Norway- and US-based Trener Robotics (formerly T-ROBOTICS) has secured €26 million ($32 million) in a Series A round to accelerate development of its AI-powered robot skills platform for manufacturing.
The round was co-led by Engine Ventures and IAG Capital Partners, with participation from Cadence and Geodesic Capital through Nikon’s NFocus Fund. Additional investors include Shanda Ventures, Emergent Ventures, Fitz Gate Ventures, Techable VC, Radius Capital Ventures, and Raisewell Ventures.
Following its earlier Seed round, Trener Robotics has now raised more than €31 million ($38 million) in total funding.
The new capital will be used to expand R&D at its T-Labs, grow its skill training library, recruit global talent, and strengthen its market presence and partner ecosystem.
Replacing Procedural Programming With Physical AI
Founded in 2024 by CEO Dr. Asad Tirmizi and CTO Dr. Lars Tingelstad, Trener Robotics is building what it describes as an intelligence layer for industrial robots.
Dr. Tirmizi previously worked on robotics and haptics initiatives at companies including Vicarious, Google and ByteDance, while Dr. Tingelstad served as Associate Professor of Robotic Production at NTNU.
At the core of the company’s offering is Acteris, a software platform that enables robots to interpret natural language instructions and convert them into executable automation tasks. Rather than relying on traditional procedural coding, Acteris allows operators to describe tasks in plain language. The system then combines vision, language and motion capabilities to execute them.
Designed for unstructured production environments, the platform adapts in real time to variable parts, shifting conditions and high-mix manufacturing requirements.
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Growing Adoption Across Europe And The US
Headquartered in San Francisco and Trondheim, Trener Robotics brings together talent from companies including Universal Robots, ABB, Vicarious, Google, KUKA, Autodesk and TikTok.
In 2025, the company partnered with more than 15 solution and integration providers across Europe and the United States. It also integrated major robot brands such as ABB, Universal Robots and FANUC into the Acteris platform.
The company operates in a fast-growing market. Flexible and adaptable automation is expanding at an estimated 14.3% CAGR, driven by labor shortages, increasing demand for high-mix production and rising operational costs that are pushing manufacturers toward automation solutions with faster ROI.
According to CEO Dr. Asad Tirmizi, industrial robotics has historically been limited to repetitive, single-purpose tasks due to programming complexity. By replacing procedural programming with a scalable skills-based control system, Trener Robotics aims to transform robots into adaptable, intelligent collaborators on the factory floor.
Positioned Within A Broader Industrial AI Surge
The Series A comes amid sustained investment across Europe’s robotics and industrial AI sector, as manufacturers seek adaptive automation platforms and intelligent control systems.
With this €26 million round, Trener Robotics positions Acteris as a scalable intelligence layer for industrial robots, targeting manufacturers of all sizes looking to deploy flexible AI-driven automation beyond traditional, fixed-function applications such as CNC machine tending.
About Trener Robotics
Founded in 2024, Trener Robotics (formerly T-ROBOTICS) develops a Physical AI platform that enhances industrial robots with adaptable intelligence. Its software, Acteris, enables robots to learn, adapt and execute complex tasks using natural language instructions, vision and motion. Headquartered in Norway and the United States, the company focuses on delivering flexible, AI-powered automation for modern manufacturing environments.
