ANYbotics opens a Barcelona engineering hub as the Swiss inspection-robot maker builds out AI talent for its ANYmal fleet
Zurich-based ANYbotics said on June 16, 2026 it had opened an office at the DFactory Barcelona Industry 4.0 campus to expand engineering in computer vision, machine learning, software, mechatronics and DevOps. The site becomes its third hub after Zurich and San Francisco, following a Yokogawa software partnership in February and the hiring of a chief revenue officer in March.
ANYbotics, the Swiss maker of the ANYmal four-legged inspection robot, has opened its third hub. The company said on June 16, 2026 that it had established an office in Barcelona, on the DFactory Barcelona Industry 4.0 campus, to expand its engineering presence in Europe.
The new team will work on computer vision, machine learning, backend and frontend software, mechatronics and DevOps, according to the announcement. Barcelona joins Zurich and San Francisco in a three-hub structure that ANYbotics said supports customers in Europe, North America and Asia. The company did not disclose a headcount target or investment amount for the site.
What the executives said
Chief executive Péter Fankhauser said Barcelona gives ANYbotics access to exceptional engineering talent in a city that has developed into a hub for robotics. Chief technology officer Andrea Corda said the city offers people who solve hard problems in computer vision, machine learning and software systems. Pere Navarro, executive president of the Consorci de la Zona Franca, which runs the DFactory campus, said ANYbotics' technology represents an advance in operational safety and data management.
A spring of commercial moves
The office caps a run of announcements. On February 10, 2026 ANYbotics and Japan's Yokogawa said they would integrate Yokogawa's OpreX Robot Management Core software with the ANYmal software stack, including the explosion-proof ANYmal X, for oil and gas, power and metals customers. Fankhauser said at the time the deal supported expansion into energy markets in Asia and the Middle East. In February the company also announced ISO 27001 certification for information security, and on March 22 it appointed Thierry Obédé, a former senior commercial executive at Hexagon, Siemens Digital Industries Software and GE Digital, as chief revenue officer.
Funding and customers
ANYbotics raised a $50 million Series B in May 2023 and an additional $60 million in December 2024 led by Qualcomm Ventures and Supernova Invest, with TDK Ventures, Walden Catalyst, NGP Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Swisscanto and Swisscom Ventures participating. At that point it put total funding above $130 million, and by February 2026 it cited more than $150 million. Climate Investment announced a strategic investment in September 2025 focused on oil and gas inspection. The company has named BP, Equinor, Petrobras, Novelis and Outokumpu as customers and says it employs more than 200 people.
- 2020-12-03
- Series A
- No data
- No data
- ANYbotics
- 2023-05-16
- Series B
- 50,000,000
- No data
- ANYbotics
- 2024-12-12
- Additional funding
- 60,000,000
- Qualcomm Ventures, Supernova Invest
- ANYbotics
- 2025-09-19
- Strategic
- No data
- Climate Investment
- Climate Investment
- 2026-02-10
- Cumulative to date
- 150,000,000
- No data
- ANYbotics and Yokogawa release (more than)
Amounts as disclosed; cumulative figure is a floor stated as more than $150 million. Null means not disclosed. No estimates.
As of Oct 1, 2026
What the robot does
ANYmal walks through industrial plants on four legs, climbing stairs and crossing grating where wheeled robots struggle. It carries cameras, thermal sensors, acoustic sensors and gas detectors to read gauges, spot leaks and detect overheating, replacing routine rounds that human operators walk in hazardous areas. The value lies increasingly in software: the perception models that interpret readings, and the fleet software that schedules missions and feeds data into plant systems such as Yokogawa's. The Barcelona focus on vision, machine learning and DevOps reflects that shift.
Competitive context
ANYbotics competes in legged inspection with Boston Dynamics, whose Spot robot is used in similar industrial settings, and with lower-cost Chinese quadrupeds from makers such as Unitree. US-based Gecko Robotics also competes for industrial inspection budgets. ANYbotics differentiates with explosion-proof certification and deep integration into the process industries.
Risks and open questions
The announcement gives no headcount, investment or timeline for Barcelona. ANYbotics has not disclosed revenue or fleet size, which makes it hard to judge how quickly inspection robots are moving from pilots to routine operations. Competition from cheaper quadrupeds could pressure prices for non-hazardous applications.
What to watch
Named deployments of the Yokogawa integration, the first results of the new commercial organisation under Obédé, and any new funding round to support three hubs are the next markers.
ROBOTNESS analysis
ANYbotics is becoming a software and data company that happens to build legs, and Barcelona is where it intends to hire for that.
The evidence is the job mix. The new office targets vision, machine learning and DevOps rather than manufacturing, while the Yokogawa deal plugs ANYmal into plant software and a chief revenue officer with SaaS experience now runs sales. Each step points toward recurring revenue from inspection data.
The strongest counter-argument is that the process industries buy slowly, and that cheaper quadrupeds could commoditise the hardware before ANYbotics' software revenue matures. Opening a third hub also adds fixed cost without disclosed revenue to support it.
Bull case. Explosion-proof certification and integrations with plant software vendors make ANYmal the default robot for hazardous inspection, and Barcelona provides lower-cost engineering than Zurich to scale software.
Bear case. Pilots fail to turn into large fleets, energy-sector budgets tighten, and the company needs new funding on weaker terms to sustain three hubs.
Signals to watch.
- Second half of 2026: named customer deployments using Yokogawa OpreX Robot Management Core with ANYmal.
- 2026: hiring scale at the Barcelona DFactory site.
- Next funding announcement and whether it discloses revenue or fleet size.
- Zurich, San Francisco, Barcelona
- Computer vision, machine learning, software, mechatronics, DevOps
- Thierry Obédé, March 22, 2026
- DFactory Barcelona Industry 4.0 campus
- June 16, 2026
- More than 200 (company)
- More than $150 million (company, February 2026)
- February 10, 2026
Why it matters
Inspection is one of the few robotics segments where legged robots already earn money in daily operations. ANYbotics' expansion shows where Europe's leading player sees the bottleneck: software and AI talent rather than hardware.
The move also signals Spain's emergence as a cost-effective engineering base for Swiss and German robotics companies.
Rival analysis
Boston Dynamics' Spot competes directly in industrial inspection, backed by Hyundai. Chinese quadrupeds compete on price in non-hazardous settings. Gecko Robotics competes for the same inspection budgets.
ANYbotics' explosion-proof ANYmal X is its clearest moat, since certification for hazardous zones is slow and expensive to replicate.
Valuation context
ANYbotics has disclosed round sizes but no valuation. Disclosed amounts are $50 million in May 2023 and $60 million in December 2024, and the company cites more than $150 million raised in total by February 2026.
Without revenue disclosure, the market cannot benchmark the company against listed inspection or automation peers.
Supply-chain implications
Yokogawa provides plant software and a global sales network across 62 countries, according to the February release. That partnership turns a control-system vendor into a channel for ANYmal.
Qualcomm Ventures and TDK Ventures, both investors, link the company to compute and sensor suppliers.
Signals to watch
Named customer rollouts with Yokogawa software in Asia and the Middle East are the first signal.
The second is whether the commercial reorganisation under Obédé yields multi-site fleet contracts rather than single-robot pilots.
Analyst view
Thesis: ANYbotics is repositioning as an inspection data company, and its new hub supports that shift. Confidence: medium. The expansion, partnership and hires are confirmed on company pages, but revenue, fleet size and Barcelona headcount are not disclosed.
We would raise confidence with disclosed recurring revenue or a multi-site fleet contract.
Questions you should be asking
How many engineers will Barcelona employ, and by when?
What share of ANYbotics' revenue is software and services, and how many ANYmal robots are in routine operation?