A Brussels startup just landed $2 million to turn humanoid robots into a subscription service for European factories. The bet: hiring a machine should feel as simple as hiring a person.
Motion, founded by Alexander Stevens, secured the pre-seed round from Extantia Capital with Norrsken Evolve participating. The company positions itself as Europe’s first Humanoids-as-a-Service platform, bundling financing, insurance, compliance, and maintenance into one monthly fee.
Stevens sold his previous company, Greenomy, in September 2025. By early 2026 he launched Motion after spotting a gap: Belgian manufacturers struggle to fill jobs, yet robotic solutions remain scarce.
“Europe has a robot adoption problem. Adoption fails on financing, risk and compliance long before it fails on technology,” Stevens said.
Motion currently runs five paid pilots with industrial, warehousing, and logistics clients in Belgium. The fresh capital will scale those projects and grow the robot fleet across Benelux.
The timing looks strategic. Global humanoid startups raised $8.6 billion in 2026, nearly double the 2025 figure, according to Dealroom. Meanwhile, 72% of European manufacturers report unfilled positions, especially for machine operators.
Goldman Sachs projects China will ship over 250,000 humanoid robots annually by 2030. The global market could hit $38 billion by 2035.
Motion does not build its own hardware. Instead, the company picks the best robot for each task and houses customer data on a Europe-based software platform. That brand-neutral approach sets it apart from competitors like Agility Robotics, Figure AI, and Apptronik, all of which sell or lease their own machines.
Yair Reem, partner at Extantia Capital, framed the investment around climate infrastructure. “The climate transition is ultimately a physical transformation,” he said, noting factories need more batteries, heat pumps, and grid equipment.
Alex Bakir of Norrsken Evolve pointed to Motion’s “holistic vision” for rebuilding Europe’s workforce through robotics.
The real test ahead: whether a hardware-agnostic operator in Brussels can outmaneuver billion-dollar rivals with their own manufacturing lines. Motion’s answer remains the same proposition: make robots easier to hire than to build.
