Gecko Robotics and Siemens Energy team up for major European project

Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics Inc. scored one of its biggest partnerships yet that will see the startup's infrastructure-scaling robots climb to new heights across Europe following a major collaboration with Siemens Energy’s European Field Service organization.

Over the next three years, Gecko will work with Siemens Energy to deploy its robots for inspection and maintenance tasks on critical infrastructure throughout Europe, building new technologies and services for customers along the way. The partnership expands on work Gecko has already started in several European countries, which has seen the North Side-headquartered startup's robots placed in industries like pulp and paper, renewable power generation and other energy forms such as oil and gas.

The team-up also comes as many European countries face potential energy rationing this winter as Russia threatens to cut its oil flows to the West as part of Russia's response to sanctions imposed on it by Europe, the U.S. and others after Russia began invading Ukraine earlier this year.

"Our partnership with the team at Siemens Energy gives us amazing momentum to help accelerate the impact of data and digitization across Europe, Jake Loosararian, CEO and co-founder of Gecko, said in an email statement to Pittsburgh Inno. "This is a critical time for Europe and it’s imperative that decision makers have the right data to keep their vital infrastructure services operating. Gecko was made for these times and we’re excited to partner with our friends at Siemens Energy and get to work."

Gecko's footprint in Europe includes five employees for now. As a result of this partnership, Gecko expects to ramp that figure up significantly in the coming months. It employs a total of about 230 workers globally, about half of whom work out of Pittsburgh.

The collaboration with Siemens Energy is the latest addition to a transformative year for Gecko. In March, the startup raised a $73 million Series C funding round, which has since remained the year's largest capital raise for a Pittsburgh startup and is subsequently one of the largest funding rounds seen by a local tech firm in years. Y Combinator-backed Gecko said it has directly raised over $122 million since it first began taking on funding in 2016.

In addition to its Pittsburgh headquarters and aforementioned European presence, the company also maintains offices in Austin and Houston, Texas, as well as in New York and Boston. Loosararian and Chief Product Officer Troy Demmer founded the company in 2013.