Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Julian Hoffmann: Aiina Robotics helps construction companies increase productivity on construction sites and address labor shortages. We develop intelligent, modular robots with advanced safety features that enable our technological solution to navigate complex, changing environments.
Our first use case is the toughest job on the construction site: high-pressure water jetting for concrete repair. This is necessary to renew old concrete that's starting to crack. It's an extremely tough job that can only be done for half an hour at a time, after which you need a break of just as long. During this work, we shoot water from a lance at supersonic speed and 3,000 bar pressure onto the concrete. It's better to let a robot do this, as soon as they can take over!
New type of safety technology for working with robots
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Julian Hoffmann: We differentiate ourselves from the competition with a revolutionary safety technology developed at the Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Real-Time Systems at the Technical University of Munich. With this spin-off from our chair, we enable our robots to work safely alongside humans. Furthermore, our software-based approach enables the automating of complex surfaces such as corners, edges, and columns for the first time, thus making us a pioneer in technological work.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Julian Hoffmann: The founding began with my bachelor's thesis, which I wrote under our professor, Matthias Althoff, who was supporting us during the spin-off. I immediately brought my co-founder, Claus Carste, on board and, while completing our master's degrees in robotics and AI at TUM, completed the team with Lena Pätzmann and Nicola Kolb. From the very beginning, the topic was very closely aligned with industry, where we looked for existing problems. The team simply clicked from the start: It was clear who would take on which tasks and where their strengths lay. We quickly realized that we wanted to tackle this challenge together.
Aiina: From Bachelor's thesis to robotics startup
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Julian Hoffmann: Our greatest challenge is—and will continue to be—building a technically robust product that can cope with the conditions on the construction site and function reliably. To achieve this, we need to test, test, test. That requires a lot of patience.
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
Julian Hoffmann: In one year, we want to have a functioning product on the construction site that significantly simplifies our customers' lives. In five years, we want to have expanded our vision of autonomous robots on the construction site to the point where our modular system can support a large part of the building renovation process, allowing us to restore our urgently needed infrastructure in Germany more quickly.
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Julian Hoffmann: I cannot imagine a better location – from the research-intensive environment of the TUM, from which we spin off, about the TUM Venture Labs up to UnternehmerTUM The support is felt everywhere. It's great to be surrounded by people who are passionate about starting a business, who are eager to get involved and achieve something.
Munich Startup: Quick exit or long breath?
Julian Hoffmann: "Hardware is hard" – we have staying power and believe that patience pays off. We want to build a sustainable, stable company that drives real change in a still-unautomated industry. This can't happen overnight, but we feel well prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.
