The Year Of Humanoid Robots

The past year has not been the highest period for new investment in robotics. However, it is one of the most gorgeous.

In areas ranging from humanoid co-workers to artificially intelligent robot brains, startups developing some of the most sci-fi tech applications have secured the year’s biggest funding rounds. Large trades in the early stages are also skewed, suggesting the cycle may be just beginning.

The description of the trend is Digitsa new start-up company established only 2 years ago, is committed to “bringing universal humanoid robots into life.” The Silicon Valley startup, founded in 2022, secured $675 million in Series B funding in February to further its vision of building robots to perform unsafe and undesirable jobs.

Another example is the second-largest funding round of the year, which went to a developer of robotic brains physical intelligence. This San Francisco startup, which just launched this year, joins $400 million Last month it was valued at $2 billion.

According to Crunchbase data, by 2024, robotics-related startups will have received a total of approximately US$7.2 billion in seed-stage to growth-stage investments. This is slightly higher than the same period last year, but still well below the market peak in 2021, as shown in the chart below.

multifunctional robot

One trend we see in funding statistics is that investors are interested in startups developing multifunctional robots that can do more than just one or two simple tasks.

In addition to size and physical intelligence, another example of this concept is the Pittsburgh-based Skill Artificial Intelligencethe company is also developing brain models that can be used in a variety of robots and perform different tasks. It raised $300 million in Series A funding in July at a $1.5 billion valuation.

A few months ago, Silicon Valley-based collaborative robot Landed Series B financing of US$100 million Creating so-called “utility collaborative robots” – or “collaborative robots” – that work alongside humans in areas such as manufacturing, healthcare and retail. And San Francisco light machineThe company specializing in flexible factory robots completed a $106 million equity round in June.

At the same time, on the domestic front, cruise Founder Kyle Vogt roll out robotics company This year the focus is on home robots. The San Francisco-based startup received $150 million in initial funding to build a robot that can help with a variety of household chores.

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Robotics startups often cite current and anticipated labor shortages as motivating factors. Picture founder Brett Adcockof master plan For example, the company’s hypothesis is that there are “more than 10 million unsafe or undesirable jobs in the United States alone,” and that an aging population will only make positions harder to fill.

Use Crunchbase datawe’ve listed 14 companies that have raised significant funding this year with a focus on developing robots to do jobs currently done by humans.

One big investor and major employer in robotics seems to share this vision: Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos and his fund, Bezos Adventure Tour. Bezos, whose company is known for embracing warehouse automation technology, has provided at least four major rounds of funding to robotics companies through his investment vehicle this year: Figure, Physical Intelligence, Skild AI and Swiss Miles Travelis developing wheel-legged robots.

Surgical robots, drones, etc.

In addition to workplace robots and artificially intelligent robot brains, we are also seeing continued investment in what has long been a major area of ​​robotics innovation.

Surgical robots are one of them. Two of the biggest investments this year Human-machine interfacea developer of robotic-assisted microsurgery technology, and winch medicala company that is researching robotic technology to provide a less invasive alternative to traditional open-heart surgery. Both raised $110 million in Series C funding.

Drones and robotic delivery vehicles have received significant funding over the years and will continue to do so in 2024. SkedioThe company, which sells drones for corporate and military use, secured $170 million in extended financing last month. In the delivery space, another startup with the military as a major customer is Autonomous Ground Transportation Provider Forteralocked in $75 million in Series B financing.

Not about quitting (yet)

Overall, most of the robotics startups that received funding this year are in what I call the “interesting to watch” stage. That said, the most well-funded companies are mostly early-stage, ambitious, have fascinating business plans, and currently face moderate pressure to generate sustained earnings or a clear path to profitability.

Investors also appear willing to wait and see whether their portfolio companies can deliver on early promises.

This seems like an extremely risky proposition, even though it has the potential to bring huge rewards. That’s at least what Figure hopes for in its master plan, which acknowledges: “We face high risks and extremely low chances of success.”

“However, if we succeed,” Tour insists, “we have the potential to have a positive impact on humanity and build the largest companies on Earth.”

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Illustration: Dom Guzman