ARX Robotics’ COO and Co-Founder Stefan Roebel on Revolutionizing Robotics

Today, we’re interviewing another founder from a company that I have invested in. Join us as we chat to Stefan Roebel, the dynamic force behind ARX Robotics. He shares his insights into building modular robotics, integrating AI, his company’s approach to sustainability, and his personal life hacks for staying grounded. Read on to find out how his professional challenges and personal commitments intertwine to help him and his team build the robotics of the future.

Join us as Stefan Roebel shares his insights about building dual-use robotics for a safer and more sustainable future.

Robin: Welcome, Stefan. Could you share a bit about who you are, both professionally and personally?

Stefan Roebel: Thank you, Robin. I was the last one to join the ARX founding team and came onboard in 2023. My background is in the Armed Forces—I'm an ex-army officer and served from 2000 to 2012, which included a deployment to Afghanistan and some time spent in the U.S. with the armed forces. After completing the standard 12-year German officer contract, I chose to leave the army.

I completed my first master’s degree in finance and business as part of my officer training and, after leaving the army, I earned a second master's in supply chain operations.

I then shifted into the e-commerce sector, working first for Amazon, then eBay, and later as the head of operations for Europe at the fashion brand ASOS.

Following four years with ASOS, I joined a Berlin-based startup called Grover to scale their operations.

I was at Grover until the end of 2022. Then I decided to go on a new journey and start from scratch. I feel like I’ve had a bit like a Benjamin Button career—starting with the big companies and then moving all the way down to starting a business with just two other people.

Personally, I’m 42, married with kids. I’m based in Leipzig, not Munich where our offices are, but I'm in the office three days a week. I joined the team because I can still understand military language quite well, though I can't speak it anymore—it's a language within a language, full of acronyms and specific wording that I needed to get used to again.

What drew you to the team and what do you bring?

I felt that I could add value by helping the team, which has extensive military experience but not so much business expertise, particularly in company building—something that greatly excites me. Building high-performance teams is my strength. This passion is what gets me out of bed in the morning; I have always enjoyed the challenge of starting from scratch, building all the organizational structures, and finding the right people. I possess the drive and the willingness to succeed no matter what, which energizes me.

What does ARX Robotics look like today?

We embarked on this journey in early '23. Initially, we used our own money to build the first prototype. In May, we raised our first convertible note of $100,000, and then we went on a tour to pitch our solution or idea with our first prototype. This effort led us to a stage where we partnered with Project A Ventures and we closed a $1.15 million round with them in July. We’ve also already managed to sell our first products—and sold three assets.

We brought in roughly $300,000 in revenues last year, which is great. We're a bit ahead of where we should be in terms of funding because we're already at a stage where our proof of concept is done. We have great momentum. We understand the market well, and we have clarified our mission in the last six months. That's why we have now put all our efforts into a second pitch deck, which helps people understand what we're doing and prepares them for the upcoming changes.

This includes introducing robotics into various aspects of life, not just your typical robotic vacuum cleaner, but also in surveillance, border patrol, disaster recovery, and military applications since we are all aware that real changes are coming.

What are your goals with the latest round of funding?

The robotics market is set to double in the next five years, but it won’t be a straight line—it will be more like exponential growth as everyone figures out how to integrate robotics into their operations. This is a trial and test phase, but once it’s complete, there will be rapid growth as structures for working with robots are established. Our focus now with this funding round is to prepare for mass production, which we expect will start around the end of '26 or maybe '27.

This round is about moving from 80% to 100% because, as Pareto's principle suggests, the first 80% is relatively straightforward. The last 20% is the challenging part—ensuring all certifications and paperwork are in place to move from prototype to product. We’re thrilled with the investors we have onboard to achieve this.

Please tell us how ARX Robotics differs from other robotics companies?

Initially, we wanted to build something very modular. There wasn't much funding available—one million for robotics development is almost nothing, especially if you're creating something completely new. So, from the start, we focused on using off-the-shelf components, which aren't regulated or classified for military use, making them purely civilian.

This strategy allowed us to build prototypes at a very low cost and helped us progress in our journey. When we surveyed the market, everything else was either too expensive or too bulky. It didn't make sense. Considering robotics as part of an innovation adoption curve, we realized the necessity for innovators who face significant challenges.

We now have multiple-purpose vehicles that you can change on the fly, and this modularity is something we are very proud of. We believe it could be a game-changer. These capabilities—large equipment capacity, autonomy, and modularity—form the three foundational pillars of our approach. This is what sets us apart in the market, and it's the core of our pitch.

Although NGOs are a bit behind due to cost pressures, they represent a significant secondary market for us. Initially, we're focusing on commercial applications and government contracts. Once our solutions are well-established, we expect NGOs to follow, recognizing that we already have a working solution that can meet their needs. However, NGOs tend to be slower to adopt new innovations.

That's why we’re focusing on defense at this stage, even though there’s a dual-use application that completely works for NGOs at this stage, but this will probably happen two years later than the defense market. Our strategy is to provide disposable solutions, not high-value assets that need protection. We focus on protecting people with single-use robotics.

This approach made perfect sense to us; combining off-the-shelf components that are already certified. Investors often ask how we plan to compete in developing the best autonomy or AI, and our response is that we’re not aiming to be the best but to provide a good enough solution at a cost-effective level for mass production and rapid deployment in large quantities. If we lose one of our systems, it's not a significant loss because our focus is on cost-effectiveness rather than extending our solutions. Our modular approach allows integration with existing systems, whether you’re an NGO like the Red Cross with specific needs or a logistics company. Our products can be easily adapted, for example within 30 seconds to two minutes, the application on the robot can be changed on the fly. This level of modularity and cost-effectiveness in solutions is unprecedented in the market. Most solutions are like configuring a car—you need to know what you want six months in advance, which isn’t realistic in frontline or NGO scenarios. For example, after an earthquake, the immediate need might be for mobile internet, which our system can provide through a styling application that creates a mobile Wi-Fi bubble, followed by equipment transportation.

I’m especially excited about the commercial applications of your robotics. Can you tell us more about these?

Our robots have a large capability to carry equipment and therefore can be used in a lot of different ways. They can follow you around until you reach the area of operation where you need to recover something or carry out another task.

In defense and disaster applications, you can unload and send the robots back autonomously. And you can change the transportation basket, take it off, and put a medivac stretcher on it, for example. In the meantime, you can start evacuating people, finding people, and then do the evacuation part autonomously.

In terms of commercial applications, the robot is powerful enough to drag smaller airplanes to the airfield and things like that. This showcases the modularity of our system, helping people understand the varied use cases that are possible—something quite unheard of. Additionally, there's flexibility with the payloads; they can be changed to clean runways or de-ice them. So if you have the right application mounted on our robot, you can operate any use case with the same set of robots. You have a really flexible workforce, so to say. And this flexibility is not just applicable in airports but also in factories, border patrol, NGOs, and police forces.

How will the use of robotics change the way businesses operate, especially in Europe?

Well, we’re struggling with a shortage of qualified workforce in Europe and with cost pressure. A lot of things can be automated that haven't been touched yet, though the indoor and stationary robotics have progressed quite a lot.

So if you look at manufacturing, there’s a quite high degree in robotics and automation already but there are still an awful lot of manual tasks that have been left untouched. An easy one would be if you look at Munich Airport which has a fence of around 30 kilometers around the airfield, and there are still people driving around in cars to check on the fence. That’s three shifts and most likely four people if you have somebody who covers when the others go on vacation. If there are four people on a Munich salary that would be €40-50,000. So, you’re probably spending €200,000 on one patrol. This is something where robotics can help because we can train our AI solution to identify holes in the fence. You just feed AI enough data to understand if the fence is intact or not intact to report it, and so they can do the patrol mission autonomously which

Can you tell us your thoughts on AI and robotics, especially in defense?

I think the AI aspect is the most concerning aspect of what we do for most people. Building something capable of detecting and classifying a target, and then executing an action on it, is frankly quite alarming. This is what the business world or the press often refers to as "automatic kill chains." There has been quite a lot of coverage on this, and it's a scary aspect—when a robot decides that something or someone is an enemy and is able to attack autonomously. That’s the part that worries me.

This is something that the United Nations will need to address, because we need rules ensuring that there is always a human in the loop. But for the robotics part, like the driving and obstacle avoidance, these are common challenges we're all trying to solve.

How are you using AI at ARX Robotics?

So, we're primarily focusing on how our robot operates. We provide a platform that can move around or drive in specific ways, and then whatever payload you attach determines its function. This is where the second degree of autonomy comes in. We take your applications and make them autonomous.

Our role in this becomes clear when people ask if we own the robots. The answer is no, for two reasons. First, the problem we are trying to solve is a lack of mass—building something very effective in large quantities. As soon as we touch anything related to defense technology and it becomes classified, it gets very expensive due to the need for extensive certifications, which essentially kills the use case. So, that’s not our goal.

The second reason is our commitment to duality. We want to use optimal components to keep it as simple as possible, which also prevents us from moving solely into defense. We aim to stay in that sweet spot where the applications can be similar, whether in defense or civilian uses. For instance, a medevac in civilian applications can correspond to a medical evacuation in the defense world, and a surveillance application for defense can also be used for border patrol or protecting critical infrastructure. That’s why we maintain this balance, and with our vision for the solution, we will not venture into arming our robots.

How did you meet the other founders?

I met Marc over dinner in late '22 in Munich. For me, it's crucial to work with people who possess two key skills: the intelligence to learn quickly and the drive to just go for it. Surrounding myself with such individuals is incredibly rewarding. I've always valued these traits when hiring. If there are additional hard skills, that's a bonus, but a team that is driven and capable of learning from their experiences without repeating mistakes is invaluable. This is what I found in Marc and Max, my co-founders.

I realized I could contribute by understanding their vision and assisting with business solutions. We then became very clear about our goals and defined the kind of driven individuals we wanted to recruit. We're focused on building a young, powerful team eager to make an impact, particularly in European tech services, driven by a clear purpose. It's about enjoying the journey, not just the outcome—preferring to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

What drives you?

For me and for my kids, it’s the idea that we could build something powerful enough to make life easier and safer, particularly in defense contexts. I’d love for our systems to help make NATO forces safer and to ideally contribute to preventing conflicts by deterring adversaries. On the civilian side, it would be incredibly fulfilling to see our products used by NGOs for rescues and protection. And personally, seeing our systems in use at airports, helping to reduce costs or increase productivity without adding headcount, would be the icing on the cake. But the primary drive is more about a sense of purpose. At the end of the day, it’s not about making your parents proud, but making your children proud—hopefully, we can build something that makes the world a little better for them.

Regarding the modular system, if you’re dealing with lots of different components that are already available on the market, does this make your robotics more sustainable?

The sustainability aspect is a bit tricky. We're talking about disposable robotic systems, which, to be honest, aren't the most sustainable. However, they are necessary for protecting larger systems, especially in defense use cases. For non-mission environments where the robots aren't single-use, we aim to build something robust and powered by clean, green energy, moving away from combustion engines. All our systems are designed to be battery-powered as a step towards sustainability. Even as a small company of 10 people, sustainability is something we keep in mind, even though it’s not our primary focus right now.

Coming from backgrounds like ASOS and Grover, I've always been conscious of our carbon footprint and have aimed to minimize it. Going forward, as we move into production, we plan to measure our CO2 emissions and work towards becoming as carbon neutral as possible. However, I want to avoid greenwashing—we’ll do the math and ensure our sustainability efforts are genuine and effective. You can always tweak the calculations to look favorable, but if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it properly. Our systems are modular, like a Swiss Army knife, reducing the need for multiple devices.

So yeah, post-funding round, we will focus on making the right moves into mass production, addressing everything that needs to be done on the product side, step by step. Another key focus is our go-to-market strategies. We are currently present in six European markets at various stages, but our goal is to expand to ideally all NATO markets within the next five years. We'll methodically unlock the commercial market, understanding that it typically follows the integrator, which in our case is the defense sector. However, the commercial sector will catch up, so we're ensuring we don't miss those opportunities. This includes the NGO market as well. So, advancing our go-to-market strategies and preparing for mass production are at the top of our list.

What about you outside of work? What gives you some balance?

My kids, who are six and twelve, are already quite curious—especially the twelve-year-old, they really understand what’s going on and ask pointed questions. They’d call you out if they found something amiss, so you really have to have everything in order.

Speaking of keeping things in order, I try to maintain balance through some unique habits, especially during the cold months here in Germany, which are about six months of the year. I start my mornings with ice baths, and, I practice a little bit of Jiu-Jitsu and other martial arts to stay active. I go surfing whenever I can. With two kids and a wife who's a doctor, our life is always on the go. But it's all manageable because I find these activities help maintain a balance that allows me to keep going for a long period. I strive to stay balanced between work, family, and personal health because I believe all these aspects interact to enhance each other. This holistic approach helps me handle life as a marathon, not a sprint.

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us!

Thank you.