WHO WE ARE
A search firm built around one industry. Twenty-nine robotics hubs. Twelve specialist disciplines. No other verticals.
THE THESIS
Why we exist.
Most recruitment agencies are generalists. Robotics sits as one practice area among dozens, sharing leadership, sharing resources, sharing attention. The robotics consultant at a generalist firm could get reassigned to fintech tomorrow. The agency itself doesn't depend on robotics succeeding.
Mycelium does. Every dollar of revenue, every relationship, every search is built around one industry. That changes the incentive structure. That changes the depth of network. That changes how we spend our week.
The result is a firm that knows the robotics labor market the way a specialist trader knows a single asset class. We can name the strongest perception engineers in Munich without looking them up. We know who's leaving Cruise before their LinkedIn updates. We know which Series B startup just raised and is about to start hiring senior controls engineers.
This isn't possible at a generalist firm. It's only possible if you do nothing else.
That's the thesis. Specialist robotics search. Nothing else.
BY THE NUMBERS
What that looks like in practice.
29
ROBOTICS HUBS COVERED
22
EUROPEAN CITIES
7
US CITIES
12
SPECIALIST DISCIPLINES
100%
ROBOTICS ONLY
We don't take fintech mandates. We don't take SaaS mandates. We don't take healthcare mandates that aren't medical robotics. Every search we run is robotics or autonomy. That focus is what builds the network.
THE NETWORK
Why the network is real.
01
We attend the conferences
Every major robotics conference, every research workshop, every industry summit. We meet the engineers and researchers in person, year after year. The relationships compound.
02
We track the labs
Every major robotics PhD program in the US and Europe. We know who's defending, who's industry-bound, who's staying academic. We brief clients on emerging talent twelve months before they're on the market.
03
We know who's quietly looking
The strongest engineers don't post on LinkedIn. They tell people they trust, in private. We're one of those people for hundreds of senior engineers across the network.
04
We brief candidates first
Before we ask if a candidate is interested, we tell them what the role actually is, who's hiring, what the comp looks like, what the technical scope covers. They make informed decisions. That's how we keep their trust.
GENERALIST VS SPECIALIST
What you don't get from a generalist firm.
Generalist firm
- Robotics is one practice area among dozens
- Recruiter may have worked legal or fintech last quarter
- Job descriptions get blasted to wide candidate pools
- Volume metrics drive performance
- The agency survives if any one industry succeeds
Mycelium
- Robotics and autonomy is the entire business
- Every recruiter has worked robotics for years
- Outreach is targeted to engineers we already know
- Quality of placement is the only metric
- The firm depends on robotics succeeding
WHAT WE REFUSE
What we don't do.
Specialists are defined as much by what they refuse as what they offer.
- We don't take mandates outside robotics and autonomy
- We don't run volume search. Every shortlist is tight, every candidate has been individually briefed
- We don't pitch candidates without reading their work first
- We don't market your role to candidates who clearly don't fit
- We don't take retained fees and disappear. We stay engaged through offer, counter, and the first 90 days
- We don't have account managers, junior researchers, or handoffs. The person who briefs the search is the person who runs it
- We don't promise specific timelines without seeing the spec. Some searches take four weeks, some take ten