Andrei Danescu is the founder and CEO of Dexory, an autonomous warehouse robot maker.
Dexory, previously known as BotsAndUs, launched in 2015. The startup’s robots use artificial intelligence (AI) to create a digital twin of a warehouse. That mapping data can then be used by operators to run logistics more efficiently in the warehouse.
The London-headquartered company has raised nearly $20m in funding, including a $13m seed round in June 2022. It currently employs just under 50 staff, up from 15 two years ago.
In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, the Dexory CEO explains a common mistake that founders make, reveals his unexpected connection with Formula 1, and shares a sector ripe for disruption.
1. What funding advice would you give to a first-time founder?
Andrei Danescu: It never gets easier, but you will get more resilient and you’ll get better at playing the game the more you practise. So it’s key not to give up! Also, make very good friends of your first customers, they will be key to getting any funding in.
2. What’s a common mistake that you see founders make?
AD: They find it very hard to let go as the team starts growing – once you get the experts in, trust them to do their job. On the same line, they don’t seek enough outside advice – your journey is unique to an extent, but it’s so much easier to travel when you get some guidance from others who have been on a similar path before.
3. What’s a fact about yourself that people might find surprising?
AD: I applied for over 120 roles in Formula 1 after my studies, eventually landing my dream job with Force India, as a track-side engineer. I travelled the world with the team for a year but realised that while high performance and being pushed to the limit every weekend was thrilling, behind the glam and the excitement was a lot of repetitive, tedious work… so I decided to run my own race.
4. Excluding your sector, which nascent technology holds the most promise?
AD: Human enhancement technology – there are more and more ways technology is used to understand the human body and mind and be able to act on insights to prevent illness, perform better and tap into unknown physical and mental potential. I have always been fascinated with how much further we can push ourselves.
5. Excluding your own, what’s a sector that’s ripe for disruption?
AD: The care sector, especially elderly care and maximising people’s potential after retirement. With medicine evolving, life expectancy growing and people just being so much happier when part of a community and having a purpose – our society is broken for not facilitating a system for them to continue bringing value. This will have to change.
Founder in Five – a UKTN Q&A series with the entrepreneurs behind the UK’s innovative tech startups, scaleups and unicorns – is published every Friday.
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