Modular Robotics as a Strategic Driver of European Technological Independence

As the European robotics market is set to grow by more than 10% annually through 2029, global momentum is accelerating: a race for humanoids led by the United States and Asia, intensifying technological competition around AI between these blocs and Europe, and the recent announcement of ABB Robotics’ acquisition by Japan’s SoftBank.

Taken together, these signals raise a crucial question: can Europe remain in control of its own technologies in the face of American and Asian power?

 

This is the mission we have been carrying since founding Niryo: building a European robotics industry that is sovereign, competitive, and driven by real industrial needs not dependent on imported technologies.

 

Europe finds itself wedged between two extremes.

The United States deploys enormous capital to fuel breakthrough innovation, while China delivers mature robotic systems at highly aggressive cost levels. Between these two models, Europe must chart a pragmatic path focused on value creation and supply chain resilience.

 

Modularity: a pragmatic response to competitiveness

Robotics is a strategic battlefield: access to key components and control over supply chains, actuators, software, data infrastructure, directly determine a nation’s ability to remain autonomous in times of disruption.

 

With Nate, we are developing modular robotics designed to evolve with industrial needs rather than constrain them.

Unlike traditional robots, heavy, rigid, and tied to a single application, modularity enables a robot to be reconfigured over time and deployed across multiple use cases with the same base equipment.

 

This shift prevents oversizing, improves ROI, and makes automation attainable for SMEs historically slowed down by cost barriers and technical complexity.

 

Today, investing in robotics and aligning with reindustrialization needs has never been more critical. AI and technology shifts are opening unprecedented opportunities, but within a window that will not remain open indefinitely.

 

End-to-end control of robotics technology

Modern robotics is its own ecosystem, at the crossroads of mechanics, electronics, applied software, and artificial intelligence.

 

To control these building blocks is to deliver coherent solutions, easy for local players to integrate and relevant to real operating environments. It means reinforcing local production, encouraging collaboration between manufacturers, integrators, and research partners, and restoring attractiveness to industrial careers.

 

Industrial sovereignty in support of competitiveness

Today, we design, develop, and assemble all our robots in our single production facility in Lille, maintaining full control of the value chain.

 

Over the past two years, we have undertaken an ambitious relocation initiative: 50% of our components are now sourced in France, and 75% come from France and Europe combined.

 

This transformation, achieved without sacrificing price accessibility, demonstrates that industrial sovereignty and economic competitiveness can coexist.

 

With the launch of our new actuator range at SIDO 2025, the first technological building block of the Nate platform, we reached an important milestone: proving that European robotics, pragmatic and sovereign, is not a distant ideal, but a tangible reality emerging through innovation, collaboration, and confidence in our technological capabilities.

 

Discover Nate, our modular robotics platform designed to accelerate industrial automation , or follow Niryo on social media.