What Howtorobot.com does

HowToRobot is an automation marketplace and decision-engine platform that helps manufacturing companies evaluate, source, and implement robotic and automation solutions. The platform connects buyers with a global network of 20,000+ vetted suppliers and 500+ ready-made products, guiding users through a three-stage validation process — opportunity validation, market-price validation, and delivery-capability validation — before capital is committed. Its core technology combines NLP-based AI tools that convert rough buyer ideas into structured supplier-ready briefs with a recommendation engine that matches projects against the supplier and product directories. Quantified case-study outcomes include £14.4M in validated savings for a bakery automation project (1.5-year payback) and a 50% cost reduction for a US chemicals supplier.

The company operates a hybrid revenue model combining a freemium self-serve platform (free tier for opportunity validation) with a $149/month subscription tier that unlocks anonymous RFIs, identical quote templates, Q&A modules, and unlimited team access. Bolt-on expert services at fixed fees provide targeted independent support at any stage of the automation journey, and integrated financing partners offer an alternative to CAPEX. HowToRobot is a portfolio company of publicly listed Humanoid Global Holdings Corp. (CSE:ROBO) and is led by CEO Søren Peters and VP of Operations Mette Klausen. Following a 2024 merger with Gain & Co., the company has secured a Series A investment from Holman (a global automotive services leader that recently launched a robotics division) alongside strategic capital from Humanoid Global, and is transitioning to a SaaS-based model while expanding into the US and UK markets.

Customer concentration spans both ends of the market: Fortune 500 enterprises such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Novo Nordisk, Collins Aerospace, and ZF are using the platform for live automation projects, while small job shops are explicitly targeted via the freemium tier. Validated-by logos include the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark, the World Health Organization, and the University. Operational performance metrics reported by the parent — 94% gross margins, $267.1K EBITDA in Q1 2026, and 94.3% consultant utilization in March — indicate a high-margin, scalable platform model currently in active growth investment phase.

Name

Howtorobot.com

Legal name

HowToRobot

Website

https://howtorobot.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

HowToRobot is an automation marketplace and decision-engine platform that connects manufacturing buyers with 20,000+ vetted robotics suppliers and 500+ ready-made products, guiding companies through structured validation before committing to automation projects. It serves enterprises and SMBs globally via a freemium SaaS subscription.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Automation Marketplace

NAICS

Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers (4251), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Wholesale-Construction & Mining (No Petro) Machinery & Equip (5082), Special Industry Machinery, Nec (3559)

akta.pro primary industry

B2B/EDI & Supply Chain Process Automation Platforms (HDAEAHAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) & Hyperautomation Platforms (HDAEAKAF), Instrumentation, Controls & Automation Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAM)

Keywords

• Automation marketplace
• Industrial robotics sourcing
• Supplier matching platform
• RFI automation tools
• Robotics decision engine

Headquarters

HQ city

Franklin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Revenue: Monthly or annual subscription tiers ($149/mo for full market engagement toolkit). Free tier available for basic opportunity validation. Revenue generated from buyers subscribing to access supplier quotes, RFI tools, and comparison features.
2. Expert Services: Bolt-on expert services at fixed fees, providing targeted independent support at any stage of the automation journey. Optional add-on to the core platform subscription.
3. SaaS Platform: Transitioning to SaaS-based model with AI-driven quotation tools, supporting scalable recurring revenue from enterprise and SMB customers globally.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HowToRobot operates a global automation sourcing platform that connects manufacturing buyers with 20,000+ vetted industrial robot suppliers and 500+ ready-made automation products. The platform guides buyers through three validation stages — validating the opportunity via AI-generated briefs, validating market price through anonymous RFI and comparable quotes, and validating delivery capability via supplier downselection. Optional bolt-on expert services and integrated financing partners are offered as alternatives to traditional CAPEX purchasing.

Product overview

HowToRobot is a unified automation sourcing platform that operates as a decision engine for automation, combining a marketplace of 20,000+ vetted suppliers with AI-powered tools to validate automation opportunities before commitment. The platform consists of the core HowToRobot Platform with integrated features including AI Market Match for supplier/product matching, Anonymous RFI for fair quote comparison, and a Supplier Directory and Product Directory. Additional services include Managed Automation, bolt-on Expert Services, and Financing Partners as an alternative to CAPEX. The platform guides buyers through three validation stages: validate the opportunity (structured briefs), validate market price (anonymous quotes), and validate delivery capability (supplier downselection).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HowToRobot Platform A SaaS decision engine and marketplace platform for industrial automation that guides manufacturing buyers from a rough idea through validated opportunity, market price, and delivery capability stages to a live automation solution.
• Supplier Directory A publicly accessible directory of 20,000+ vetted automation suppliers categorized by geography, capabilities, and product portfolio, enabling buyer-supplier discovery and matching.
• Product Directory A catalog of 500+ ready-made automation products available for direct purchase without custom engagement, enabling off-the-shelf automation procurement.
• Managed Automation A full-service automation management offering providing expert support across the entire automation project lifecycle for businesses that want guided assistance alongside or instead of self-service.
• Expert Services Bolt-on independent expert support offered at fixed fees with transparent pricing and no long consulting engagements, providing objective guidance at any stage of the automation journey.

Quantifiable outcome

• £14.4M validated savings in bakery automation with 1.5 year payback period
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gain & Co.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 April 2024Merger with Gain & Co. to form a new company providing automation support to businesses, addressing high demand for robotics and automation with expanded services and market reach.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Thomasnet: Thomasnet is the largest US industrial sourcing marketplace, connecting buyers with suppliers of machinery, components, and industrial services. It is the closest direct peer to HowToRobot in the B2B industrial sourcing/marketplace category, though it spans all industrial categories rather than specializing in automation.
• RobotShop: RobotShop is a robotics-focused marketplace selling robots, components, and parts to consumers, educators, and businesses. It overlaps with HowToRobot's product catalog and supplier-directory model in robotics, though HowToRobot focuses on B2B industrial automation sourcing rather than direct e-commerce.

Broad incumbents

• Grainger: Grainger is a large industrial distribution incumbent with an extensive catalog of MRO supplies, machinery, and automation products, plus digital sourcing tools. It serves overlapping manufacturing customers but is a broad MRO distributor rather than an automation-specialized marketplace.
• McMaster-Carr: McMaster-Carr is a dominant industrial supplies distributor with an industry-leading digital catalog used by manufacturing buyers. It is a broad incumbent in industrial sourcing rather than a direct competitor, but its digital catalog sets the bar for B2B industrial procurement UX.
• KUKA: KUKA is a global automation OEM and system integrator supplying robots and integrated production solutions to manufacturers. It is a broad incumbent in industrial robotics; HowToRobot's marketplace includes KUKA-adjacent integrators as suppliers rather than competing head-on.
• ABB Robotics: ABB is a global industrial automation and robotics incumbent with deep enterprise relationships in manufacturing. It is a broad incumbent against which HowToRobot's supplier network competes for end-customer mindshare on automation sourcing.

Emerging players

• Formic: Formic offers Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) to manufacturers, providing pre-configured automation with subscription pricing. It is an emerging player addressing similar manufacturing customers' automation adoption barriers but via a deployment model rather than a sourcing marketplace.
• Rapid Robotics: Rapid Robotics provides pre-integrated robotic work cells as a service to manufacturers. Like Formic, it competes for the same industrial automation budget and addresses similar pain points (capex, integration complexity), making it a relevant emerging adjacent player.
• Hirebotics: Hirebotics offers cobot-as-a-service solutions to manufacturers, lowering barriers to automation adoption. It targets similar SMB and mid-market manufacturing customers with simplified robotics deployment, partially overlapping with HowToRobot's value proposition.
• Xometry: Xometry operates an AI-driven marketplace for custom manufacturing and industrial services, connecting buyers with vetted suppliers. Its marketplace model and AI supplier-matching approach mirror HowToRobot's core mechanics, though applied to custom parts rather than automation equipment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Howtorobot.com