Ireland’s robotics industry is on a steady upward trajectory, with the market witnessing a noticeable uptick in the adoption of collaborative robots, or cobots, across sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and retail.
Revenues in the Irish robotics market are projected to hit $221.6 million in 2025, according to Statista data. The lion’s share of this growth will come from service robotics, which alone is projected to hit $202 million this year.
Helped by favourable Irish government policies and a skilled workforce, Ireland remains a conducive location for robotics startups and innovation, as Industry 5.0 trends reshape engineering and manufacturing.
Leading robotics companies in Ireland
Akara Robotics Based in Dublin, Akara is a robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) firm focused on delivering healthcare solutions. Spun out of Trinity College Dublin, the start-up is best known for ‘Stevie’, a social care robot designed to assist in elder care facilities. Its flagship product Violet, a robot equipped with ultraviolet technology, disinfects hospital rooms and reduces healthcare associated infections. Recently, Akara provided two UV decontamination robots to a UK hospital to clean wards and operating theatres. The firm earned a spot on the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe ranking in 2024.
Bear Robotics
Californian-headquartered Bear Robotics has announced its plans to establish a European hub in Dublin. It specialises in designing autonomous service robots for the hospitality and food service industries. Its flagship products, Servi and Servi Plus, are fully autonomous robots created to assist staff do tasks such as clean tables, serve food and other repetitive work. Servi Plus can carry up to 16 dishes at once and has enhanced suspension for transporting liquids. The start-up has rolled out its first robots in The Glenroyal Hotel in Maynooth.
Invert Robotics
Invert Robotics, headquartered in Dublin, provides robotic solutions for the food production, chemical, pharmaceutical and aerospace industries. Its technology enables firms to inspect and efficiently maintain potentially hazardous and toxic industrial assets. The firm, which moved its headquarters from New Zealand in 2021, has raised €25 million to expand its research and development (R&D) centre.
Eiratech Robotics
Established in 2014 by a team of engineering and manufacturing professionals, Eiratech Robotics develops automation and robotics systems for e-commerce fulfilment, warehouse and distribution centres. Its solutions help automate processes that improve storage, sortation and consolidation space in warehouses. The Dublin-based firm also opened its first office in the UK in 2021.
Reamda
Founded in 2001, Reamda is a Kerry-based robotics firm that develops remote-controlled robotic systems primarily for military and security applications. Their product line includes explosive ordnance disposal robots designed for bomb disposal, surveillance, and hazardous material handling. It has supplied its bomb disposal robotic products to the Irish Defence Forces. The Tralee company, which has become a key player among robotics companies in Ireland, has been exporting its products to international customers since 2006 including the UK, Switzerland, and the US. Beyond robotics, it offers solutions in embedded control systems, simulation, wireless telephony, remote sensor data acquisition, including radiological and X-ray equipment.
ABB
Engineering and automation behemoth ABB has a long-standing presence in Ireland. In 2023, the Zurich-headquartered firm opened a research and development (R&D) centre for the paper and pulp industry in Dundalk, Co Louth. It deploys a range of advanced technologies, including additive manufacturing, collaborative robots, and augmented/virtual reality for training and field service delivery. In early 2025, ABB announced the spin-off of its robotics division into a separate entity, which features an impressive lineup of robots, controllers, and software solutions aimed at boosting productivity and efficiency across sectors such as automotive, electronics, logistics, and healthcare.
Thermo King (Trane Technologies)
Thermo King, a subsidiary of Dublin-headquartered Trane Technologies, collaborated with Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology in 2021 to develop a Bachelor of Engineering in automation and robotics in 2021. It also established a robotics automation training centre at its manufacturing plant in Galway, aiming to upskill the local workforce in engineering, automation, and robotics. Thermo King specialises in manufacturing transport temperature control systems.
Pilz
German automation firm Pilz has a strong presence in Ireland through its operations in Cork. It is known for its focus on safety automation and has increasingly integrated robotics into its portfolio, offering solutions that ensure safe human-robot collaboration in industrial environments.
How the Irish government is fuelling growth of robotics
In 2018, Ireland earmarked €500 million over 10 years to R&D under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) as part of Project Ireland 2040.The primary objective of the fund is to provide momentum to disruptive innovative technologies such as AI and robotics, and drive collaborations between industry and the research sector on the development of ground-breaking technologies. To draw down funding under DTIF, project partners must be a current client of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta, or an eligible Research Performing Organisation.
Home to 16 of the world’s top 20 tech multinationals, Ireland offers a competitive environment for companies keen to advance in AI and related disruptive technologies, including robotics. Initiatives such as Innovation Vouchers, Technology Gateways, and R&D Grants play a vital role in fuelling innovation, providing both indigenous firms and multinationals with the resources needed to develop and scale cutting-edge solutions.
Beyond this, Ireland offers a 30% tax credit on qualifying R&D expenditures.
Explore why Ireland is the ideal base for robotics Ireland companies looking to scale across Europe.
Key trends in Ireland’s robotics sector
- Increased adoption of cobots, driven by the need for increased productivity
- Demand for automation is rising amid growing labour shortages
- Advances in AI and machine learning are making cobots more adaptable