SWARM Biotactics secures €13Mn to advance Bio-Robotics from lab to field

Germany-based SWARM Biotactics, developer of bio-robotic systems based on fully controllable living insects for mission-critical operations, has secured €10 million in seed funding, bringing its total raised to €13 million, including a €3 million pre-seed. The round was backed by a consortium of international investors from Europe, the United States, and Australia, including Vertex Ventures US, Possible Ventures, and Capnamic, which was the first investor in the pre-seed round. Several early backers also increased their stakes in the oversubscribed round.

SWARM Biotactics is creating a new category of robotics: living, intelligent systems designed for environments where machines can’t go—cluttered, denied, and high-risk terrain. Bio-robotic swarms consist of cockroaches equipped with a custom-built backpack for control, sensing, and secure communication, enabling precise navigation and real-time data collection in the most inaccessible places. SWARM delivers highly scalable bio-robotic systems for defence, security, and disaster response.

“We’re entering a decade where access, autonomy, and resilience define geopolitical advantage,” said Stefan Wilhelm, CEO of SWARM Biotactics. “Conventional systems fail where control is needed most—denied zones, collapsed infrastructure, politically complex terrain.

SWARM is the first company building an entirely new category of robotics: biologically integrated, AI-enabled, and mass-deployable systems for persistent intelligence in places no drone or ground robot can reach. This funding moves us from deep tech to deployment—delivering the infrastructure democracies need to operate more smartly, more safely, and with total tactical awareness.”