Why Meanwhile established its Swiss base at the Marly Innovation Center

Meanwhile, a French robotics company founded in 2017 and specializing in collaborative mobile robots for intralogistics transport, has established MEANWHILE Swiss Ltd. at the Marly Innovation Center (MIC) in Fribourg. The move marks the company’s first international subsidiary and a strategic step in its expansion across Switzerland, where it serves clients in the luxury watchmaking, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and semiconductor electronics sectors.

Fribourg was selected for its position on the linguistic border between French- and German-speaking Switzerland, providing an ideal base to serve both markets. The establishment was supported by GGBa, which connected Meanwhile with the MIC and local stakeholders in the canton of Fribourg, alongside the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional economic agency and Bpifrance, which provided financing and risk-coverage mechanisms to facilitate the international expansion.

In the video below, Meanwhile Founder and CEO Sacha Stojanovic explains the company’s decision to establish in Western Switzerland, the role played by GGBa, the Fribourg Development Agency (FDA) and the MIC ecosystem, and Meanwhile’s vision for growth in the Swiss market, including a growing collaboration with EPFL.

With nearly 100 robots deployed across France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Italy, Meanwhile continues to expand its footprint in Western Switzerland. The company is also hosting Le Printemps de la Robotique, a free online conference series on mobile robotics running from 22 April to 12 May 2026, featuring four sessions covering topics including AMR deployment in industry and hospitals, and the intersection of quantum computing, AI, and robotics.