While factories are closing across Europe and tens of thousands of jobs are being cut, China is building highly automated “dark factories”. These are plants so heavily automated that they no longer need lighting and can operate with almost no human intervention. European production lines are based on historically grown control systems from various manufacturers that are barely understood holistically anymore. The difference lies less in hardware than in software.
And that’s exactly where Linexa comes in: Instead of looking at classical data sources like sensors or ERP systems, the startup analyzes control code directly at the machine level and converts it into a unified data model. This approach enables, for the first time, a complete, cross-system understanding of complex production facilities.
Funding round with prominent industry investors
The pre-seed round is led by Project A. Angel investors include Thomas Böck (CEO Festo), Bastian Nominacher (co-founder Celonis) and Christian Schlögel (former CTO/CDO Kuka & Körber). The fresh capital will primarily flow into expanding the platform and building out the team.
Florian Heinemann, general partner at Project A, describes the investment as follows:
“European manufacturing is our economic foundation. With Linexa, shop floor modernization happens fast enough to keep pace with global competition.”
Why traditional digitalization solutions often fail
Many existing solutions focus on business processes (ERP, MES) or sensor data. This means individual machines and partial processes are observed rather than capturing the actual logic of production.
Linexa shows there’s another way. The startup analyzes control logic directly at the machine level, standardizes data across manufacturers, and builds a complete digital twin of production. Based on this foundation, AI agents are deployed to continuously monitor and optimize processes. The result is that companies can identify risks early, implement adjustments safely, and manage their production processes more efficiently overall.
Practical example: faster production line changeovers
A concrete use case demonstrates the operational added value. Take, for example, a cosmetics manufacturer who wants to convert a filling line from liquid soap to hand cream. Linexa analyzes the entire control logic of the line, identifies potential risks in advance, and significantly reduces changeover time.
Such adjustments are highly critical in practice. According to the company, production downtime can cost up to 2 million euros (2.3 million US dollars) per hour. Accordingly, the principle of “never change a running system” still prevails in many factories – an innovation barrier that Linexa specifically addresses.
First industrial customers and scaling potential
The platform is already being used by one of Germany’s largest food manufacturers. The goal is to drive the restructuring of production networks and advance further digitalization initiatives.
With this, Linexa is positioning itself early in a market with high scaling potential. Existing industrial facilities (brownfield digitalization), which make up a large part of the European manufacturing landscape, can be modernized in this way.
Key technology for Europe’s industrial competitiveness
The technology approach doesn’t focus solely on individual gain. According to Linexa co-founder Viktor Stryczek, Europe’s overall competitiveness is at stake:
“Every production facility that closes in Europe weakens our economic independence. Linexa gives companies control over their facilities back.”
The focus on existing infrastructure rather than new construction could prove to be a decisive advantage against global competitors. This is particularly important in Europe due to high investment costs and regulatory hurdles.
