Backing Physical AI: Building a hardware startup in the age of AI
Hardware used to be the thing investors politely walked away from. In the last few months, that changed.
Physical AI — robotics, autonomy, embodied intelligence, machines that do something in the real world — has moved from a research curiosity to one of the most actively funded categories in tech. CEE is not watching from the sidelines: some of the most interesting Physical AI companies in Europe are being built here.
Backing Physical AI brings founders and investors into one room to talk about what's actually happening.
The panel: "Building a hardware startup in the age of AI"
Jakub Křikava — General Partner, Credo Ventures
Ondřej Lipold — Partner, Tensor Ventures
Brian Walker — CEO, REVEL
Jakub Nešetřil — Vice-Rector at CTU
Hosted by Kate Novakova.
What we'll get into
How the Physical AI industry is evolving — and which trends are real vs. hype
What building a hardware company looks like today, from the founder's chair
How VC perception of hardware and Physical AI has shifted in the past few months
Concrete examples of Physical AI investments in the CEE region
What the next few years look like from both sides of the table
Who this is for
Founders building in hardware, robotics and Physical AI, investors looking at the category, and anyone in the CEE tech ecosystem who wants a non-superficial take on where this is going. Expect ~80 people who actually know the space.
Schedule
17:30 Doors open
18:00 Welcome — Tensor Ventures, Startup Kitchen, Credo Ventures
18:05 Panel discussion
19:05 Q&A with the audience
19:15 Networking & drinks
22:00 Doors close
Where
Tensor Machinehouse, Pernerova 57, Prague — Tensor's own space, built for exactly this kind of evening.
Seats are limited. Register below.