Sponsor A Fighting Robot: Accu presents FightFest At Smart Manufacturing Week 2027
The robots will return. Ten sponsorship places are open for Accu presents FightFest at Smart Manufacturing Week 2027.
In June 2026 Accu built a bulletproof combat robotics arena in the middle of the NEC and ran live fights for two days. Five engineering brands put their name on a machine, more than 3,500 people watched from the rail and the FightFest 2026 content has been watched over 330,000 times since.
On 9th and 10th June 2027 it comes back, bigger. Here's how your brand can get involved.
Ten places, ten branded robots, one arena. It promises to be the most exciting, explosive spectacle ever seen at an engineering trade show.
Register your interest in FightFest 2027
“You brought something unique to an engineering exhibition and stole the bloody show.”
Henry Anson
Director at Nineteen Group (organisers of Smart Manufacturing Week)
On this page:
- What a FightFest sponsorship actually is
- It is your robot, not our robot with your logo on it
- What a sponsor's robot can say about their business: Torx, the 2026 champion
- What if our robot loses?
- What the 2026 event proved
- What FightFest sponsors get
- Ten sponsorship places for FightFest 2027
- Register your interest
- FightFest 2027 FAQ
- Stay in the arena
- Further reading
What a FightFest sponsorship actually is
At an event like Smart Manufacturing Week, a sponsored banner is easy to miss. A bespoke branded robot is admired, filmed, loved, shared and argued about, just like your favourite Formula 1 teams.
A FightFest sponsorship puts your company colours on a featherweight combat robot, designed and built by Accu's engineers alongside veterans of BBC's Robot Wars, then sends it into a live tournament in front of the UK's largest in-person manufacturing audience.
Your machine fights, your team works the pit lane beside it and your name runs on the screens above the arena, through the commentary and into every piece of content cut from the event afterwards.
And the best part is that absolutely nothing happens behind a curtain. Armour gets rebuilt, drives get swapped and faults get diagnosed in the open, on the show floor, with the crowd leaning over the rail to see all the action. Those repairs start more conversations than the fights do.
It is your robot, not our robot with your logo on it
This is the part most people do not expect. A FightFest sponsorship is a commission, not an advert.
Sponsor early enough and you shape the machine. The weapon type, the overall silhouette, the colour scheme and the brand elements are all yours to define.
Our engineers handle every bit of the engineering, guarantee the machine performs and make sure it meets the safety standards and is a fair match for the rest of the field. What it says about your business is your call.
Xometry's robot carried a weapon their own CNC machines cut. Pryor's fired a hammer, because Pryor make permanent marks. Beckhoff's lived or died on drive control, which is what Beckhoff sell. In each case the machine was an argument for the business, not a billboard for it.
Accu's team brings twenty years of combined experience to the build, and you are not expected to drive. Racing team principals do not drive the car. Our experienced roboteers are your veteran drivers for the whole tournament.
What a sponsor's robot can say about their business: Torx, the 2026 champion
Xometry Europe was the first brand to put their name on a machine and they walked away with the trophy.
“It was a truly fantastic event and Xometry was proud to be part of it. Winning was a bonus!”
Ruth Liddell
Marketing Specialist at Xometry Europe
Torx was designed around what Xometry actually sells; custom manufactured parts. Its weapon is a single billet-machined piece of hardened 42CrMo4 steel: an asymmetric, dynamically balanced beater bar that spins past 6,000RPM in seconds and holds that energy like a flywheel until it finds something to put it into.
Xometry machined this weapon to ISO 286 grade 7 tolerances. The rest of the machine mixes a laser cut frame, 3D printed and machined polycarbonate armour and was assembled with standard Accu components, so the build showed off a range of capabilities rather than a single process and provided a fantastic talking point for Xometry’s team at SMW26.
Then there is the detail baked into the machine's DNA. Seen from above, the whole robot is a subtle X. A nod to the sponsor, making it truly unique to Xometry.
That is the difference between a logo and a bespoke creation. Read Accu Lead Engineer & FightFest robot expert Ellis Ware's full Torx build story on Xometry Pro.
What if our robot loses?
Honestly? It might. That is rather the point of a tournament!
It will not change what you get. The build, the pit lane presence, the screen time, the interviews and the content pack are the same whoever lifts the trophy, and the guaranteed minimum of four rounds means your machine is in the arena in front of the crowd either way.
Winning is about glory and a bigger trophy.
Ask Pryor Marking Technology. Their robot, No Pryor Warning, did not win a single fight in 2026.
“A big thank you and congratulations to everyone at Accu and FightFest for what has to be one of the best things I have seen at an exhibition."
"The Pryor Marking Technology robot didn't win (not even a single fight) but that didn't spoil the enjoyment. Maybe next time we will go with a laser instead of a hammer."
Dan Stephenson
Group Director of Sales at Pryor Marking Technology
What the 2026 event proved
FightFest 2026 was the first run of this unique B2B combat robotics tournament, staged live on the show floor at Smart Manufacturing Week. The numbers are strong.
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3,500+ spectators watched the fights live, in a hall of 15,000 attendees and 450+ exhibiting brands
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330,000 views, and counting, across five platforms. 752 hours of watch time on YouTube alone
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Five sponsor brands backed a machine: Xometry, Beckhoff, Labman, Pryor Marking Technology and Huddersfield Town AFC
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Two 16m² screens above the arena, an eight camera crew and more than five hours of footage
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The robot reveal films, each one naming its sponsor, were among the most watched posts of the whole campaign
- Under 3p per view. The sponsorship cost against 330,000 views, before you count the 3,500 people who watched from the rail
- Over 700 QR codes scanned at the arena, with no sales pitch attached to any of them. The robots did the talking
The audience is the part that is hard to buy: working age engineers and technical decision makers, concentrated in the UK, in the room because they want to be.
Of the 700+ visitors Accu scanned across the two days:
- 36% held engineering or technical roles
- 20% were director level or above
- 46% came from companies turning over more than £10M, and 78 of them from companies above £1bn
- The biggest sectors were automotive, aerospace and defence, construction, food & drink and medical
Among them: Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems, Airbus, BMW Group, Bentley Motors, Caterpillar, Cummins, Sony, Nestlé, Parker Meggitt, Unipart, Watson-Marlow, Sulzer and the MTC.
Read the full story of FightFest 2026, including the results, the robots and the engineering behind them.
What FightFest Sponsors Get
In 2026, our sponsors received:
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A branded combat robot, designed and built for you by Accu engineers and Robot Wars veterans
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A dedicated pit lane presence through both days of the show
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A guaranteed minimum of four tournament rounds; fights are head to head over three minutes, won by knockout or judges' decision, running two an hour, every hour, across both days.
For 2027, sponsors will also benefit from:
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Branding and ad spots on the two 16m² screens above the arena
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A dedicated sponsor interview, one slot on each day
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A full content pack, cut from more than five hours of footage, yours to use however you like; including raw 4K footage, bespoke short-form content cut for social, digital assets of your robot & every interview, highlight and photograph from the event
The content is the part that keeps working before, during and after the tournament. Your robot earns views long after the hall empties.
And if you want to keep the machine, you can. Sponsors have the option to purchase their branded robot after the event for an additional fee.
Ten sponsorship places for FightFest 2027
2026 ran with five robots. 2027 doubles that to ten sponsorship places, which means a bigger field, more fights, more rivalries and twice as many brands in on the action.
Every one of the ten is a robot and pit lane sponsorship: your brand on a machine and your team in the pits beside it.
Smart Manufacturing Week 2027 runs on 9th and 10th June at the NEC in Birmingham, under the theme ‘Back to the Future’. FightFest will be right in the middle of it, acting as the event’s flagship exhibition and will showcase the exciting future of combat robotics as an explosive engineering spectacle.
As confirmed by Nineteen Group, the organisers of Smart Manufacturing Week, FightFest was the number one attraction at the 2026 event. For 2027 it takes centre stage.
Places are allocated in build order. Robot design begins in early 2027, and the earlier a sponsor commits the more influence they have over the machine. Over half of the ten places are already in conversation, so time is of the essence to secure your spot in the pit lane.
Register your interest
Tell us a little about your brand and we will come back to you with the FightFest 2027 sponsorship pack. It takes under a minute and is not a commitment to anything.
Register your interest in FightFest 2027
FightFest 2027 FAQ
What is FightFest?
Accu presents FightFest is a live B2B combat robotics tournament, staged in a bulletproof arena on the show floor at Smart Manufacturing Week, with sponsor branded featherweight robots engineered by Accu's team alongside ex Robot Wars competitors.
How do I sponsor a robot for 2027?
Ten robot and pit lane sponsorships are available for the FightFest tournament being held at Smart Manufacturing Week 2027. Register your interest using this form and we will send you the 2027 pack.
Do I need to be exhibiting at Smart Manufacturing Week?
No. A FightFest sponsorship works alongside an existing stand and it works on its own.
And if you do want a stand, FightFest sponsors are eligible for an exclusive discounted rate on Smart Manufacturing Week exhibition space, referred through Accu. Ask us when you get in touch.
Can I keep the robot after the event?
Yes. Sponsors can purchase their branded machine after the event for an additional fee.
What does a FightFest sponsorship cost?
Register your interest and we will send you the full 2027 pack, including pricing to sponsor a robot & your dedicated FightFest pit space. Keeping your robot after the event is available for an additional fee.
What weight class are the robots?
Featherweight, up to 13.6kg, carrying weapons such as 6,000 RPM spinning blades with weapon tips travelling at around 200 mph.
Who do I speak to?
The FightFest team at Accu. Register your interest and we will be in touch within one working day.
Stay in the arena
The full fights, the robot reveals and more behind-the-scenes content are on Accu's channels now, with more still to come. Follow @accucomponents and subscribe on YouTube so you do not miss a single fight.
Further reading