Danobat, part of the Mondragon worker co-op federation in Spain’s Basque Country, has unveiled a strategic initiative which it says will mark a “technological milestone in high-precision industrial robotics”.
The Elgoibar-based co-op hopes the dBot project will further strengthen its international positioning in advanced manufacturing.
Danobat’s project includes an investment of nearly €50m over the next three years, more than €35m of which will be allocated to R&D and technological development activities. It also foresees the creation of 500 new jobs – 200 direct and 300 indirect – as well as the up-skilling of professional profiles toward higher levels of technological specialisation.
Roboost, led by Danobat as the driving company, is the second project developed within the framework of the Basque government’s Industry Plan Euskadi 2030.
Related: Mondragon worker co-op federation reports sales of €11.213bn
Mondragon says the project will enable the development in the Basque Country of a new generation of high-performance industrial robots capable of combining the precision, stability and rigidity of machine tools with the flexibility inherent to robotics.
This new paradigm overcomes the traditional limitations of conventional systems, says the co-op, and opens the door to critical applications requiring maximum reliability, thereby reinforcing the competitiveness of strategic industrial sectors.
Danobat says it will mobilise 18 small and médium-sized companies and structure a strong local value chain around this new technological solution. Collaboration with industry clusters —under the leadership of AFM in Advanced Manufacturing and with the participation of Hegan in Aeronautics and Space – reinforces the collaborative and industrial nature of the project, it adds.
Technological development will also involve 10 technology centres and agents from the Basque Network of Science, Technology and Innovation (RVCTI), led in the scientific-technological field by Ideko – also a Mondragon co-op and a benchmark in applied research.
This alliance between industry, knowledge and the co-operative network represents one of the project’s key differentiating strengths and a clear example of inter-cooperation, says Mondragon.
It hopes the project “will position the co-operatives as an international benchmark in robust, high-precision robotics and as a key player in the future of advanced manufacturing”.
Danobat, which has operated for more than 70 years, specialises in grinding, turning and precision robotics, and proclaims a commitment to R&D and internationalisation. It will showcase its latest innovations starting next week at BIEMH 2026 in Bilbao.
