EIC Coffee Break: Wingtra and Cellumation on moving mapping and intralogistics from lab to market
- ›Wingtra and Cellumation featured in the EIC Coffee Break after winning pitching sessions at the EIC Investor Day on Industrial Tech in January 2023.
- ›Wingtra develops a fixed-wing VTOL drone for professional mapping and surveying, a design that trades mechanical simplicity for control software complexity.
- ›Cellumation commercialises the celluveyor, a hexagonal, omnidirectional wheel surface that aims to replace traditional conveyors for tightly packed intralogistics.
- ›Both companies credit academic research and tight R&D teams for early progress and identify pandemic disruption, supply chain pressures and regulatory complexity as key challenges.
- ›The European Innovation Council Business Acceleration Services provide matchmaking, coaching and procurement support, but commercial scaling still depends on pilots, integration and follow-on funding.
EIC Coffee Break with Wingtra and Cellumation
The European Innovation Council Coffee Break series spotlights innovators supported by the EIC and the people behind their projects. In this edition two winners from the EIC Investor Day on Industrial Tech, held on 24 and 25 January 2023, describe how technical research became a product, how they navigated hard moments and what they learned from pitching to investors.
The companies and their claims
Wingtra and Cellumation approach different industrial problems with hardware led innovations and software control layers. Wingtra produces vertically taking off and landing drones optimised for mapping and survey missions. Cellumation has built a modular conveying surface called the celluveyor that uses individually driven omnidirectional wheels to move and rotate objects on a flat, reconfigurable surface.
| Company | Founded / Base | Core product | Notable claims |
| Wingtra | 2017, Zurich, Switzerland | WingtraOne vertical takeoff fixed-wing VTOL drone for mapping and surveying | Rooted in ETH Zurich research, claims global leadership in fixed-wing VTOL mapping drones, extensive R&D and distributor network |
| Cellumation | 2017, Bremen, Germany | Celluveyor modular omnidirectional wheel conveyor surface for intralogistics | Claims high space efficiency and flexibility, originated from university research and early DHL pilots, recognised by EIC |
How the ideas started and what makes their technologies different
Technical context and why it matters
Both products illustrate a recurring pattern in deep tech where a hardware simplification is compensated by more sophisticated software and control. For Wingtra the benefit is longer range and faster coverage for mapping users who need centimetre level data. For Cellumation the value proposition is flexible automation in constrained floor space where conventional conveyors and robotics struggle to combine all handling functions. The economics of both approaches depend on system integration, maintenance, software maturity and the ability to run reliable pilots at customer sites.
Company backgrounds and milestones
| Wingtra facts | Detail |
| Headquarters | Zurich, Switzerland |
| Market entry | Early 2017 |
| Team size | Company states 100+ employees, 30+ in R&D |
| R&D roots | Autonomous Systems Lab at ETH Zurich and academic theses in VTOL research |
| Distribution | Claims 100+ distributors worldwide and partnerships with equipment dealers |
| Cellumation timeline | Event |
| 2012 | First celluveyor patent filed |
| 2015 | Received EXIST start-up grant supporting early research project |
| 2016 | DHL Innovation Award and invitation to exhibit at DHL Innovation Center |
| 2017 | Company founded in May |
| 2018 | Seed investor Vector Conveyors joins |
| 2019 | First celluveyor in operation at DHL |
| 2020 | Selected by the European Innovation Council among over 2000 applicants |
| 2021 | Team grows beyond 50 employees |
Experience at the EIC Investor Day and the role of EIC Business Acceleration Services
Both founders participated in the EIC Investor Day on Industrial Tech in January 2023 and won the pitching sessions in their categories. EIC events are part of a broader Business Acceleration Services portfolio that provides matchmaking, coaching and procurement support to EIC awardees. The programme is deliberately focused on helping deep tech companies access investors, buyers and pilot partners, but organisers and participants stress that investor introductions are only the starting point for longer series of meetings and due diligence.
| EIC BAS metric | Value | Note |
| One-to-one meetings facilitated | +20,000 | Since 2021 via EIC programmes |
| Deals reported | 595 | Since 2021 |
| Raised via investor outreach | EUR 350 million | Since 2021 |
| Raised by EIC Scaling Club members | EUR 1.2 billion | Reported after joining club |
| Turnover from trade fairs | EUR 42 million | Since 2024 only |
| Pilots supported | 22 ongoing, 16 completed | Supported with EUR 1.93 million |
Founders on challenges and survival
Practical advice for new founders
Personal notes and leadership influences
Both founders named books and personal influences that help them navigate leadership. Elias Kleinmann mentioned 'Drive' by Daniel H. Pink for motivation theory and 'Thinking, Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman for insight into human decision making. Hendrik Thamer cited Tony Robbins' 'Awaken the Giant Within' for mindset and self-management.
A measured reading of the claims
Company statements such as being the 'world's leading' VTOL drone producer or achieving '95 percent less space than competing systems' should be treated as marketing claims until validated by independent comparisons, field studies or standardised benchmarks. The real test for hardware deep tech is consistent field performance, total cost of ownership over time and integration costs with existing customer systems. Winning investor pitch contests and EIC support are meaningful signals, but they are not a substitute for proof of customer economics.
What to watch next
For Wingtra watch regulatory approvals, flight category changes and new sensor integrations such as LIDAR or multispectral payloads that expand market reach. For Cellumation look for large scale pilots with logistics integrators and evidence of throughput, reliability and maintenance cost profiles compared to traditional conveyors and robotic cells. Both companies will benefit from demonstrable procurement wins and longer term customer contracts.
How innovators can access EIC support
The EIC Business Acceleration Services provide matchmaking, coaching and procurement programmes for awardees and other eligible innovators. Services include investor readiness, corporate partnership programming, support for innovation procurement and international trade fair participation. Open calls, events and services are published on the EIC Community platform and can be accessed with EU Login credentials.
Bottom line
Wingtra and Cellumation are examples of university rooted deep tech translating into commercial products. Their wins at the EIC Investor Day underline the role of public innovation support in facilitating investor and buyer introductions. The path ahead remains contingent on field validation, integration, regulatory clarity and follow-on funding. For investors and procurement officers these companies deserve closer inspection on operational metrics rather than accepting headline claims at face value.