Franka Emika
Franka Robotics (formerly Franka Emika) designs force-sensitive 7-DOF collaborative robot arms with low-level real-time control, serving AI and robotics researchers, corporate R&D labs, and selective industrial automation customers globally, and operates as a subsidiary of Agile Robots SE.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersMunich, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Franka Emika does
Franka Robotics GmbH, originally founded in 2016 in Munich as Franka Emika and now operating as a subsidiary of Agile Robots SE following a late-2023 acquisition, designs and manufactures force-sensitive collaborative robotic arms with seven degrees of freedom and integrated torque sensors at every joint. Its technical centerpiece is the Franka Control Interface (FCI), which provides 1 kHz real-time bidirectional control of joint torque, position, velocity, and Cartesian pose, alongside open-source tooling (libfranka, LABS, Franka GELLO) and integrations with ROS 2, MATLAB & Simulink, MuJoCo, Gazebo, and the NVIDIA Isaac/GR00T/Cosmos stack. The Franka Research 3 system is positioned as a reference platform for AI and robotics research as well as for Physical AI and humanoid applications, complemented by accessories (Franka Hand gripper, Schmalz Cobot Pump), Diana 7 integration from Agile Robots, and growing prototype products (FR3 Duo, Mobile FR3 Duo, Tactile Mobile Robot).
The company generates revenue primarily through one-time hardware sales of robot systems and accessories via a request-a-quote direct channel and a network of authorized sales partners across Europe, Asia, USA/Canada, and the Middle East. Third-party sources indicate pricing around $37,000 for the Franka Research 3. The customer base is concentrated in academic and corporate research (MIT, Stanford, Imperial College London, Tsinghua University, University of Toronto, TU Delft, Toyota Research Institute, Meta) with selective industrial deployments (e.g., Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen), and the marketing motion leans on community-building, open-source contributions, conference participation (CES, HANNOVER MESSE, IROS, ROSCon), and a digital content footprint rather than traditional enterprise sales.
Franka Emika firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Franka Emika
- Legal name
- Franka Robotics GmbH
- Website
- https://franka.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Franka Robotics (formerly Franka Emika) designs force-sensitive 7-DOF collaborative robot arms with low-level real-time control, serving AI and robotics researchers, corporate R&D labs, and selective industrial automation customers globally, and operates as a subsidiary of Agile Robots SE.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Franka Emika industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Collaborative Robotics
- NAICS
- Industrial Machinery Manufacturing (33324), Industrial Machinery Manufacturing (3332), Other General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing (3339)
- SIC
- General Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Nec (3569), Special Industry Machinery, Nec (3559)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Collaborative Robots (Cobots) (IMAHAHAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Industrial Robots (Articulated, SCARA, Delta, Cartesian) (IMAHAHAA), Robot Hardware, Actuators & Components (sensors, grippers, motors) (HDAAAIAL), Motion Control Controllers & CNC/Robot Drives (Motion Controllers, Multi-axis) (IMAGACAH)
Keywords
Where Franka Emika is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Munich
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Franka Emika business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Robot Systems Sales: Direct sales of Franka Research 3 robot systems and product prototypes (FR3 Duo, Mobile FR3 Duo, Tactile Mobile Robot, Franka GELLO). Revenue is generated through one-time hardware purchases via quote requests.
- Accessories and End-Effectors: Sales of accessories including Franka Hand (2-finger parallel gripper), Cobot Pump (vacuum gripper), third-party compatible accessories (SensonONE, rc_visard, etc.).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Franka Research 3 - research-grade force-sensitive robot |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Franka Hand - 2-finger parallel gripper |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Cobot Pump - electric vacuum gripper |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Franka Emika product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Franka Robotics designs and manufactures the Franka Research 3, a force-sensitive 7-DOF collaborative robot arm with integrated joint torque sensors and a real-time 1 kHz control interface (FCI). The company sells complete robot systems, gripper accessories, and complementary open-source software (Desk, libfranka, LABS) targeting robotics and AI research labs as well as industrial automation customers. Revenue is generated through one-time hardware purchases distributed via a global authorized partner network and direct quote-based sales.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Franka Research 3 World-class force-sensitive 7-DOF robot system tailored for AI and robotics research, offering integrated torque sensors at every joint, 1 kHz real-time control via the Franka Control Interface (FCI), ±0.1 mm position repeatability, 855 mm reach, 3 kg payload, 94.5% workspace efficiency, and compatibility with ROS 2, MATLAB/Simulink, and open-source frameworks.
- Diana 7 by Agile Robots 7-DOF robot from parent company Agile Robots now supporting the Franka Control Interface (FCI), offering greater reach and payload capacity for research and academic applications within the Franka ecosystem.
- Franka Hand
Quantifiable outcome
- Position repeatability of <±0.1 mm
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Franka Emika
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Franka Emika technology and API
TechnologyAPI detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability7 records
Feature6 records
Franka Emika partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- NVIDIAcoreFranka Robotics is a global industry partner debuting AI-driven robots built on NVIDIA's robotics stack at CES 2026. NVIDIA announced integration of Isaac and GR00T technologies into Hugging Face's LeRobot framework, positioning Franka as a reference platform for Physical AI development. NVIDIA partnership enables Franka robots to leverage Cosmos and GR00T foundation models for robotics.
- Agile RobotscoreFranka Emika was acquired by Agile Robots SE in late 2023. Agile Robots is a Munich-based AI robotics company and both are spin-offs of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Franka Robotics now integrates Agile Robots' Diana 7 into its ecosystem, and both companies co-sponsored the RIG Heroes Awards Night.
- SchmalzmajorSchmalz Cobot Pump is an end effector developed in collaboration with Schmalz and fully integrated with Franka Robotics robots. Also collaborated on ECBPMi MATCH for Ecosystem MATCH and Zimmer Group partnership.
- Zimmer GroupmajorZimmer Group collaborated with Schmalz on MATCH - a multi-functional end-of-arm platform compatible with Franka robots. LWR50L-03 lightweight electric parallel gripper designed for Ecosystem MATCH, perfectly compatible with Franka Emika robots.
- VentionmajorVention's MachineBuilder browser-based 3D design platform enables seamless integration of Franka robots into modular environments. With over 25,000 machines deployed globally, Vention now includes solutions powered by Franka Robotics.
- Hugging FacecoreNVIDIA partnered with Hugging Face to integrate Isaac and GR00T technologies into the LeRobot open-source framework. Franka Robotics participates through LABS which exports datasets to LeRobot v2.1 format.
- MathWorksmajorMathWorks partnership with Franka Robotics enables intuitive real-time control of the Franka robot through Simulink. The partnership allows algorithms to be efficiently tested in simulations and on the real robot.
- Agile RobotscoreAt HANNOVER MESSE 2026, Agile Robots demonstrated its Humanoid Agile ONE alongside Franka Robotics technology in collaboration with NVIDIA. Both companies are spin-offs of DLR.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Franka Emika competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Universal Robots: Universal Robots is the global market leader in collaborative robots (e- Series), serving industrial customers with a broad portfolio. It competes with Franka in the cobot category but focuses on industrial automation rather than research-grade force-sensitive platforms.
- Yaskawa (Motoman): Yaskawa's Motoman division is a major industrial robotics player offering collaborative models (e.g., HC series) alongside traditional industrial arms. It competes with Franka in industrial manipulation but is not focused on research-grade torque-controlled platforms.
- ABB Robotics (YuMi / GoFa): ABB offers collaborative robots (YuMi, GoFa, Swifti) as part of its broad industrial robotics portfolio. While not specialized for research, ABB's cobot family competes with Franka in industrial assembly and manipulation applications.
Direct peers
- Techman Robot: Techman Robot is a Taiwan-based collaborative robot maker with integrated vision, targeting both industrial and research users. It overlaps with Franka in offering cobots with built-in sensing and is increasingly competing in the AI-robotics research space.
- Doosan Robotics: Doosan Robotics is a Korean collaborative robot manufacturer offering a range of articulated cobot arms. It serves similar industrial and research customers and has been expanding into AI-enabled manipulation, overlapping with Franka's target segments.
- KUKA (LBR iiwa / LBR Med): KUKA's LBR iiwa is a 7-DOF force-sensitive collaborative robot widely used in research and medical applications — the closest technical comparator to Franka Research 3. Both target academic and industrial research labs requiring torque-controlled arms with low-level real-time interfaces.
Emerging players
- Figure AI: Figure AI is developing humanoid general-purpose robots with backing from major AI and tech investors. It overlaps with Franka in the broader Physical AI / foundation-model-robotics space and competes for attention from NVIDIA, OpenAI, and similar ecosystem partners.
- 1X Technologies: 1X Technologies (formerly Halodi Robotics) builds humanoid robots backed by OpenAI and targeting home and commercial service applications. It is part of the same NVIDIA-backed Physical AI ecosystem as Franka and a potential competitor for Physical AI data-collection and teleoperation reference platforms.
- NEURA Robotics: NEURA Robotics is a German AI-robotics startup building cognitive robots with integrated sensors and AI capabilities. It shares the German DLR-rooted research heritage and competes for European robotics talent and customer mindshare, though focused on humanoid platforms.
- Agility Robotics: Agility Robotics builds the Digit humanoid robot for logistics and warehouse applications. While focused on humanoids rather than single-arm cobots, it competes for the same Physical AI development budgets and NVIDIA partnership ecosystem as Franka.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Franka Emika social profiles
Digital presenceFranka Emika compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
Franka Emika financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Franka Emika leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Franka Emika funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Franka Emika M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Franka Emika
What does Franka Emika do?
Franka Robotics designs and manufactures the Franka Research 3, a force-sensitive 7-DOF collaborative robot arm with integrated joint torque sensors and a real-time 1 kHz control interface (FCI). The company sells complete robot systems, gripper accessories, and complementary open-source software (Desk, libfranka, LABS) targeting robotics and AI research labs as well as industrial automation customers. Revenue is generated through one-time hardware purchases distributed via a global authorized partner network and direct quote-based sales.
Is Franka Emika a public or private company?
Franka Emika is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Franka Emika founded?
Franka Emika was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Franka Emika based?
Franka Emika is headquartered in Munich, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Franka Emika make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Robot Systems Sales are the primary driver. The others are accessories and End-Effectors.
Who are Franka Emika's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Universal Robots, Yaskawa (Motoman) and ABB Robotics (YuMi / GoFa). Direct peers are Techman Robot, Doosan Robotics and KUKA (LBR iiwa / LBR Med). Emerging players are Figure AI, 1X Technologies, NEURA Robotics and Agility Robotics.
Does Franka Emika have an API?
Yes. Franka Robotics offers the Desk API for programmatic administration and operation of Franka Research 3. The API enables developers to programmatically open brakes, activate FCI, clear safety violations, and manage other robot operations. The Franka Control Interface (FCI) provides low-level real-time control at 1 kHz with 5 different control interfaces: joint-level torque commands with gravity and friction compensation, joint position or velocity commands, and Cartesian pose or velocity commands. libfranka is the open-source C++ interface for accessing these capabilities. Developer documentation is at frankarobotics.github.io/docs.
What industry is Franka Emika in?
Franka Emika's product category is Collaborative Robotics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is IMAHAHAB, Collaborative Robots (Cobots), with a secondary code of IMAHAHAA, Industrial Robots (Articulated, SCARA, Delta, Cartesian). Its NAICS code is 33324 and its SIC code is 3569.