Deep Blue Ventures (DBV), the venture capital fund specializing in Deep Tech technologies and managed by Deep Ocean Capital SGR SpA, announced a strategic investment in Fluid Wire Robotics, an innovative start-up engaged in the development of advanced robotic arms for extreme environments, including radioactive zones, explosive atmospheres, underwater spaces and the space vacuum.
The investment round
This investment represents the second phase of a total €1.2 million financing round led by lead investor RoboIT, and Polo Nazionale di Trasferimento Tecnologico per la Robotica e l'Automazione Industriale (the Italian National Technology Transfer Pole for Robotics and Industrial Automation), which was established at the initiative of CDP Venture Capital, with the participation of Scientifica Venture Capital and Pariter Robotics.
Deep Blue Ventures' entry, which concludes the round, further reinforces the start-up's growth strategy aimed at validating the technology in real-world settings, refining its robotic solutions, and expanding its presence in key markets, including the nuclear, space, and underwater sectors. Since July 2024, Fluid Wire Robotics has been incubated in I3P, the Incubator of Politecnico di Torino, and is part of the ESA BIC Turin program, managed by I3P in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the European Space Agency (ESA), Politecnico di Torino and LINKS Foundation.
For Deep Blue Ventures, Fluid Wire Robotics represents the sixth investment since its debut in May 2023. The fund, which was established to support startups, spin-offs, and innovation initiatives more generally in the aerospace, healthcare, and sustainability sectors, expects to close four more deals by the first half of 2025.
The start-up's project
Founded as a spin-off of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, Italy, Fluid Wire Robotics is a virtuous example of technology transfer between university and industry. The start-up, thanks to its proprietary transmission technology called “Fluid Wire”, develops modular electric robotic arms capable of facing the challenges of the most extreme environments existing in the world, such as radioactive zones, space, underwater environments and explosive atmospheres.
It is estimated that the global robotics market, with revenues of about €42.2 billion in 2022, could reach €95.5 billion by 2028, with a CAGR of 38.8 percent between 2022 and 2025 and 5.8 percent between 2026 and 2028. Fluid Wire Robotics is strategically positioned in this context, offering solutions capable of addressing the most critical challenges of advanced robotics.
In fact, the start-up's mission is to set a new standard in robotics for extreme environments by combining performance, reliability, and versatility. Adapting traditional robots to extreme environments involves significant design complexities and high costs, as it requires ad-hoc solutions for each context, limiting their versatility. To address these challenges, Fluid Wire Robotics has designed a modular, electrically powered manipulator arm capable of operating in any extreme condition.
A unique technology
Fluid Wire Robotics' proprietary technology redefines reliability standards by eliminating the risks associated with the presence of sensitive components, such as motors and sensors, inside the robotic arm. These elements, traditionally incompatible with hostile environments, are placed in an external unit and thus protected from aggressive environmental conditions. The innovative design of the robotic arm allows for an “empty” structure, free of elements that are prone to overheating, radiation or can cause explosions, ensuring unprecedented reliability. Power transmission from the box to the arm is via a proprietary hydrostatic system, the “Fluid Wires,” which enables very high performance in terms of dexterity and accuracy of control of the forces exchanged with the surrounding environment.
“Fluid Wire Robotics represents a concrete answer to the most complex challenges of advanced robotics, with a unique technology that combines reliability, modularity and safety in extreme environments, capable of enabling sustainable and high-performance solutions in critical contexts such as nuclear, space and underwater operations. This project demonstrates how Italian ingenuity, supported by targeted partnerships, can establish itself as a leader in global automation and help redefine the future of robotics in sectors that are key to the country's economic and technological growth,” said Paolo Cellini, Key Man Investment Manager and Member of Board of Deep Ocean Capital SGR.
“We are thrilled to welcome Deep Blue Ventures among our investors, whose contribution brings our investment round to reach a total value of €1.2 million,” commented Marco Bolignari, Co-Founder & CEO of Fluid Wire Robotics. “Our fundraising goal was thus successfully reached and we are happy that the group of investors who believed in Fluid Wire Robotics has further expanded. Our innovation journey thus finds further impetus in this second investment phase, leading us to implement an even more ambitious and extensive technology development plan.”
