Politechnika Innovation, a special-purpose vehicle of the Poznan University of Technology, became a shareholder of GMW and Sky Robot Factory at the end of April 2023 in order to support start-ups of scientists in the development of technology in the field of automation and robotics.

The GMW team, based on a license agreement with the Poznan University of Technology, will offer the service of robotic operation of the analytical laboratory. The Robot as a Service formula would be particularly useful in the event of a temporary lack of employees or an increase in orders. The company wants to reach small entities not interested in investing in expensive, specialised, automated analysis stations.

Sky Robot Factory will design, build and implement manipulators that allow the attachment of optical telescopes and allow the instrument to be precisely aimed at the observed object, including in astronomical observation tasks. The production of these devices is to be small scale and characterised by a flexible production process, which will allow to meet the unusual requirements of customers. The demand for this type of specialised manipulator results mainly from the dynamic increase in the number of astronomical observatories, especially in the sector of artificial satellites of the Earth.

Politechnika Innovation is an entity of the Poznan University of Technology established for indirect commercialisation, i.e. taking up shares in spin-off companies. The activities of the special-purpose vehicle constitute a formal supplement to the competencies of the Technology Transfer Centre of the Poznan University of Technology, responsible for direct commercialisation - mainly the sale and licensing of rights to the scientific results.

The business model of Politechnika Innovation also assumes cooperation with the socio-economic environment of the university in terms of offering research services and conducting commissioned works to solve specific problems, primarily technological and organisational.