Danish Startup Develops Robot to Streamline Hospital Logistics and Free Up Time for Patient Care
The Danish startup Essential Robotics is developing an autonomous, mobile robot for transporting empty hospital beds. The company has now been selected by the Odense Robotics StartUp Fund for a place in the Technological Institute’s robot incubator.
Every day, thousands of hours are spent at Danish hospitals transporting empty beds between departments and washing facilities – time that could instead be used on patient care.That is what the Danish startup Essential Robotics – led by Anton Jørgensen, Emil Månsson, and Rasmus Junge – wants to change with their autonomous, mobile robot, which can automate the heavy logistics tasks and free up human resources.
“We believe that the primary task of hospitals is to take care of patients. But around that care, there are many other tasks such as logistics, and this is where we step in to free up human hands so they have more time for the patients,”
The company has now been selected by the Odense Robotics StartUp Fund, where robot and drone startups from Denmark and abroad gain access to soft funding, mentors, and a dedicated incubator environment at the Technological Institute in Odense.
From A to B and back again
If you ask Anton Jørgensen, the numbers speak for themselves: Every year, there are about 800,000 hospital admissions in Denmark, and for each admission, a hospital bed must be moved from clean storage to the ward and back again.
A manual task that can take 15–20 minutes each time.
“A typical scenario would be that a patient has just been discharged and has left behind a used hospital bed. The robot then drives to the ward, picks up the bed, brings it to be washed, and when the bed is clean, the robot brings it back again,”
From observation to innovation
The concept originated when Essential Robotics’ CTO, Rasmus Junge, worked on a hospital robotics project during his studies.
During this time, he observed the scale of the logistics challenge: hospital corridors were often crowded with beds, trolleys, and equipment obstructing the way. While logistics is a necessary function, it typically has lower priority compared to direct patient care. This realization became the starting point for developing a solution to address the problem.
Robotics is the way forward
While many solutions already exist for smaller hospital items, Essential Robotics sees a significant lack of solutions for larger elements such as hospital beds.
During the stay in the incubator, the company will particularly focus on the commercial side of the business. They also hopes to expand the concept to other countries in the future and sees enormous potential for robotics technology in hospitals in general.
“As part of the incubator, I hope that we can push the concept forward – especially in relation to the commercial side and expand our business model and scale up in Denmark and possibly also other countries. Good healthcare is reliable and efficient, and the path to that goes through robotics technology. We are trying to bring our robotics solution out into the world. Being part of the incubator places us right next to people who have already done it before,”
Further information
Casper Rundager
Investment manager - Robotics & drones
With a deep passion for international trade and commercial growth, I thrive helping foreign companies in the robotics, drone, tech and automation industry establish and grow their business in Odense. My background is within product management and business development in global software and automation companies, and having lived and worked abroad myself, I know the value of networks and collaboration. I look very much forward to helping you take the next step.