ARX, a defence technology manufacturer specialising in developing autonomous unmanned systems for dual-use applications announced that it has raised a €1.15 million pre-seed round led by Project A Ventures.
ARX builds and operates autonomous Single-to-Multi-Use robots for various applications. The goal is to help soldiers and civilian first responders make better decisions and take more effective action in life-threatening situations. For the armed forces, ARX robots serve as robust, cost-effective, and consumable solutions that can help train and protect troops, gather intelligence and withstand the challenges of missions. For civilian emergency services, they are designed to provide years of reliable support for relief purposes.
ARX is a spin-off from the GEREON research project at the German Armed Forces University in Munich. First units of ARX are undergoing testing with defence companies and with the armed forces of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Estonia. Project A leads the funding round to grow the team, the technology, and scaling production capabilities.
ARX was founded by Marc Wietfeld (CEO) and Stefan Röbel (COO) in 2021. Wietfeld is an intrapreneur and active officer in the German Army. He derived the idea for ARX from his experience as an infantry officer. He also led research projects in Robotics & Military IoT at the Cyber Innovation Hub and the University of the German Armed Forces. Röbel is a former army officer turned tech executive who held senior management positions at companies like Grover, Asos and Amazon.
“Autonomous robots will revolutionize efficiency, safety and 24/7 readiness in both civilian and military use cases. With ARX we provide an autonomous dual-use robotic platform that is cost-effective and capable of fulfilling multiple roles while saving people’s lives,” said Wietfeld. “We have brought together a diverse team of military, research, and industry experts to develop software and hardware solutions that significantly enhance the capabilities of Western Allies.”
The company’s small to medium-sized autonomous robots are based on a universal robotic platform that allows for flexible add-on and payload solutions for the UGV depending on different security and defence-related scenarios. Armed forces face challenges in training their soldiers properly. The problem is inefficient, expensive training in unrealistic, static environments. The same goes for companies having to adapt to increasing security threats and first responders to access rough terrain.