OnRobot
Danish maker of grippers and end-of-arm tooling for industrial and collaborative robots.
On the record
Checkpoint: Next financing or ownership announcement following the March 2026 insider recapitalization
The call
OnRobot sells tooling through the same arm-makers now building that tooling in-house, while its own balance sheet is running on insider cash and expensive debt.
OnRobot sells grippers and other end-of-arm tools that attach to industrial robots made by companies like Universal Robots and FANUC. The company is not hard to copy because the robot makers themselves are now building these tools directly into their own robots and software, and OnRobot is losing a lot of money (€16.7 million in losses in 2023) while barely making profit on each product sold. The one thing that could save the company is a real funding deal or being bought by a larger manufacturer before spring or summer 2026, when the company may run out of cash.
Why
01
AI pressure: Vision-guided grasping AI built into robot arms (FANUC's Cobot and Go, UR's OneRobotics). Arm-makers are folding grasping and vision AI directly into their own controllers, cutting out third-party tooling like OnRobot's. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Universal Robots (Teradyne), FANUC, ABB, KUKA. UR+ and FANUC's first-party tooling programs already sell grippers and vision kits through the same arm-maker channel OnRobot relies on. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. 700+ distribution and integration partners across 80+ countries, built over a decade, still gives reach smaller rivals lack.
What would change this call
OnRobot announces a clean recapitalization or strategic buyer by mid-2026. Would show the March 2026 insider stake was a bridge to stability, not a prelude to insolvency.
FY2024/2025 financials show gross margin recovering above FY2023's near-zero level. Would show the €326K gross profit was a one-off, not a structural collapse in unit economics.
Universal Robots or FANUC expand first-party gripper/vision tooling bundled into their arms. Would confirm arm-makers are absorbing OnRobot's core tooling niche into their own platforms.
FY2024/2025 financials show gross margin recovering above FY2023's near-zero level. Would show the €326K gross profit was a one-off, not a structural collapse in unit economics.
Universal Robots or FANUC expand first-party gripper/vision tooling bundled into their arms. Would confirm arm-makers are absorbing OnRobot's core tooling niche into their own platforms.
Key numbers
- FY2023 gross profit €326K against €16.7M net loss
- Cumulative losses ~DKK 1.15bn, 30% interest on debt
- Sells through 700+ partners in 80+ countries
Named risks
- Cumulative losses of DKK 1.15bn and 30% interest debt threaten solvency.
- Six years of headcount decline (171 to 92) with no funding in 67 months as of June 2026.
- Arm-makers (UR+, FANUC Cobot and Go) building first-party tooling/deployment software erodes channel moat.
- Chinese low-cost cobot and gripper makers squeezing mid-market pricing.
- Limited public financial transparency; third-party revenue estimates conflict with reported near-zero gross profit.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Universal Robots (Teradyne, UR+ ecosystem) | gaining on | UR+ ecosystem both distributes and competes with third-party tooling; est. 15-60% cobot market share, 2026 |
| FANUC | gaining on | Shipped 'Cobot and Go' automated deployment feature, April 2025, absorbing EoAT deployment value |
| Robotiq | contesting | Direct gripper/sensor rival tied closely to UR+ ecosystem, per 2025-03-21 comparison |
| Chinese cobot makers (Dobot, AUBO, JAKA) | gaining on | Gaining share on price competition per 2026 market trackers |
| OneRobotics (China) | gaining on | Embodied-AI grasping platform grew revenue 47.7% in 2025, bypassing third-party tooling |
Questions people ask
- Is OnRobot profitable in 2026?
- No. OnRobot's FY2023 financials show gross profit of only €326K against a net loss of roughly €16.7M and negative EBIT of about €14.5M, per Craft.co. Combined with reported cumulative losses of DKK 1.15bn and 30% interest debt as of June 2026, the company remains deeply unprofitable.
- Is OnRobot in financial trouble?
- Yes. Danish press indexed by CB Insights on 2026-06-12 reported OnRobot has lost roughly DKK 1.15bn cumulatively and pays 30% interest on its debt, prompting a March 2026 insider recapitalization led by CEO Enrico Krog Iversen and undisclosed angel investors.
- Who owns OnRobot now?
- As of March 2026, CEO and founder-investor Enrico Krog Iversen, along with undisclosed angel investors, acquired a majority stake in OnRobot, per CB Insights' 'Corporate Majority | Acquired' company-stage tag dated 2026-03-05, reportedly tied to the company's financial distress.
- Is it safe to take a job at OnRobot?
- Headcount has shrunk from 171 employees in November 2020 to 92 by June 2026, a steady multi-year decline, and Crustdata assigned the company a Growth Score of 0/100 in June 2026 citing falling headcount, falling traffic, and no funding raised in 67 months.
- Could AI replace OnRobot's products?
- AI-driven deployment tools are absorbing OnRobot's core value proposition: FANUC shipped its own 'Cobot and Go' automated deployment feature in April 2025, and China's OneRobotics grew embodied-AI platform revenue 47.7% in 2025, both building grasping and deployment intelligence directly into robot platforms rather than buying third-party tooling.
- Who is OnRobot's biggest competitor?
- Universal Robots' UR+ ecosystem and Canada's Robotiq are OnRobot's closest gripper/tooling rivals, while arm-makers FANUC, ABB, and KUKA increasingly build first-party tooling and deployment software in-house, per 2026 market trackers, squeezing OnRobot's distributor-based moat.
Timeline
- 2026-06-20Headcount at 92 employees, down from 171 in 2020; Crustdata Growth Score 0/100
- 2026-06-12Danish press (indexed via CB Insights) reports DKK 1.15bn cumulative losses, 30% debt interest
- 2026-03-05Enrico Krog Iversen and angel investors acquire majority stake in OnRobot
- 2026-01OnRobot hosts Dallas 'Automation Roadmap' event with live FANUC robot demos
- 2025-05Automate 2025: D:Ploy platform highlighted; Doig Corporation launches palletizing offering on it
- 2025-04FANUC ships 'Cobot and Go' automated deployment feature, encroaching on OnRobot's niche
- 2024-04OnRobot launches 2FG14 and 3FG25 grippers, 3FG25 supports 25kg payload
- 2024-03OnRobot launches 2FGP20 electric gripper and Lift100 robot elevator
- 2023-10OnRobot launches D:PLOY automated cobot application deployment platform
- 2022-10-04Last disclosed financing: unattributed VC round of roughly $5.9M
Revision history
24 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Enrico Krog Iversen Reveals New EoAT Venture (2018-06-11)
- Where is OnRobot Located? HQ, Global Offices & Company Insights (2024-03-04)
- OnRobot 2026 Company Profile: Valuation, Funding & Investors
- Growth Equity Investments from Summit Partners (2018-08-29)
- OnRobot Stock Price, Funding, Valuation, Revenue & Financial Statements (2022-10-04)
- Enrico Krog Iversen Portfolio Investments (2026-03-04)
- Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations (2026-06-12)
- On Robot Company Profile
- Revenue, Competitors, Alternatives (2022-04-20)
- About us
- ONROBOT A/S
- OnRobot - Headcount, Funding & Open Jobs (2026-06-20)