Investments
REInvest sits inside the Odense robotics ecosystem as operators, founders, board members and investors. We invest selectively in robotics companies, and we welcome conversations with investors interested in co-investment and in the sector itself.
Why REInvest
We are a small firm, not a fund with a mandate to deploy. What we bring to a robotics investment is engineering judgement, commercial scar tissue and a position inside the cluster where a lot of European robotics is built.
We have built robotics products and sold them. When we look at a company we ask engineering questions about the hard parts, and commercial questions about who actually signs the purchase order. Financial analysis alone rarely settles either.
We are based in the Odense robotics cluster, more than 150 companies and some 8,400 people working with robotics, drones and automation. We know the founders, the suppliers, the integrators and the test facilities, because they are our neighbours.
We take a board seat and use it. We contribute direction, network, governance and experience. The founders remain responsible for running their companies, and we have no interest in changing that.
Esben Hallundbæk Østergaard co-founded Universal Robots in 2005 and was its CTO. He was later an investor in Mobile Industrial Robots rather than a founder. Both companies were acquired by Teradyne, in 2015 and 2018. We keep the distinction between founding and investing because it is the difference between two very different kinds of experience, and we bring both.
We do not run a fund, offer allocation or promise access to deals or returns. Co-investment conversations are exactly that: conversations.
Current portfolio
Seven robotics companies working across the sea floor, the field, the factory, the waste stream and the utility network under the street, plus a board position at ROEQ.
Artificial intelligence that scans and analyses waste streams in real time, so materials can be sorted and recovered instead of lost. A spinout from the University of Southern Denmark, founded in 2021 by Sina Pour Soltani and Christian Eberhardt. Esben and Richa were among its first investors.
SDG 12 · Responsible consumption
Underwater inspection robots that use photogrammetry to build detailed digital models of ship hulls and marine structures, replacing slow and hazardous manual dive inspections with data anyone can review from shore.
SDG 14 · Life below water
An autonomous, solar-powered field robot that both sows and weeds. Because it records the exact position of every seed it plants, it can weed mechanically instead of chemically. CO2-neutral in operation, suited to organic farming, and light enough not to damage the soil's microstructure.
SDG 2 · Zero hunger
Robots for the maintenance and repair of underground utility infrastructure, so the work can be done without excavating the ground above it or sending people down into it.
Utility infrastructure
Robotics technology for healthcare, industry and defence.
In development
Smart screwdriving solutions for collaborative robots, turning one of the most repetitive tasks in assembly into a plug-and-play robot application.
Industrial automation
Real-time tracking and monitoring of production. Trendlog makes what actually happens on the shop floor visible, so manufacturers can raise efficiency and reduce waste and energy use with evidence rather than guesswork.
SDG 12 · Responsible production
Standard equipment for autonomous mobile robots: carts, lifters, rollers and docking stations that turn an AMR from a platform that moves into a complete workflow. Founded in 2017. Esben Hallundbæk Østergaard serves on the board.
Mobile Robotic Equipment
Company details and stage information are maintained by the companies themselves.
History
Both predate REInvest Robotics as a firm. The relationship to each is different, and we set it out plainly.
Co-founded by Esben Hallundbæk Østergaard in 2005, who served as CTO. Universal Robots created the collaborative robot category: lightweight, programmable arms that work safely next to people. Acquired by Teradyne in 2015.
Co-founded · Acquired by Teradyne, 2015
An investment, not a founding. Esben Hallundbæk Østergaard was an investor in MiR, which built autonomous mobile robots that move materials through factories, warehouses and hospitals without fixed infrastructure. Acquired by Teradyne in 2018.
Backed as an investor · Acquired by Teradyne, 2018
Philosophy
Early-stage robotics companies with viable technology and a clear target market, run by founders who know whose problem they are solving.
For founders
No portal, no forms, no ten-step funnel. A short email is enough to start, and it should stand on its own without a deck attached.
If it fits, we will come back to arrange a first call, then look properly at the technology and the market, usually with a visit. If we invest, we take a board seat and commit for the long haul, alongside co-investors where that strengthens the company.
Subject line: Investment Enquiry. Please allow a few days for a reply.
For investors
If you invest in robotics, or want to understand the Odense ecosystem better before you do, write to us. Tell us who you are, what interests you about robotics and what kind of conversation you are looking for.
Subject line: Co-investment Enquiry. Please allow a few days for a reply.