Robotics Made in Switzerland: Between World-Class Research and Missing Infrastructure
Since 2020, Switzerland has generated roughly 3.5 times more venture-funded robotics startups per capita than the United States, and five times more than the United Kingdom. That number is no accident — it's the result of decades of research at ETH Zurich and EPFL, two institutions widely recognized as Europe's leading centers for deep tech. What holds this success story back is rarely the technology itself. It's the lack of physical infrastructure that matches how robotics teams actually work: build, test, fail, rebuild.
Switzerland channels 63% of all venture capital into deep tech, more than any other country in the world. More than 230 VC-backed robotics startups are based here, many of them direct spin-offs from the ETH Zurich–EPFL corridor, and the recent collaboration between ETH Zurich and MIT through the new Robotics and AI Institute deepens that talent pipeline further. But research excellence alone isn't enough — a team validating an algorithm on a physical robotic arm has fundamentally different needs than a software team working from laptops. Hardware founders consistently report the same obstacles: no space to test outside a lab, landlords uneasy about noise, no infrastructure for prototyping, no natural network of peers.
The Gallery, a next-generation Robotics Hub at Thurgauerstrasse 119 between Zurich Airport and Oerlikon, was designed specifically for that gap, offering flexible floor plans, real-world testing space, an active robotics community, and daylight-filled architecture. As part of the Greater Zurich Area — described as the Silicon Valley of robotics, with neighbors like ABB Robotics, ANYbotics, and NVIDIA — it sits close to the airport and directly within the ETH/EPFL pipeline. Proximity to research, talent, and investors remains one of the few structural advantages that can't be digitized.
Book a tour of The Gallery at Thurgauerstrasse 119 and see how research and entrepreneurship come together here, physically.
