Former Microsoft Researcher Launches Data Center Robotics Startup Exclaim Robotics

A new Swiss startup founded by a former Microsoft and Nvidia engineer is setting out to bring autonomous robots into the data center, targeting a critical gap in the physical layer of AI infrastructure. Exclaim Robotics, based in Zurich, has secured $4.95 million in pre-seed funding to develop mobile robots designed for rack-side maintenance tasks in next-generation AI data centers.

The company is backed by Swiss pre-seed fund Founderful and London-based pre-seed fund Playfair. Exclaim aims to offer what it calls a "remote hands" automation platform, with mobile autonomous robots focused on "dexterous manipulation problems rather than heavy lifting." The robots are being designed to clean and replace optics, reconnect copper cabling, and re-seat drives precisely, all without requiring changes to the building's infrastructure.

According to the company, the robot can navigate the data hall on its own, position itself at a rack, and work the front face from the floor to the top rail. While full technical details have not been disclosed, a render on the company's website suggests a platform with wheels carrying a vertical stand equipped with a pair of robotic arms.

Exclaim was founded by Helen Oleynikova, a former researcher at Swiss university ETH Zürich who has also held roles at Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia, with her work at the latter two focused on robotics. "I first found out why robots in data centers make sense at Microsoft, through collaboration with an internal team, and after looking across a lot of verticals for where robotics could actually be commercially viable, this is the one I kept coming back to," Oleynikova said on LinkedIn. "It's one of the fastest-evolving industries in physical infrastructure, where increased power densities are running right up against the laws of physics: including switching to 800V DC in the next generation of AI racks. This poses many safety questions, and we think robots are the answer."

Oleynikova also co-created nvblox, the 3D mapping and collision-avoidance library now shipped in Nvidia Isaac ROS. She is joined by three founding engineers from Nvidia and ETH, including founding engineer Patrick Pfreundschuh, who holds a PhD from ETH Zürich. Exclaim is currently hiring for engineering roles in Zurich.

The funding round reflects growing recognition that the physical layer of AI infrastructure remains largely unautomated, even as compute density and power requirements soar. "The next generation of AI data centers runs at 800V DC inside the rack – at that voltage, routine maintenance becomes genuinely hazardous," Founderful said on LinkedIn. "AI infrastructure is scaling fast, and the physical layer is the one part that hasn't been automated yet. Exclaim Robotics is the team to do it."

The funding will help Exclaim build its first prototypes, purchase robotics hardware, and expand its engineering team. "The first year is about proving the beachhead tasks repeatably, without ever damaging anything," Playfair said. "The key engineering challenges to work on will revolve around autonomy and dexterity. Once the robot is proven to be working, [the] first real-world deployments within data centers will follow."

The startup's emergence highlights a broader industry shift toward automation in data center operations, driven by rising power densities and the safety risks associated with next-generation AI racks. If successful, Exclaim's robots could play a key role in enabling safer, more efficient maintenance at scale, as operators grapple with the operational demands of AI-era facilities.