Financing robots in care: funding, rental, refinancing

The budget is the real bottleneck

The need is undisputed: the Federal Statistical Office expects a gap of 280,000 to 690,000 care workers in Germany by 2049, and according to the OECD around 1.2 million health professionals are already missing across Europe today. What projects fail on is rarely the technology – it is the capital budget.

Our answer: we treat financing as part of the solution, not as an annex to the quotation. And we say openly when something does not add up.

The three routes

• Purchase: sensible where capital funds are available, funding has been drawn down and use is long-term at one site.
• Rental / Robot-as-a-Service: a monthly rate from the operating budget instead of depreciation. The usual route for pilots, for organisations without free capital budget and for a staged rollout.
• Funding and refinancing: depending on the type of institution, provider and federal state, programmes for digitalisation and technical equipment are open. We help classify which direction fits – the application is made by you or your provider organisation.

How we do the maths

• Time windows instead of full automation: the benefit arises where shifts are hard to staff. We calculate the shift, not the machine.
• In stages: first one unit, then expansion – the second robot is up and running faster than the first.
• Openly: term, quantity, service scope and funding options go into the calculation together. You see the assumptions, not just the result.

What we do not promise

We are not funding consultants and we do not file applications. We do not guarantee approval. And we do not claim that every project adds up – if the numbers do not hold, we say so in the first conversation. A project that fails in its second year costs you more than an honest no.

Your robot. Your data.

A robot working in your organisation sees and hears things that are nobody’s business outside it. That is why the AI processing runs on the device and not in someone else’s cloud. A permanent internet connection is not required for operation — closed hospital, care and laboratory networks are possible. What is created with you stays with you: you decide on storage, analysis and deletion. Through uGo+ you define who may start which tasks, and mission reports are auditable — the basis for a data protection impact assessment, for the works council and for the authorities.

Buy or rent: Robot-as-a-Service

You can buy or rent as Robot-as-a-Service. With rental you pay a recurring monthly rate covering hardware, software maintenance and service together — from the operating budget instead of the capital budget. This is the usual route for a pilot and for a step-by-step rollout across several sites.

An honest note: rental is not automatically cheaper than purchase — it shifts risk and timing. What adds up for your organisation depends on term, quantity, funding options and budget structure. We work through that openly with you in the first conversation instead of selling you a model. We do not publish prices, because configuration and integration scope decide the outcome — a figure without that context would be misleading.

Frequently asked questions

Is there funding for robotics in care?

Depending on the type of institution, provider and federal state, there are funding and refinancing routes for digitalisation and technical equipment. Which of them fit your project is something we classify together; the application and responsibility stay with you or your provider organisation.

Which is cheaper – purchase or rental?

There is no blanket answer. Rental shifts risk and timing; it is not automatically cheaper. For short terms and pilots, rental usually works out better; for long use at one site, purchase does.

What does the monthly Robot-as-a-Service rate cover?

Hardware, software maintenance and service are considered together. The exact scope is fixed in the contract – including response times.

Why are there no prices on the website?

Because configuration, integration scope and service level decide the outcome. A figure without that context would be misleading and would not help you with budget planning.

Can several sites procure jointly?

Yes. For providers with several facilities a staged rollout is usual: one pilot, then expansion. That lowers risk and improves the terms.

Sources: OECD, Health at a Glance: Europe 2024 · Federal Statistical Office of Germany, care workforce projection, press release of 23 January 2024 · German Economic Institute, MINT Spring Report 2026.