CHF 150k · Other round · Robotics · Basel, Switzerland
Basel-based Maus Robotics, which develops and operates compact robots that cook food where it is served, has secured CHF 150,000 from Venture Kick. The official announcement says the funding will finance the company’s first cluster of robots in Basel, further research and development, and hires in engineering and business development.
The product has to scale as an operating network
Maus Robotics’ first machine prepares a crêpe from raw batter and toppings in about 90 seconds. Customers order on a screen, pay at the terminal and watch the robot spread, cook, fold and serve the food. The company describes the unit as compact, transparent and capable of operating around the clock, with target locations including offices, universities, stations, airports, cafés and leisure venues.
That format moves cooking closer to the point of sale without requiring a full staffed kitchen at every site. But the machine is only part of the product. A venue is buying reliable food output: ingredients must be replenished, the unit cleaned, faults resolved and quality kept consistent. The commercial case therefore depends on how much demand each location generates and how efficiently Maus can support several nearby units.
The initial Basel cluster matters because density can improve those economics. Shorter service routes and shared local support can spread operating costs across more machines, while repeated deployments can reveal which locations produce enough orders to justify a permanent unit. If that playbook becomes repeatable, expansion to another city is less a series of isolated hardware sales and more the launch of another operating network.
Live service is the next proof point
Venture Kick says Maus Robotics had prepared more than 2,500 crêpes at events across Switzerland and was opening its first long-term Basel installations in summer 2026. Earlier in the year, Digital Accelerator Basel reported about 500 crêpes over eight weeks. Those figures show growing real-world use, but fixed sites set a tougher test: uptime, daily throughput, ingredient handling and repeat purchases have to work continuously rather than during a staffed event.
The company, founded by brothers Robert and Marten Hennig, says it plans to build a Basel location pipeline before expanding to other European cities in 2027. The funding is modest for a hardware-and-operations model, so its most valuable outcome may be evidence: dependable service across a compact cluster, clearer unit economics and a deployment routine that does not require support effort to rise one-for-one with every new robot.
Explore this theme
Why climate hardware startups need a new funding playbook — Jarna Hyvönen with EUVC and The Table, episode · 24 April 2026. Volare’s experience shows why hardware economics become measurable only in live operations, a useful cross-industry lens for Maus Robotics’ move from events to a permanent cluster.
Sources checked:
Venture Kick announcement · Maus Robotics website · Digital Accelerator Basel · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
