UBTECH Brings Walker C1 to Slovenia in Balkan Expansion Push

Key Takeaways

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• UBTECH presented Walker C1 at Slovenia’s MOS fair as part of a push toward commercial use in the Balkans.
• Regional partner Hiproject says its exclusive UBTECH distribution and integration agreement covers five countries.
• The announcement concerns demonstrations, application development and testing; it contains no factory commitment or quantified customer orders.

UBTECH is building out its presence in southeastern Europe, presenting its Walker C1 humanoid at Slovenia’s MOS trade fair while local partner Hiproject prepares to develop applications and support deployments across the region.

In a September 18 announcement, UBTECH described the event as Walker C1’s entry into the European market. The company says the robot walked out of its transport case autonomously and performed a dance, while its Cruzr S2 service robot participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The 58th MOS fair runs September 16–20 in Celje. The appearance offers visibility for UBTECH’s hardware, but the more substantive development is the local commercial support taking shape around it.

A partner for five markets

Hiproject says it signed an exclusive agreement with UBTECH at IFA Berlin for distribution and integration in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia. Its stated responsibilities extend beyond supplying robots to application development, integration, training and service.

The Slovenian engineering company says Walker C1 has now joined its team for capability testing and development of real-world uses. The robot was previously displayed at IFA Berlin, making MOS a regional introduction rather than its first European public appearance.

Neither UBTECH’s post nor the partner announcements cited here disclose a shipment target, contract value or a manufacturing investment. A demonstration and a distribution agreement establish a route toward customers; they do not establish a fleet of robots already performing paid work.

Another route into Europe

The move fits a broader expansion by Chinese humanoid manufacturers, although the commitments differ. AGIBOT and Minth’s Serbia initiative concerns local manufacturing, while AGIBOT’s IFA push combines certification work with a Tekpoint distribution alliance.

Hiproject itself says it has also agreed to distribute and integrate AGIBOT robots in Slovenia and Croatia. Local integrators may therefore become important points of access for several manufacturers, helping customers move from choosing a robot to making it useful in an existing operation.

That activity is unfolding alongside the domestic developers profiled in The Humanoids of Europe. Europe is both a source of robot technology and a market in which overseas suppliers are building relationships. UBTECH’s Slovenian appearance is a modest step in that process; the next test is whether those relationships produce sustained deployments.