For a robot, a towel is a problem. It lacks the rigid geometry of a car part or the predictable weight of a box. It crumples, folds, and slips in ways that confound standard automation. This challenge, repeated across textiles, foils, and cables, has kept vast swaths of industrial work stubbornly manual. A Munich-based startup, sewts, is betting its AI-driven perception software can finally give robots the dexterity to close that gap, starting with the industrial laundry room [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief].
Its first commercial product, sewts.VELUM, is a robotic cell designed to feed mixed piles of dry, wrinkled towels one-by-one into a folding machine [sewts]. The system, which the company says can process various textiles regardless of color or texture, represents a tangible entry point into a market sewts estimates at over 30 billion euros [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, APEX Ventures]. For an industry grappling with acute labor shortages, the promise is not just automation, but a doubling of productivity on a textile washing line [Munich Startup].
The physical AI wedge
sewts positions itself as a software provider, selling the "brain, eyes and fingers" for robots rather than the hardware itself [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief]. Its core technology uses deep learning and computer vision to predict how a deformable material will behave when gripped, translating that understanding into precise robotic commands [Bayern Kapital]. This hardware-agnostic approach is key to its wedge. Instead of asking a laundry operator to rip out and replace an entire line, sewts aims to slot its intelligence onto existing or standard robotic arms, grippers, and cameras.
The initial focus on industrial laundries is strategic. The workflow is repetitive, the labor challenge is severe, and the customer base is defined, with an estimated 25,000 businesses worldwide [IFR]. A successful deployment of VELUM proves the underlying AI can handle a complex, real-world task. From there, the company's broader vision unfolds: automating steps like sorting dirty textiles and, ultimately, moving into apparel manufacturing and the processing of films and foams [Munich Startup].
The team and the Series A momentum
The founding team, which came together at the Technical University of Munich, combines expertise in robotics, AI, and material simulation [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief, gate Garching]. Alexander Bley serves as CEO, with Tim Doerks as CTO and Till Rickert as CPO [Crunchbase]. Their deep-tech focus attracted a consortium of European investors to a 7.6 million dollar Series A round in late 2023, led by Emerald Technology Ventures [The Robot Report].
The round's participant list reads like a who's who of regional deep-tech backers, suggesting strong confidence in the technical approach.
2023 Series A | 7.6 | M USD
New investors CNB Capital, EquityPitcher Ventures, and Nabtesco Technology Venture joined, alongside continued support from existing shareholders Bayern Kapital, APEX Ventures, and HTGF [The Robot Report]. The capital is earmarked to accelerate the rollout of the VELUM system.
Where the gripper meets the towel
The company's ambition is vast, but its path is lined with the gritty realities of industrial integration. While sewts promotes hardware agnosticism, successful deployment still hinges on smooth integration with a customer's specific robotic and sensor setup. Each new laundry environment presents variables,different towel sizes, pile configurations, and machine interfaces,that the AI must reliably navigate. The company delivered its first VELUM system to a customer in November 2022, a critical early proof point [sewts]. Scaling from a single installation to dozens will test both the software's robustness and the company's deployment playbook.
Competition exists, though the field is specialized. Companies like SoftWear Automation and Sewbo also target textile automation, often with different technological approaches. sewts's answer rests on its proprietary perception software stack and its focus on being a layer of intelligence atop existing hardware, rather than a full-stack robotics firm. The next twelve months will be about proving that this software layer can deliver consistent, hands-off operation in commercial settings, moving from a promising pilot to a repeatable sale.
The patient population: industrial laundry operators
The immediate beneficiaries of sewts's technology are the operators of industrial laundries, businesses that service hotels, hospitals, and restaurants. For them, the standard of care today is intensely manual. Workers stand at folding machines, feeding towels by hand from chaotic, mixed piles. It is repetitive, physically demanding work in an environment of heat and humidity, a combination that contributes to high turnover and persistent staffing shortfalls.
Automating this single, bottleneck step with a system like VELUM aims to relieve that pressure. It reallocates human labor to more complex tasks, reduces physical strain, and promises greater line consistency and throughput. If sewts can reliably deliver that outcome, it establishes a beachhead in a massive, underserved industrial niche. From the towel-folding robot, the long-term roadmap points toward a future where the entire lifecycle of textiles, from soiled linen sorting to finished garment assembly, is within reach of automation. The bet is that solving for the humble towel is the key to unlocking it all.
Sources
- [The Robot Report, November 2023] sewts brings in $7.6M to automate the textile industry | https://www.therobotreport.com/sewts-brings-in-7-6m-to-automate-the-textile-industry/
- [Perplexity Sonar Pro Brief] sewts Company Brief
- [sewts, November 2022] First VELUM system delivery
- [Munich Startup] sewts GmbH company profile | https://www.munich-startup.de/en/startups/sewts-gmbh/
- [APEX Ventures] sewts portfolio page | https://www.apex.ventures/project/sewts/
- [IFR] Market data on industrial laundries
- [Bayern Kapital] sewts investment announcement
- [Crunchbase] sewts company profile | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sewts
- [gate Garching] Founders' background | https://www.gate-garching.de/startups/sewts/
- [HTGF] HTGF Series A sewts announcement | https://www.htgf.de/en/htgf-series-a-sewts/