capital are close enough to compound. We also found that one-third of current leaders come from outside the Greater Zurich Area, a sign that Zurich’s gravitational pull extends well beyond its own borders. 

The foundation is strong, but it doesn’t produce every profile the industry needs. Some specialised roles draw from a globally competitive talent pool. Zurich’s advantage here is that the density of robotics and AI expertise actively draws candidates from Europe, North America, and Asia who are willing to relocate specifically for what the ecosystem offers.

The Greater Zurich Area has earned its place as a leading DeepTech robotics hub, and the fundamentals point to continued momentum. However, the harder step, moving from a world-class research and founding environment to a genuine scaling hub, is still ahead. It’ll require companies with the ambition and reach to attract global talent, customers, and strategic interest, pairing Zurich’s technical depth with an international workforce and mindset. And it will require more operators who have already scaled once and are ready to do it again.
 

About The Big Search 

The Big Search is a European executive search firm specializing in the technology sector. The company partners with growth-stage and late-stage businesses across SaaS, consumer technology, and deeptech to identify and recruit high-impact leaders, from director-level roles to C-suite executives, who help shape the future direction of their organizations. Their consultants are supported by Topliner, a proprietary AI-powered market intelligence platform. Beyond executive search, The Big Search publishes The Big Byte, a Substack focused on talent and leadership in European technology. Its content combines proprietary data with first-hand insights from founders, operators, and investors to explore the trends shaping the industry.