Startups news
Short summaries of what matters in robotics, each linking to its original source, plus our own interviews and features. Have a story?
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Doug Field, who led Ford's EV and technology strategy until April and earlier oversaw the Tesla Model 3, has joined Mind Robotics as president to run product, engineering and operations. The Rivian-created venture builds robots running on foundation models for industrial manufacturing, has raised more than $1 billion and counts Rivian as its first customer.
· TechCrunch
Toronto-based Promise Robotics will produce components for more than 1,250 U.S. homes for D.R. Horton, the country's largest homebuilder by volume, under a multi-year agreement. Its factory-as-a-service model turns home designs into robot instructions and runs automated production, starting from facilities in Edmonton, Calgary and Phoenix.
· The Robot Report
Edinburgh startup Danu Robotics, founded by Amy Ma, has raised $5 million in late-seed funding and is now commercialising H.E.R.O., an AI-driven robot that sorts recyclables with a pincer claw rather than suction. The company reports $500,000 in signed contracts and more than 200 prospects in its sales pipeline.
· TechCrunch
Helm.ai, based in Redwood City, California, has booked $70 million in commercial contracts over the past 12 months with carmakers, Tier 1 suppliers and industrial automation firms. Its foundation models handle perception for Level 2 to 4 driving, mining, construction and robots, and the company says it is now heading toward break-even.
· The Robot Report
Mecka AI, founded in 2024, has raised a $60 million Series B led by Sequoia Capital, with Nvidia and Microsoft's M12 also investing, at a $500 million valuation. The company hires people to film themselves doing daily chores while wearing body sensors and using phones, turning that human motion into data for training humanoids and other robots.
· TechCrunch
Munich-founded RobCo says it is now valued at $1 billion, twice its level nine months ago, with Cherry Ventures and European Tech Collective joining backers such as Sequoia and Lightspeed. The company rents its Alfie robots for factory work as a service without upfront cost and paired the milestone with a share sale for long-serving staff.
· Robotics Tomorrow
Safeworld, co-founded by Carnegie Mellon safety researcher Ding Zhao, has emerged from stealth with a seed round of more than $12 million led by Shine Capital and a16z Speedrun. It runs robots' real control software in simulated workplaces full of digital humans to probe thousands of risky situations; Gritt Robotics is an early customer.
· TechCrunch
New York startup Tangent Robotics has raised $4.5 million led by Fly Ventures and Toyota Ventures. It is combining robot hands, light-based tactile sensors in the fingers and machine learning so robots can handle fine assembly work such as mating connectors, and plans to deploy in manufacturing.
· Robotics Tomorrow
Destro AI has emerged from stealth with an $8 million seed round led by Base10 Partners and Bonfire Ventures. Its software uses vision-language-action models to control robots and plan work alongside people in cross-dock logistics; a pilot with Yusen Logistics is growing to 26 robots, with a 17-robot pilot starting at another US site.
· TechCrunch
San Francisco and Paris startup Flourish has introduced Flourish One, a Raspberry Pi-based wheeled humanoid for household chores such as tidying and wiping tables. Owners teach it new tasks by moving their smartphone while the robot mirrors them, with training done on cloud GPUs. A first batch of 50 units is expected to ship before Christmas 2026.
· The Robot Report
Feather, founded by former 1X engineer Hoa Mai and former Tesla engineer Parsa Bakhtiari, is building a customizable humanoid that software developers can adapt to jobs such as kitchen work or lab cleaning. The startup raised a $7.6 million pre-seed led by Gradient Ventures, says it has already passed $1 million in revenue, and is field testing ahead of a wider launch.
· TechCrunch
Tokyo startup O-ID, founded in 2025, raised $1.2 million led by TAWANI Ventures with Hustle Fund and Techstars to build humanoids whose joints, limbs and compute units can be exchanged on site. It aims to bring its first robot from prototype into production for Japanese factories, and has filed a provisional US patent for its modular connector.
· Robotics Tomorrow
San Francisco startup PitPro Automation has installed its first system at a Kal Tire location in Calgary, Canada, using two robots that find lug nuts, remove wheels and fit replacements. The company says four tires can be changed in less than 15 minutes, and it is targeting tire chains facing staff shortages after starting with commercial fleets.
· TechCrunch
Los Angeles startup Helicon Industries raised a $16 million seed round led by AlleyCorp to use robotics to handle flexible carbon fiber textiles, a step that remains largely manual. It aims to cut composite lead times from over six months to about two weeks from a 36,000 sq ft plant in Torrance, serving aerospace, defense and robotics customers.
· The Robot Report
Indian startup Pace Robotics says its Centa Painter, which applies putty, sands, primes and paints interior walls, has been on live construction sites since December 2025. It reports an order book of about 5 crore rupees within six months and repeat purchases from developers and contractors, with site workers operating the machines.
· Robotics Tomorrow
Industrial parts supplier MISUMI has set up MISUMI Ventures in the San Francisco Bay Area, a $50 million fund that will write initial checks of $500,000 to $1.5 million in seed and Series A companies working on robotics, factory automation and industrial AI. Portfolio firms will get access to MISUMI's parts catalog and factory network.
· Robotics Tomorrow
Maven Robotics came out of stealth with a $100 million Series A backed by RoboStrategy, LocalGlobe, Vine Ventures and XTX Ventures. Its wheeled two-armed robots build mixed pallets in warehouses, lifting 30 kg each, and about eight units already run 16-hour days at customers. The company plans to build 250 third-generation robots.
· TechCrunch