PIKES at the pitch event during Investor Days Thuringia

Business

When Open Space Becomes a Warehouse: PIKES Is Rethinking Intralogistics

From the TRIP Class to an Outstanding Pitch at Investor Days Thuringia

Date

10. September 2026

Location

Defense Barracks Erfurt

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A robot that not only transports boxes but also picks them up, stacks them, and stores them wherever there is space: The Thuringian startup PIKES combines autonomous robotics with its own software to create “Warehouse Anywhere.” With this solution, the team from Großlöbichau aims to make intralogistics more flexible for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies—without having to remodel the factory floor first.

When High-Tech Waits for Materials

Modern production facilities are characterized by highly automated processes and expensive specialized machinery. PIKES focuses on a key aspect in between: material flow.

The team describes a problem it currently observes in medium-sized manufacturing companies. When parts are missing, materials need to be sourced, or transport routes no longer align with the production process, machines often come to a standstill. Traditional warehouse and logistics structures, on the other hand, cannot be easily relocated. Shelving units have fixed locations, traffic routes are defined, and renovations cost time and money. PIKES turns this logic on its head.

From the TRIP Class to the Pitch Stage

As part of this process, PIKES was part of the 7th batch of the Thuringian Regional Innovation Program (TRIP). At Decision Day in March 2026, eleven startups presented their business models. PIKES was subsequently among the five teams that advanced to the final TRIP Class. There, the focus was on investment readiness, business model, market, financials, and preparation for meetings with investors.

The next public step took place on June 11, 2026, at the Investor Days Thuringia in Erfurt. There, 20 technology-focused startups presented their companies to investors and the innovation ecosystem. PIKES impressed the investor jury and won the award from the Thuringia Foundation for Technology, Innovation, and Research. The award came with a prize of 1,500 euros.

Apply to TRIP

Erlebe das Startup PIKES auf der Bühne der Investor Days Thüringen 2026

A warehouse that's built wherever there's space

Warehouse Anywhere consists of two components: autonomous mobile robots and intralogistics software developed by PIKES.

The robots don’t just transport small load carriers between two points. They can pick up containers directly from the floor, stack them, store them temporarily, and retrieve them again as needed. This allows open floor space to be used as temporary storage areas without the need for permanent shelving systems everywhere.

The software handles the second half of the task. It manages where each type of material is located, when it is needed at which location, and what storage and transportation movements are required to fulfill those needs. As a result, warehousing and material flow are no longer defined exclusively by the existing warehouse layout but are organized digitally.

At first glance, this sounds like a minor detail in production logistics. In fact, it represents a fundamental shift in perspective: Production doesn’t have to adapt to a rigid warehouse. The warehouse should adapt to production.

PIKES gewinnt den Pitch Preis auf den Investor Days Thüringen

The Next Step

Winning the pitch competition was not the end of the story for PIKES. The startup has since been nominated for the 2026Innovation Award Thuringia for its innovation.

This has once again brought “Warehouse Anywhere” into the spotlight—this time as a technological development from Thuringia that is holding its own against innovations from the business, academic, and research communities.

Whether this will result in an award will be decided at the awards ceremony on December 9, 2026, in Weimar.

For PIKES, however, the real test remains elsewhere: the production hall. That’s where we’ll see how well the idea works—viewing warehouses not as fixed locations, but as flexible functions.