He printed out the Forbes 30 Under 30 logo, stuck it to his fridge with a magnet, and went back to the building site. For 1,200 euros a month. Five years later, his name was on the list.

Nimrod Malinas doesn’t come from the world of robotics. He comes from a world where you’ve lost everything.

“If you knew you couldn’t fail: how big would your dreams be?” – Nimrod Malinas

Who is Nimrod Malinas?

He was born in Transylvania, Romania, into a Hungarian family of entrepreneurs. He grew up in his father’s construction business, studied civil engineering, learnt to lead teams and read building plans. The plan was clear: one day he would take over the company. Then the business went bankrupt. His family lost everything. He was just 20.

Nimrod left Romania with no money and no contacts. He couldn’t afford to study in the US. So he applied for a job as a site manager in Vorarlberg, Austria. Ten hours a day on the digger. 1,200 euros a month. He was no longer the boss’s son. He was simply a worker. That was exactly what changed everything.

He worked alongside men who carried out brutal, repetitive, physically dangerous work every day. He saw what nobody in a boardroom ever sees: the true cost that physical labour exacts from people. That experience was burned into his DNA.

During that time, he printed out the Forbes 30 Under 30 logo, stuck it to his fridge door with a magnet and told himself: ‘One day, my name will be on that list.’ Everyone around him thought he was mad. The next morning, he was back on the building site.

Then his best friend died of cancer. While he was still coming to terms with the bankruptcy and working his way back up from nothing.

Two crises in quick succession. Everything lost. A death that should never have happened. And yet, right at that very moment, Nimrod decided: I’m going to build something that matters.

“God packs the greatest blessings into the greatest difficulties.” – Nimrod Malinas

In 2020, just a few years after leaving Romania with nothing, he found K Lips AG. A 90-year-old Swiss industrial company specialising in surface coating, which was up for sale. He had no capital. Not a penny. At the age of 22, he negotiated his way into the role of managing director, structured a creative takeover using bank loans and an earn-out agreement with the previous owner, and bought the company for one million Swiss francs. Without a single franc of equity.

When he started visiting clients in the field, he discovered something nobody was talking about: over 80% of companies could no longer find people to do the actual work. Not just for painting. For all the repetitive, toxic, dangerous jobs that nobody wanted to do anymore. Industrial painters had a 70% higher risk of lung and bladder cancer. 60% of a manufacturing company’s CO2 emissions came from the paint shop. The people doing this work fell ill, retired or resigned. No one stepped in to take their place.

He thought: What if we could replace the toxic job rather than the person? What if a robot took over the work that makes people ill, and people could do something better?

“I have never seen a robot replace a human. Rather, it has opened up new possibilities.” – Nimrod Malinas

The problem: robots cost hundreds of thousands of euros. The small businesses that needed them most couldn’t afford them. The technology existed. Access was lacking. So Nimrod invented a new model: Robot-as-a-Service. Subscribing to a robot like Netflix. Cheaper than a monthly wage. All risks included. Trial period. Guarantees. If it doesn’t work, it goes back. He set the first subscriptions at 3,500 Swiss francs per month and immediately sold ten.

Robonnement was born. The name combines ‘robotics’ and ‘subscription’. Swiss roots. Global ambition.

In three to four years, he scaled the company from €1.2 million to over €10 million in turnover. Robonnement secured €15 million in funding. Over 200 robots have been installed in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Clients include Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, BMW and Schneider Electric. He appeared on Shark Tank Romania (company valuation: €8 million). He won the Swiss Digital Economy Award 2024. Forbes included him in its 30 Under 30 Switzerland and 30 Under 30 Europe lists. He was named one of the Global Top 10 most influential Romanian entrepreneurs.

Today, he is building YAM (‘You Are More’), the first mass-market robotics company in Eastern Europe: a chain of robot cafés in Romania. YAM is part of the Robonnement portfolio and proof that the Robot-as-a-Service model works far beyond the factory floor. He is bringing automation back to the country he once left with nothing.

The fridge door is now empty. The logo is no longer needed.

Why book Nimrod Malinas

Most speakers in the field of robotics and automation talk about the future. Nimrod talks about what is already happening. Because he is the one making it happen.

He is not a theorist. He is a practitioner.

Nimrod Malinas has personally overseen over 200 robot installations in real-world factories. He has sat down with business owners, trained operators and grappled with the chaotic reality of automation. 80% of his clients are buying their very first robot. He knows what genuine adoption looks like because he wrote the playbook for it.

He has a story that moves people.

From a construction worker earning €1,200 a month to a Forbes 30 Under 30 and CEO of a robotics company with a turnover in the millions. Lost everything at 20, took over a Swiss company with no equity at 22. A logo on a fridge door that became reality. That is a human story. And the audience senses the difference.

He speaks the language of small and medium-sized businesses.

Nimrod Malinas doesn’t sell Silicon Valley fantasies. He works with SMEs every day. He knows their fears, their budgets, their scepticism. He understands why a family-run business with 50 employees would shy away from a €200,000 investment in a completely new technology. And he has built an entire business model to solve precisely this problem.

He is radically honest.

Nimrod speaks openly about burnout, failed deals, being turned down by over 30 banks, and the loneliness of building a business in a country that wasn’t his own. He has spoken publicly about his burnout at Christmas, following a year of having seven or more meetings a day and driving hundreds of kilometres.

He is Gen Z. And he is leading an industrial transformation.

He was the youngest keynote speaker at the Pulver Symposium. He regularly speaks at conferences where everyone else is 20 to 30 years older. He brings a perspective that bridges generations: a deep respect for craftsmanship and industrial tradition, combined with a refusal to accept that things cannot change. He is living proof that Generation Z is not the generation of comfort. But rather the generation that seeks meaning.

Book Nimrod Malinas as an inspirational speaker or guest speaker for your event: +49 (0)30 640 777 42 or [email protected]