Tip-offs
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Each week, we surface promising startups & founders through data signals.
This week, we're spotlighting Humanoid Robotics →
Humanoids among us
From “Can it walk?” to “How many can you build?”
Humanoid robots have officially moved from trade-show prototypes to factory floors. Figure is producing its 03 model at roughly one robot per hour. Its 02 fleet just finished an 11-month production run at BMW’s Spartanburg plant with impressive precision. Boston Dynamics has begun deliveries of its electric Atlas, Tesla is retooling Fremont for Optimus, and 1X is already taking consumer pre-orders.
Capital is following the shift, with robotics investment reaching record highs.
Humanoid Robotics Startups
Startups building general-purpose or industrial humanoid robots. Ranked by website visit growth over the past 3 months.
Manifest | 775% growth in 3 months
Building sovereign, autonomous humanoids for European defense and industrial work, aimed at high-precision jobs like welding, quality inspection, and maintenance. Raised an undisclosed Seed round in May 2025.
Toulouse, France
Muso Action | 261% growth in 3 months
Building general-purpose robot workers that pair vision-language-action models with force control to take on light manual labor in manufacturing, logistics, and construction. Closed a second Seed tranche in February 2026, bringing total funding to ~$1.1M.
Tokyo, Japan
Reflex Robotics | 73% growth in 3 months
Building general-purpose humanoid robots for repetitive material handling, with a human-in-the-loop mode that lets a remote operator take over on complex tasks. Raised a $7.3M Seed in September 2023.
New York, US
Clone | 22% growth in 3 months
Building Clone Alpha, a bipedal musculoskeletal android powered by water-actuated artificial muscles rather than electric motors, aimed at general-purpose tasks in the home and workplace. Raised a Seed round in October 2022.
New York, US
Humanoid | 17% growth in 3 months
Building HMND 01, a general-purpose humanoid robot for industrial tasks like picking, kitting, and machine feeding across the supply chain, delivered through a robots-as-a-service model. Backed by $50M in founder-led capital.
London, UK
Humanoid Robotics Founders
Newly minted founders building general-purpose or industrial humanoid robots.
Zhou Xian | Founded 2024
Carnegie Mellon (PhD, robotics). Interned at Watson AI Lab and Facebook AI. Now co-founder and CEO of Genesis AI, building foundation models for general-purpose humanoids. Raised a $105M Seed in July 2025.
Mountain View, US
Jay Li | Founded 2024
Ex-Tesla Optimus engineer. Now co-founder and CEO of Proception (YC W25), building humanoid hands dexterous enough to thread a needle. Came out of stealth with an $11M seed in Jun 2026 from First Round Capital.
Mountain View, US
RJ Scaringe| Founded 2025
MIT (PhD, Mechanical Engineering). Founder and CEO of Rivian Automotive. Spun Mind Robotics out of an internal Rivian project to build industrial humanoids for the factory floor, with Rivian as first customer. Raised over $1B across three rounds.
Irvine, US
Wei Ding| Founded 2024
Ex-Apple and Founder Fellow at South Park Commons. Now co-founder and CEO of Noble Machines, which left stealth in Mar 2026, shipping Moby, a whole-body industrial humanoid that lifts 60 lbs and works outdoors. Raised a Seed round in March 2026.
Sunnyvale, US
Stian Jakobsen | Founded 2025
Cybersecurity analyst-turned roboticist (ex-Norwegian Health CERT; studied in Tokyo). Now co-founder and CEO of O-ID, building fully modular, field-serviceable humanoids for continuous industrial operation.
Tokyo, Japan
Carried Interest
Tweets & articles of the week
