Wandercraft Expands Industrial Push, Inks Deal With Auto Supplier SAPA

Wandercraft, the Parisian robotics firm known for its medical exoskeletons, is deepening its new focus on industrial automation. The company announced today it has formed a "Deployment Partnership" with SAPA, an Italian Tier 1 automotive supplier.

The deal will see Wandercraft's new industrial humanoid, the Calvin-40, implemented in SAPA's manufacturing operations. This news comes just five months after Wandercraft announced its strategic pivot into the industrial sector, backed by a partnership with automotive giant Renault.

From OEM to Tier 1

The move is strategic. By securing partnerships with both an Original Equipment Manufacturer (Renault) and a major Tier 1 supplier (SAPA), Wandercraft gains a foothold across the automotive value chain. According to the announcement, this makes SAPA the first industrial manufacturer in Italy to formally commit to integrating humanoid robotics into its automation plans.

The first phase of the deployment will focus on tasks that are a natural fit for a "heavy-payload" humanoid: the high-precision, repetitive movement of large and heavy parts.

A Use-Case Driven Approach

This aligns with Wandercraft's stated strategy, which diverges from the "general-purpose" goal of many competitors. "We don’t believe in building a general-purpose robot and hoping customers figure out how to use it," said Matthieu Masselin, CEO and co-founder of Wandercraft, in the release. "Our strategy is deliberately use-case driven, meaning Calvin-40 is modular by design and will build towards that generalizable future starting from the point of usefulness."

Wandercraft's approach leverages over a decade of experience in a different field: medical-grade, self-balancing exoskeletons. The company's Atalante and Eve devices, which allow individuals with walking impairments to move hands-free, are deployed in over 100 rehabilitation centers.

Europe's Industrial Humanoid Scene Heats Up

Wandercraft's deal is the latest in a series of significant moves solidifying Europe's position in the industrial humanoid race. Rather than a single company, a multi-faceted ecosystem is emerging, driven by industrial giants actively partnering with and testing a variety of platforms.

German industrial supplier Schaeffler has become a central player in this trend, adopting a multi-pronged strategy to integrate humanoids into its factories. The company's deepest commitment is to fellow German firm Neura Robotics. In a "trailblazing" partnership, Schaeffler not only plans to deploy several thousand of Neura's 4NE-1 humanoids by 2035 but will also become a key component supplier, jointly developing and manufacturing actuators for the robots.

At the same time, Schaeffler is aggressively testing other platforms:

• It recently completed a successful proof-of-concept trial with UK-based startup Humanoid, using a pre-alpha robot for a bin-picking task. That project is now set to advance to a second phase using the newer HMND 01 Alpha robot.
• The company was also named an industrial pilot partner for the AEON humanoid, a new robot from Swedish technology firm Hexagon.

Wandercraft's use-case-driven strategy with major industrial partners like Renault and SAPA fits squarely within this landscape. It underscores a distinctly European approach focused on securing major industrial customers and co-developing specific, high-value applications as the primary path to commercial scale.