Spanish early stage startup developing a general purpose humanoid robot. Founded in 2023 by Remi Cadene, aspiring to create versatile humanoids for various sectors.
UMA is part of the new European wave of humanoid companies centered on practical deployment rather than pure spectacle. Its pitch combines open robotics DNA, frontier AI talent, and an explicit plan to move quickly into pilots in logistics and manufacturing.
On its official site, UMA says it plans to launch several pilot programs in logistics and manufacturing during 2026 as the first step toward broader deployment. That makes the company notable not only for its founding pedigree, but also for how quickly it is trying to move from stealth into real operational environments.
UMA, short for Universal Mechanical Assistant, is a Paris robotics startup building general-purpose mobile and humanoid robots with human-level dexterity. Led by Remi Cadene, the company combines talent from Tesla Optimus, Google DeepMind, and Hugging Face while aiming to launch early pilots in logistics and manufacturing during 2026.
In December 2025, UMA publicly revealed its full identity as Universal Mechanical Assistant and positioned itself as a European builder of general-purpose mobile and humanoid robots. The launch marked the transition from stealth planning into a public recruiting, investor, and product-building phase.
At launch, UMA highlighted a founding team spanning Remi Cadene from Tesla Autopilot, Tesla Optimus, and Hugging Face, plus leaders with backgrounds at Google DeepMind, NYU, and open-source humanoid design. The company used that lineup to signal a blend of embodied AI research, robot hardware development, and open robotics tooling.
On its official site, UMA says it plans to launch several pilot programs in logistics and manufacturing during 2026 as the first step toward broader deployment. That makes the company notable not only for its founding pedigree, but also for how quickly it is trying to move from stealth into real operational environments.
