Meet The Cohort
Forge Robotics
Forge Robotics
As part of our AI Venture Forge “Meet the Cohort” series, we’re thrilled to feature one of the most forward-thinking startups tackling one of manufacturing’s most pressing crises: Forge Robotics. They’re not just automating tasks – they’re redefining how robots think, with a bold, AI-first approach to welding automation.
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Company | Robotics AI
What problem are you solving in manufacturing with robot “brains”?
We are tackling one of the most urgent threats to global manufacturing, the skilled labour shortage. Welding, in particular, is facing a crisis with the American Welding Society projecting that 330,000 new welding professionals are needed by 2028. Experienced welders are ageing out, fewer people are entering the trade, and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with demand.
To solve this, we are giving manufacturing robots the brains that they have been missing. Traditional industrial robots require perfect setups, rigid fixtures, and hardcoded paths. That only works in high-volume, low-mix production. But the real world is messier. Our AI-powered system gives robots the perception, adaptability, and decision-making needed to work like a human: scan the part, understand the geometry, and execute welds, without needing everything to be perfect.
How does your solution integrate with existing robotic systems?
In theory, AI could be retrofitted onto existing welding robots, but in practice, most industrial cells aren’t built for it. They’re rigid, rule-based, and designed for fenced-off robots that can’t safely collaborate with humans. Retrofitting into that environment is technically possible, but rarely practical.
Instead, we’re designing Forge as a full-stack AI-native welding system: a modular cobot-based cell built from off-the-shelf hardware, outfitted with our own perception and motion intelligence. It’s fast to install, doesn’t require complex fixturing, and is safe to use around people, which means it can slot into dynamic shop floors where traditional automation can’t.
What kind of impact can manufacturers expect in terms of productivity or cost savings?
A single Forge-powered welding system saves up to €300K over 5 years compared to adding a full-time welder. It runs with near-zero downtime, doesn’t require reprogramming for every part change, and can scan, understand, and weld new geometries with simple human input. Beyond cost, we also reduce skilled labor bottlenecks, letting companies expand capacity without the pain of trying to recruit hard-to-find welders.
How will the AI Venture Forge mentorship help you refine your go-to-market?
For us, it’s all about the connections. The people that we will meet and those who we get connected to will be the reason that we move towards getting our product working on manufacturing floors in weeks not years. We know that the technology we are building and the industry we are breaking into need the right connections, and we believe we can make many of them here at AI Venture Forge.
What barriers have you encountered around the adoption of AI-driven robotics?
The biggest barrier is trust. Manufacturers worry that AI is a black box, and welding is too critical to gamble with. To overcome this, we focus on transparency, simulation, and human-in-the-loop workflows. Our customers see the AI’s proposed path, verify it in simulation, and then let it carry out the task. It is very much about being an assistant to human operators.
Which types of manufacturers are you targeting first?
We’re starting with high-mix, low-volume fabricators in aerospace, ag-tech, and structural steel. These are companies that do short-run welding jobs, where traditional robots don’t make economic sense. They need flexibility, not fixed-line production, and that’s where Forge excels. Over time, we’ll expand to more standardized environments, but our wedge is solving pain where legacy automation fails.
Where would you like to see Forge Robotics after the 12-week programme?
By the end of the program, we want a clear go-to-market path with at least two committed pilot customers. We’re also aiming to be investor-ready, with a tight story, early traction, and a live demo pipeline that shows how Forge scales beyond one-off installs into a repeatable, venture-scale automation platform.
