Sitegeist

Sitegeist GmbH is a Munich-based construction robotics company developing automated, AI-enabled, modular robots for infrastructure renovation. Its initial focus is concrete renovation: selectively removing deteriorated concrete from existing structures using high-pressure water (hydrodemolition) or abrasive blasting, work that is today performed manually and requires precision to avoid damaging the steel reinforcement beneath the concrete surface. The company also lists sandblasting and drilling as applications of its platform, and describes a modular architecture intended to be adapted to further customer-specific tasks.

The robots are designed for unstructured, real-world sites rather than standardized or pre-digitized environments. According to the company, they combine advanced perception, AI-based decision support and adaptive control to handle complex geometries and varying material conditions without a pre-existing 3D model, so they can be deployed directly on active renovation sites. Sitegeist positions the systems as non-humanoid and field-hardened, able to work on large flat surfaces as well as corners, columns and ceilings, and states that hydrodemolition tasks can be performed roughly ten times more efficiently than manual methods while reducing worker exposure.

The company is a spin-out of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), emerging from the robotics research environment led by Prof. Matthias Althoff — the same institute from which RobCo emerged.

Founding story

The company was founded by four co-founders: Dr. Lena-Marie Pätzmann (CEO), from the University of St. Gallen, together with Julian Hoffmann (CTO), Nicola Kolb (COO) and Claus Carste (CPO). The founders met at TUM during their studies and through the Munich startup ecosystem; three bring technical backgrounds in robotics and artificial intelligence, complemented by a business-focused founder with a commercialization background.

Business model

Sitegeist builds and deploys its own robotic systems, working directly with concrete renovation construction companies on their sites. The platform is modular and intended to expand across the renovation value chain over time; the company also seeks test sites and co-development partners to validate and refine the robots.

Traction

The company states it is already working with a number of German concrete renovation firms and plans to add further test sites and co-development partners. Following its February 2026 pre-seed round it listed nine open positions spanning senior robotics software, electrical, mechanical and safety engineering, forward-deployed engineering, working-student roles and a hardware development internship.

Latest developments

In February 2026 Sitegeist announced its €4 million pre-seed financing led by b2venture and OpenOcean, with UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators, industry backers Alexander Schwörer and Mario Wettengel, and angel investors including Verena Pausder, Lea-Sophie Cramer, Andreas Kupke, Sven Degener, Inga vom Holtz and Paolo Oppelt. The capital is intended for hiring and for scaling robot deployments on real construction sites.