Nordic Hardtech Weekly #23: Robotics decoded — 10 Nordic companies reshaping industries

Automation is no longer a question of if, but where first. From labor shortages to decarbonisation, robotics is becoming the lever that makes industries move. And while the U.S. and Asia dominate headlines, the Nordics are quietly building their own edge.

This week we bring you A Robotics Nordic 10 — a snapshot of companies showing how autonomy meets industry here. Not a ranking, but a field guide: who’s scaling, where adoption bites first, and what founders and investors should take note of.

• Lightbringer: AI-powered patent platform helping tech companies protect their edge fast, with in-house legal expertise. Watch our recent IP webinar.
• Recuro: Growth partner for hardtech and deeptech. Book an intro.
• SISP (Swedish Incubators & Science Parks): The network for 60+ incubators and science parks in Sweden. Find yours here.
• The Yard: Gothenburg’s hub for co-working, community, and serious hardware. Explore their memberships.

Robotics That Count: 10 Bold Builders to Watch in the Nordics

Robotics is one of the toughest corners of hardtech — brutal margins, complex integrations, long sales cycles. Yet the Nordics have quietly built an edge. From forests and farms to oceans and factories, robotics here isn’t just research: it’s deployment. Here are ten Nordic companies showing where value is created today, and where the next moves are coming.

This ranking isn’t about buzz. It’s about traction, vertical focus, and the kind of real-world proof points that investors, partners and policymakers can learn from. It’s not an almighty list, but a curated snapshot — our ear to the ground in Nordic hardtech. And the pattern is clear: Nordic robotics wins when autonomy meets domain obsession. These aren’t generic platforms. They’re vertical powerhouses, productized into workflows that solve hard, physical problems.

1. Deep Forestry (Sweden)

Forests are a billion-dollar export, but still measured like it’s the 19th century. Deep Forestry is rewriting that with autonomous drones that capture tree-level data on height, diameter and volume. Add biodiversity and ESG reporting, and you get decision-grade forestry intelligence, 30–100x faster than manual methods. Think of it as the “intelligence layer” of forestry: not harvesting trees, but mapping them with unprecedented accuracy.

2. Self Robotics (Sweden)

From Gothenburg, Self is rethinking wellness with autonomous massage robots for gyms, offices and recovery hubs. It’s robotics applied not to factories, but to everyday health. With clear traction in Sweden and abroad, Self shows how automation can move into entirely new verticals — turning a human-only service into a scalable, data-driven platform.

3. Everdrone (Sweden)

Emergency drones sound like hype — until you see an AED arrive autonomously at a cardiac arrest. Everdrone covers over 250,000 people with its drone emergency medical service (DEMS), working with healthcare providers in Västra Götaland and beyond. Life-saving tech with regulatory trust is the rarest form of hardtech traction.

4. Levtek (Sweden)

Based in Malmö, Levtek builds ride-on cognitive robots designed for logistics and transport. These aren’t just automated carriers: they reason, learn and adapt. Emerging from Sweden’s AI and robotics ecosystem, Levtek is staking out the frontier of “cognitive robotics” — a category with potential to redefine how heavy physical work gets done.

5. Airforestry (Sweden)

If Deep Forestry provides the “brains” of Nordic forestry, AirForestry – founded by engineers from KTH and SLU – is building the “muscle.” Their giant electric drones don’t just map the forest, they thin it. By harvesting trees from above, AirForestry reduces soil damage, improves precision, and rewrites the economics of sustainable forestry. With €10M in fresh funding, they’re proving that aerial harvesting isn’t science fiction — it’s the new logic of timber operations.

6. Blue Robotics (Norway)

Underwater inspection is brutal on both divers and machines. Blue Robotics ROVs are built for one thing: survive and deliver. Their professional-grade drones are already deployed by Norway’s Customs and global shipping operators. When hardware margins squeeze, reliability is the moat.

7. Ekobot (Sweden)

Farmers don’t care about robots, they care about yield and cost. Ekobot’s autonomous weeding system has shown higher yields than chemical treatment in field trials. With Homburg Holland now backing its expansion, this is one robot that doesn’t just pay for itself. It pays off in hectares.

8. Hyperion Robotics (Finland)

Concrete is one of the dirtiest industries on the planet. Hyperion Robotics is attacking that head-on with robotic 3D-printing of concrete structures that cut material use and emissions. With pilot projects running in Europe, they’re making sustainability a structural advantage — literally.

9. Universal Robots (Denmark)

The global cobot leader, born in Odense by three university students. Universal Robots reinvented how factories deploy automation: flexible arms that work safely next to humans. With a massive global footprint and parent Teradyne behind it, UR is proof that a Nordic robotics company can define an entire category.

10. 1X Technologies (Norway)

Humanoids are mostly sci-fi — except in Norway. 1X Technologies (formerly Halodi Robotics) builds human-scale robots like NEO Gamma, designed for security, logistics and personal assistance. Backed by OpenAI’s Startup Fund, they’re betting on the boldest robotics vision of all: androids in everyday life.

• DLA Piper just dropped its first Nordic VC Report, covering 70 equity rounds worth €740M. A data-rich snapshot of deal terms and trends – download the full report here.
• Nofence raises $35M — Europe’s biggest AgTech round of 2025. With 700M grazing hours logged, they’re scaling fast in the US, Europe and now Sweden.
• Swedish Sensrad secures its first order for the Hugin D1 radar after trials with WATCHIT, bringing 4D radar and AI collision prevention to leisure boats.
• Norway’s Surfact launches its Emma sensor in Sweden, tackling food waste, medicine losses and cargo theft with real-time data and recycled design.
• Sifted just launched the 2025 leaderboard of the Nordics & Benelux’s 100 fastest-growing startups. Sweden leads with 51% of the list and 6 of the 10 top investors.

• Industrial Future Summit kicks off in Stockholm next week! Two days, one agenda and lots of industry leaders, disruptors and investors shaping the next decade. Join in.
• RISE launches the Semiconductor Arena Sept 18 in Kista — a new platform to strengthen Sweden’s chip ecosystem. Join researchers, startups and industry. Register here.
• Our friends at Hardware Velocity hosts an online session Sept 24 on how to sell hardware, find lighthouse customers and build a scalable business. Reserve your spot.
• ⚡️ Energy founders in Sweden: EnerGo hosts a lunch event Oct 15 at Innovatum Science Park (Trollhättan) on renewables and flexible grids. Hear Sunsurf Solar’s journey and meet key players. Sign up now.
• Candela is hiring a Commissioning & Testing Technician (Stockholm based): Join the world leader in electric hydrofoil vessels and shape the future of waterborne transport. Apply now.

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