Körber buys into NAiSE, the Stuttgart maker of vendor-neutral AGV and AMR fleet software
Körber said on Oct 22 that it is acquiring a stake in NAiSE GmbH, a self-funded Stuttgart company founded in 2017 whose software runs AGVs and AMRs from different makers and manual forklifts on one control layer.
Size and price were not disclosed; the founders keep running the company, and the two plan joint intralogistics use cases including humanoid robots. NAiSE says 28+ AGV and AMR brands are compatible.
Körber, the Hamburg technology group, is acquiring a stake in NAiSE GmbH, a Stuttgart company that makes vendor-neutral fleet management software for intralogistics, the two companies said in a joint press release on Oct 22. They did not disclose the size of the stake or the price.
NAiSE was founded in 2017 and has been self-funded until now. Its platform puts automated guided vehicles, autonomous mobile robots from different manufacturers and manually driven industrial trucks on one control layer, and connects to whichever warehouse management, execution or control system a site already runs. NAiSE says more than 28 AGV and AMR brands are compatible.
Why Körber wants a neutral layer
The release frames the deal around a practical problem: as plants and warehouses add vehicles from several vendors, each fleet ends up controlled by its own software, which limits efficiency and transparency. Körber will fold the investment into the software portfolio of its Supply Chain business area and turn an existing collaboration into a strategic partnership, with the aim of tying NAiSE's platform more closely to Körber's warehouse solutions. The partners also intend to develop new intralogistics use cases, including humanoid robots, without giving examples or dates.
Independence is part of the deal
NAiSE keeps its brand and says it remains open to other system integrators and vehicle makers; its founders Kai Przybysz-Herz, Robert Libert and Raphael Kusumoto keep operational management, and Körber acts as a strategic investor. That neutrality is the asset Körber is paying for: vehicle-agnostic orchestration is only credible if rival vehicle makers keep integrating with it.
Context from MEKAWIRE data
The deal lands the same day Schaeffler chose Wandelbots NOVA as a plant-wide robot software layer ([story](/news/schaeffler-wandelbots-nova-physical-ai-platform-all-plants-40-percent-lower-automation-cost-gtc-berlin-20261022)), a second German bet this week that the software coordinating mixed robot fleets is where value accrues. Our [warehouse robots explainer](/news/warehouse-robots-amr-market-2026-explained-117500-logistics-robots-sold-venture-money-moved-to-humanoids-20261017) shows venture money moving from logistics robots to humanoids, which makes a humanoid-ready orchestration layer a hedge for warehouse operators. Company page: [NAiSE](/companies/naise).
- Körber acquires a stake in NAiSE GmbH; size and price not disclosed
- Joint use cases planned, including humanoid robots
- Founded 2017, Stuttgart, self-funded until now
- Vendor-neutral fleet, traffic, order and warehouse management for AGVs, AMRs and manual trucks
- Oct 22, 2026, Hamburg
- Founders Kai Przybysz-Herz (CEO), Robert Libert and Raphael Kusumoto stay in charge
- 28+ AGV and AMR brands, per NAiSE