byte robotics revolutionizes robot programming: €1.3 million for AI-supported automation solution

Magdeburg, June 2, 2025 – The deep tech startup byte robotics has raised €1.3 million in equity capital in a seed financing round. The investor is bmp Ventures with the IBG funds. The Magdeburg-based company intends to use the financing to enter the market.

Emerging from the EXIST research transfer program at the University of Magdeburg, the spin-off’s innovative strength has already been recognized with two awards in 2025: byte robotics won both the Start-up Award+ and the Focus Award for “Innovative AI” in the BMWK’s “Start-up Competition – Digital Innovations.”
The start-up is developing a breakthrough technology for the automated generation of cycle time-optimized, collision-free industrial robot programs.

Robot programming: The underestimated cost driver

The problem is costly: over the lifetime of an industrial robot system, the greatest costs are incurred for programming and retrofitting. These expenses often exceed the original value of the system many times over. As a result, the flexible use of industrial robots remains time-consuming and costly—a stumbling block for urgently needed productivity gains.
byte robotics now provides the solution:
The founding team led by CEO Erik May and CTO Julian-Benedikt Scholle has its roots in research projects at the University of Magdeburg.
“We started out as a university research project called VIP+ AuRora and took on the challenges of robot programming because we were convinced that there had to be better solutions,” says co-founder Nadia Schillreff.

Innovation with proven efficiency

The software solution from byte robotics expands existing robot programming environments with a plugin that generates cycle time-optimized, collision-free robot programs in just a few minutes.
Seamless integration means that the familiar workflow remains unchanged, while programming effort is significantly reduced – to the point where manual tasks are completely eliminated.
“Our solution is primarily aimed at companies that suffer from the high costs, time expenditure, and inefficiency of traditional robot programming—whether in large production lines or smaller production lines,” explains CEO Erik May.

Technology for the future of automation

byte robotics combines analytical mathematics, algorithms, and AI to create a hybrid technology that automates assembly, disassembly, and welding applications in particular.
Existing processes—whether traditional methods or pure AI approaches—often reach their limits when it comes to real-world industrial requirements.
“We are at a turning point where technology and industrial requirements are coming together to redefine the way robot programming works,” says CTO Julian-Benedikt Scholle.

Strategic partnership for rapid growth

Dr. Jan Alberti, Managing Partner at bmp Ventures, is convinced:
“With increasing automation in industry, the demand for user-friendly programming solutions is growing. The programming environments of industrial robots are highly fragmented and complex to use. The plugin from byte robotics enables a new type of automated, high-quality code generation across all manufacturers.”
With the fresh capital, the startup plans to build its team, establish partnerships with robot manufacturers, system integrators, and industry partners, and make its technology available to the broader market.

Outlook: Productive automation for everyone

“Our mission is to enable manufacturing companies to use industrial robots as flexibly as possible through automated programming. The support of bmp Ventures with the IBG funds brings us a big step closer to this goal,” says CEO Erik May.
“We are only at the beginning of a disruptive change in industrial automation.”

About byte robotics
byte robotics was developed by a team of five founders from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. The start-up was funded by the BMWK’s EXIST research transfer program and received two awards at the 2025 “Start-up Competition – Digital Innovations.”
byte robotics technology enables the automatic creation of cycle time-optimized, collision-free robot programs. It can be integrated into existing programming environments or linked directly to systems. This allows familiar workflows to be maintained – with significantly reduced effort, higher productivity, and lower costs

About bmp Ventures
bmp Ventures is one of the most experienced venture capital investors in Germany and has more than 250 investments in almost all technology segments, with the majority in the early stages. In addition to direct investments, bmp has also managed venture capital funds for the KfW banking group and DEG – Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft. bmp currently manages the IBG fund in Saxony-Anhalt and employs around 20 members of staff at its offices in Berlin and Magdeburg.

About the IBG funds
The IBG funds, based in Magdeburg, are the venture capital funds of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. They support young, innovative technology companies with above-average growth potential and headquarters in Saxony-Anhalt through venture capital. At the end of 2023, the new venture capital fund RKF IV was launched with a volume of €63 million. This is financed from funds of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the European Union and invests in start-ups in the seed, early stage and growth phases. The IBG funds are managed by bmp Ventures AG.

Press contact

byte robotics GmbH
Leona Grulich
CMO
leona.grulich@byte-robotics.com

bmp Ventures AG
Josephine Gantze
Marketing und Events
Phone: +49 391 5328 140
jgantze@bmp.com