Bosch Rexroth acquiring majority of cobot maker Kassow Robots

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Kassow Robots is developing 7-DOF cobot arms. (Credit: Kassow Robots)

Bosch Rexroth is acquiring the majority stake in Kassow Robots, a Denmark-based developer of 7-axis collaborative robotic arms. Financial details of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close later in 2022.

Bosch said the acquisition enables it to offer one-stop solutions, especially for the consumer goods and mobility industry including battery production as well as for semiconductor production. Kassow has five cobots in its portfolio, including reaches from 850mm to 1800mm and payloads from 5kg to 18kg.

“Collaborative industrial robots are another important building block for the versatile Factory of the Future,” said Dr. Marc Wucherer, the member of Bosch Rexroth’s executive board who oversees sales and factory automation. “There is huge demand for flexible robotic systems. In the coming years the market for cobots is expected to grow by 15-20% each year. We want to take advantage of this potential and expand our portfolio with collaborative robots from Kassow Robots.”

Kassow Robots exited stealth mode at Automatica 2018. It was co-founded in 2014 by Kristian Kassow, the former co-founder of Universal Robots, which is the leading developer of cobots. Founded in 2005 by Kassow, Esben Østergaard and Kasper Støy, Universal Robots was acquired a mere 10 years later by Teradyne for $285 million.

“With Bosch Rexroth, we have found a partner who is an international leader in factory automation and who can help us expand our business activities. This will enable us to open up new markets for our cobot portfolio,” said Kassow.

Kassow left Universal Robots after he and then-CEO Enrico Krog Iversen had different visions about the direction of the company. After Universal, Kassow held multiple positions with NKT Flexibles, a supplier of flexible pipelines for the offshore and chemical industries, was project manager of the Romeo humanoid robot at Aldebaran Robotics and was co-founder of Movebot ApS for nearly three years.