ANYbotics opens Barcelona AI hub to boost robotics

ANYbotics has opened a new engineering and AI hub in Barcelona, the Swiss robotics company's third global office.

Based at the DFactory Barcelona campus, the office joins ANYbotics' existing locations in Zurich and San Francisco. The new base is intended to expand engineering capacity as demand rises for its inspection robots in industrial markets.

ANYbotics develops autonomous robots for inspection work in sectors including oil and gas, chemicals, utilities and materials. As customers move from pilot projects to wider deployments, the company is increasing its international footprint and technical headcount.

The Barcelona team will work across computer vision, machine learning, backend and frontend software engineering, mechatronics and DevOps. As the site grows, ANYbotics also plans to add supply chain and commercial roles.

That gives the new office a central role in product development rather than positioning it solely as a sales outpost. It also places the company at one of Europe's better-known industrial innovation campuses, where robotics and manufacturing groups share facilities and research links.

"We are building a global company to match a global opportunity," said Dr. Péter Fankhauser, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ANYbotics.

On the choice of city, he added: "Barcelona gives us access to exceptional engineering talent in a city that is quickly becoming a key hub for robotics and industrial engineering talent."

Growth push

The expansion comes as industrial groups seek more automated ways to carry out routine checks at sites that can be hazardous, remote or labour intensive. Inspection robots are increasingly used to collect operational data, reduce the need for manual rounds and support maintenance planning.

ANYbotics is part of a growing field of robotics companies targeting those use cases. Its quadruped robot, ANYmal, is designed to move through industrial environments and gather data during inspections, with customers in energy, power, metals, mining and chemicals.

ANYbotics has raised more than USD $150 million from European and Silicon Valley investors and employs about 200 experts. Founded in 2016, it has built its business around autonomous inspection work rather than general-purpose robotics.

Barcelona's remit will focus on technical work tied directly to the robot platform and the software around it. That includes perception systems, learning models, and software layers used to manage robot operations and data handling.

Andrea Corda, Chief Technology Officer of ANYbotics, said: "The Barcelona team will work on computer vision, machine learning, and core software systems that directly shape what our robots can do."

He also linked the move to the company's location within DFactory: "These are hard problems, and our location at the DFactory Barcelona campus puts us at the heart of an Industry 4.0 ecosystem, giving us access to the kind of people, research groups and companies who are solving them."

Local backing

DFactory Barcelona is backed by Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, which has sought to build the campus as a centre for advanced industry. According to the organisation's leadership, the arrival of ANYbotics adds another robotics tenant to that mix.

"The addition of ANYbotics to the DFactory Barcelona ecosystem reinforces our commitment to a safer, smarter and more efficient industry. Its autonomous mobile robotics technology, applied to industrial inspection in complex environments, represents a clear advancement in operational safety and data management," said Pere Navarro, Executive President of Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona.

Blanca Sorigué, Chief Executive Officer of Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona, said: "ANYbotics' installation at DFactory reaffirms the value of our Industry 4.0 ecosystem, which is specialized and focused on applied innovation. Here, talent, partners and infrastructure come together to enable the creation of high-level engineering teams and accelerate R&D in real-world environments. Their addition strengthens collaboration with the existing industrial and robotics ecosystem and consolidates DFactory as a space where technology is transformed into industrial impact."

The new hub highlights how robotics companies are spreading engineering teams across multiple markets as they move from research-led development to larger commercial deployments. For ANYbotics, Barcelona is set to become a key base for the software and AI work behind its industrial inspection robots.