Voliro
Zurich, CH · 5 known investors
Voliro builds omnidirectional aerial robots (drones) for inspection, maintenance, and repair at height, including non-destructive testing. Its technology, originating from ETH Zurich's Autonomous Systems Lab, serves industrial customers in sectors such as energy and materials.
Also known as Voliro AG
Investors · 5
Also in the syndicate · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Voliro AG is a Zurich, Switzerland-based aerial robotics company that develops flying robots for inspection, maintenance and repair work at height. Its flagship product, the Voliro T, is a drone with a patented 360-degree tiltable rotor system that lets the aircraft make stable contact with structures at any angle, applying up to 30 N of force and several Nm of torque, and operate omnidirectionally including in GPS-denied environments via automated flight modes and assisted autonomy. An open-platform design supports interchangeable sensor and tool payloads so a single robot can address multiple non-destructive testing (NDT) tasks.
Applications of the first-generation platform include corrosion detection, material thickness and dry film thickness measurement, and testing of wind turbine lightning protection systems. Assets inspected include flare stacks, chimneys, storage tanks, wind turbine blades, powerline/transmission towers and other hard-to-reach infrastructure. Voliro positions the technology as an alternative to scaffolding, rope access and plant shutdowns, citing reductions in inspection cost of up to 50%, lightning protection system inspections five times faster than manual methods, and throughput figures such as one flare stack or chimney per hour, four to five storage tanks per day, and 10-12 powerline towers per day.
The company is a spin-off of the Autonomous Systems Lab (ASL) at ETH Zurich. Announced roadmap work funded by the 2025 Series A extension includes deeper cloud integration, AI-supported inspection reporting and diagnostics, enhanced autonomy and modular payloads, moving from semi-automated inspection toward full autonomy and from passive sensing to active intervention.
Founding story
The work behind Voliro began in 2016 at the Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zurich, where a group of researchers set out to build an omnidirectional flying inspection robot. Co-founder Timo Müller conceived the concept and built the first prototype of the Voliro T omnidirectional drone during his mechanical engineering master's thesis at ETH Zurich. Mina Kamel, who completed a PhD in mechatronics, robotics and automation engineering at ETH Zurich after a bachelor's degree at Politecnico di Milano, drew inspiration from the Aeroworks project and met his four co-founders — Timo Müller, Dr. Marius Fehr, Dr. Anurag Vempati and Dr. Thomas Schneider — during that period. All five founders came from technical backgrounds and supplemented business knowledge through advisors and coaching by Venture Lab. Voliro AG was incorporated in 2019 with support from Wyss Zurich, an accelerator embedded within ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich.
Business model
Voliro sells its aerial robotics platform to industrial customers under a B2B subscription model. The subscription is packaged as a comprehensive offering that includes hardware, software, continuous software updates, training, support, spare parts and crash insurance, plus upgrades to newer drone models as they are released. The Voliro T is available worldwide directly from Voliro and through leading inspection service providers.
Recurring subscription revenue from a bundled hardware-plus-software package; management has stated the recurring revenue funds ongoing R&D. Reported revenues exceeded USD 1 million in 2022.
Traction
More than 40 customers across 17 countries, with over 100 contact-based inspections performed per month as of mid-2025. Revenues above USD 1 million were reported for 2022. Case-study claims include reducing wind-farm inspection costs from €400,000 across 81 turbines to a fraction of that figure, five-times-faster wind turbine lightning protection system inspections, and up to 50% lower inspection costs.
Latest developments
In June 2025 Voliro announced an extension of its Series A, bringing the round total to $23 million (reported as €19.8 million), with new participation from built-world investor noa and a debt facility from UBS, alongside original lead Cherry Ventures. Proceeds are earmarked for the next-generation Voliro T platform: cloud integration, AI-powered inspection reporting and diagnostics, enhanced autonomy and modular payloads.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Voliro describes itself as a leader in aerial mobile robotics for contact-based industrial inspection and claims commercial adoption by well-known NDT service providers. It was named by Fast Company among the 10 most innovative companies in robotics of 2023 and has been covered by Bilanz, The Red Bulletin and SRF news. Investors frame large-scale industrial inspection as a major opportunity for robotics and automation, pointing to aging industrial assets, an estimated $2.5 trillion (€2.1 trillion) annual global cost of corrosion-related failures, and the finding that up to 30% of major industrial accidents in Europe involve aging infrastructure and integrity issues.
The patented tiltable-rotor design enables stable physical contact and force application at any angle, which the company positions as distinct from conventional visual-only inspection drones and from manual methods requiring scaffolding, rope access or shutdowns. Additional differentiators cited are the open, payload-agnostic platform allowing one robot to serve multiple inspection tasks, the ability to inspect assets while in service, and the all-inclusive subscription covering training, support, spares and crash insurance.
Technology
The core technology is a patented 360-degree tiltable rotor system that gives the drone omnidirectional mobility and the ability to press against surfaces at any angle, applying up to 30 N of stable force and several Nm of torque for contact-based non-destructive testing. The platform includes automated flight modes and assisted autonomy that function in GPS-denied environments, and an open architecture supporting interchangeable sensor and tool payloads (corrosion and material thickness measurement, dry film thickness, wind turbine lightning protection system testing). Development priorities announced in 2025 cover cloud integration, AI-powered inspection reporting and diagnostics, greater autonomy and modular payloads. Technical leadership includes CTO Dr. Florian Tschopp, whose background covers visual SLAM, perception sensor integration and mapping.
Go-to-market
Direct enterprise sales of a subscription package to asset owners, combined with distribution and use through established inspection service providers who add Voliro drones to their traditional NDT portfolios. Regional purchasing options are offered for North America, South America, Europe, Africa & Middle East and Asia Pacific. The website supports lead generation with case studies, spec sheets and customer testimonials.
Asset owners and inspection service providers in energy, oil and gas, chemicals, cement, renewables and infrastructure. Named customers and early adopters include Chevron, Holcim, Acuren, Shell, Petronas, Mistras, Team Inc. and Osprey Integrity.
Geography
Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, with operations reported in 17 countries and customers including North American and international industrial groups.
History
2016: research begins at ETH Zurich's Autonomous Systems Lab on an omnidirectional flying inspection robot. 2019: incorporation of Voliro with support from Wyss Zurich. 2020: a CHF 2 million seed round closed with Alpana Ventures as lead investor, with plans at the time to raise a CHF 5-10 million Series A around the end of 2021. 2022: launch of the Voliro T flying robot following field validation with early adopters including Shell, Petronas and Holcim; the company reported revenues above USD 1 million for 2022. 2023: general availability and commercial adoption by NDT providers including Mistras, Acuren and Team Inc.; Mina Kamel stepped down as CEO and the board appointed Florian Gutzwiller, who had joined in 2021 as investor and Entrepreneur in Residence and later Executive Chairman. October 2024: $12 million Series A led by Cherry Ventures, bringing total capital raised to $22 million. June 2025: Series A extension bringing the total round to $23 million (reported as €19.8 million), with participation from noa and a debt facility from UBS.
Risks & controversies
The company has cited the difficulty of scaling a B2B hardware startup in an adverse economic environment, and its 2023 leadership transition saw co-founder and CEO Mina Kamel step down. The 2024 Series A included a conventional debt facility in addition to equity, and a further UBS debt facility was added in 2025. Several performance claims (cost savings, inspection speed multiples) are company-reported.
Compiled by commissioned research from 7 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 10
launches, deals, and filingsVoliro announced an extension of its Series A, bringing the round total to $23 million (reported as €19.8 million), with new participation from noa and a debt facility from UBS; the original round was led by Cherry Ventures. Funds are directed at cloud integration, AI-powered inspection reporting, enhanced autonomy and modular payloads.
$23M source ↗
The company's about page lists co-founder Timo Müller as CEO and Florian Gutzwiller as a member of the Board of Directors, with Prof. Dr. Roland Siegwart as Chairman of the Board.
Voliro announced a $12 million Series A led by Cherry Ventures with participation from existing business angels, family offices and a conventional debt facility, bringing total capital raised to $22 million.
$12M source ↗
Co-founder Mina Kamel stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors appointed Executive Chairman Florian Gutzwiller as CEO, effective immediately.
Commercial adoption by non-destructive testing companies including Mistras, Acuren and Team Inc.
Voliro launched its first product, a drone with a tiltable rotor system able to interact with surfaces at any angle, after field validation with early adopters including Shell, Petronas and Holcim.
Voliro closed a CHF 2 million seed round with Alpana Ventures as lead investor, to accelerate bringing the product to market.
Voliro was incorporated with support from Wyss Zurich, an accelerator embedded within ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich.
A team at the Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zurich started work on an omnidirectional flying inspection robot, the origin of the Voliro platform.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 7
primary sources listed
- Voliro secures $12M in Series A funding to transform industrial inspections with aerial robotics | Volirovoliro.com · web
7 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Voliro do?
- Swiss aerial robotics company building tiltable-rotor drones for contact-based industrial inspection and maintenance at height.
- Who are Voliro's investors?
- Voliro's investors include Alpana Ventures, Cherry Ventures, noa.
- Where is Voliro headquartered?
- Voliro is headquartered in Zurich, CH.