Munich-based robotics ML pioneer aligns for growth with new management team
The robotics company Franka Emika is setting its course for growth with the appointment of Dr. Alwin Mahler as CEO. Franka Emika, as the first provider of RaaS (Robotics as a Service) based on an AI-powered collective machine learning platform will offer robotics services for broader use. With the digital business expert Mahler, the realization of the company's vision to provide industry with easily accessible robotics services to increase productivity is within reach - AI & Industry 4.0 can thus experience a similar ease of access and realization as meanwhile common platform models in the consumer sector. Also new at Franka Emika, is principal developer Dr. Patrick Pfaff, joining as Chief Technology Officer (CTO).
Alwin Mahler brings international digital management experience
Mahler, who holds a doctorate degree in business administration, has been successfully building businesses in Internet and in the platform arena for more than 25 years, including for Google in the USA. He worked at Google for more than ten years, most recently as Managing Director Global Partnerships in Europe. For his expertise in digital transformation of business and society, Alwin Mahler has also been appointed to supervisory boards, institutional and association boards.
“Alwin brings a lot of experience to Franka Emika with his expertise in digital platforms and scaling businesses,” says Supervisory Board member and founder Sami Haddadin. “With him, we will successfully advance and execute our strategy of a collaborative, machine-learning robotics platform.” Mahler and his team want to bring robotics to a wide range of applications, in industry and beyond, without programming knowledge and with minimal resources. He sees Franka Emika's approach of a certified CML robot platform with tactile intelligence as ideal for this: “Franka Emika is – based on significant product innovation – in an exciting phase of positively developing the way robotics are used for the benefit of industry and society, making them accessible to a broader base. Our strategy will transform not only us, but also our customers – beyond mere productivity gains. With machine learning and robotics services, we are opening new opportunities for customers to expand and secure their competitiveness, not to mention maintaining local production sites.”
Reputable robotics expert Patrick Pfaff comes on board
The leadership team is complemented by Patrick Pfaff who joined in April this year as the new CTO. Pfaff previously led global development teams for Mobile Robotics, Cobot Control, Programming Tools and IoT at KUKA. With many years of experience, Patrick Pfaff will bring Franka Emika significantly closer to its goal of becoming the global robotics platform champion from Munich: “With the launch of our new product scheduled for 2022 and the associated certification, we will reach an important milestone.”
Company majority remains unaffected
The majority of the shares will continue to be held by the founders. Sami Haddadin, the innovative mind behind the technology, and Simon Haddadin, who has managed the company to date, will accompany the successful realization of the Franka Emika’s vision by the new management team on the supervisory board.
About Franka Emika
Franka Emika is a Munich-based robotics company founded in 2016 by Sami Haddadin and his brother Simon together with a long-standing team of experts. Since its founding, the company is growing continuously and has reached 160 employees. Franka Emika’s revolutionary tactile robot, which was recognized as one of Germany’s most important inventions over the last 140 years, is known to be agile, safe and sensitive like a human arm. Franka Emika produces its robots in Germany and offers unique intelligent software which is easy-to-use thanks to its intuitive robot app framework. The online platform Franka World interconnects customers, partners, developers and robots. It provides centralized and remote management of Franka Emika robots, and access to a growing ecosystem of accredited software and hardware.