From guiding the blind to delivering goods: Romania’s .lumen expands into urban robotics with €11 million grant

Cluj-Napoca-based DeepTech startup .lumen, known for its AI-powered glasses for the blind, has secured an €11 million grant for the project “PABLO – Autonomous Robots for Urban Delivery”, funded under the Intelligent Growth, Digitalization, and Financial Instruments Programme 2021–2027.

.lumen was also included in the weekly roundup of our sister publication HealthHack for its January €5 million funding round.

“We’ve proven that PAD AI technology can help visually impaired individuals move independently. Now, we’re extending it to reimagine how goods move in cities. Imagine humanoid and quadruped robots walking on sidewalks, delivering your food or groceries,”said Cornel Amariei, CEO and founder of .lumen.

While this is public grant funding rather than venture capital, it aligns with a wider European trend in 2025 of financing robotics and automation for logistics and inspection.

Across Europe, several robotics and AI ventures have attracted private funding this year. Warsaw-based Nomagic raised €41.5 million to expand AI-driven robotic arms; Munich’s Filics secured €13.5 million for autonomous load-carrying robots; Energy Robotics from Darmstadt raised €11.5 million Series A for inspection robots and drones; and London startup Synkka secured pre-Seed backing (c. €0.5–1 million) to develop an autonomous workforce for parcel delivery.

Within this landscape, .lumen’s publicly funded initiative is distinctive. Its €11 million project – driven by a research-industry consortium – positions Romania among the few European countries advancing humanoid and quadruped robotics for urban logistics.

Compared with the VC-backed rounds in Germany, Poland, and the UK, .lumen’s funding highlights how EU-supported R&D can complement private investment in building Europe’s autonomous mobility ecosystem.

“The PABLO project reflects our mission to turn fundamental research into real technological applications, through close collaboration between academia and industry. This synergy is an essential step in strengthening Romania’s ability to develop intelligent, sustainable, and competitive systems at a European level in robotics and autonomous mobility,” said Alexandru Gal, Researcher at IMSAR.

Founded in 2020, .lumen is a research startup developing Pedestrian Autonomous Driving (PAD AI), a technology first showcased through the .lumen Glasses for the Blind. Founded by Cornel Amariei, the company creates AI-powered mobility solutions that restore independence to the visually impaired – and now, autonomy to urban logistics.

The project will run from Sept. 2025 to Sept. 2028, bringing together a consortium led by .lumen, alongside the Institute of Solid Mechanics of the Romanian Academy (IMSAR), BreadCrumbs Interactive (fleet management software), and Linnify (responsible for the development of the delivery app).

Together, the teams are developing a new generation of humanoid and quadruped robots for urban delivery, designed to navigate autonomously on sidewalks and through crowded areas, offering a sustainable, efficient alternative to traditional delivery fleets.

The goal of the project is to develop an autonomous urban delivery solution, powered by intelligent humanoid and quadruped robots capable of reducing delivery costs and times, minimising environmental impact, and meeting the growing demand for fast, flexible, and sustainable services.

Expected outcomes include a complete software and hardware system for autonomous robots, the creation of three new R&D positions, a family of national and international patents, and copyright protection for AI-based pedestrian navigation software.

By automating last-mile delivery, the project could offer Europe a strategic advantage and transform Romanian DeepTech into a model of sustainable urban logistics.

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