Robotics Startups On The Rise In 2024

So far, 2024 is shaping up as a not-so-shabby year for robotics startup funding.

Developers of workplace robots, robotic surgery technologies, and even humanoid models have all raised large rounds in the past six months. The artificial intelligence funding boom has also helped boost the space, with investors backing big deals at the intersection of AI and robotics.

Altogether, robotics startups have pulled in over $4.2 billion in seed through growth-stage financing this year, . That puts funding on track to exceed last year鈥檚 muted levels, albeit still below its cyclical peak, as illustrated below.

Workplace robots

Where鈥檚 the money going? Per SA国际传媒 data, workplace robotics still accounts for the largest number of rounds, with startups looking to offset the need for human labor for tasks like delivering meals, pulling weeds and moving stuff in warehouses.

Among the largest recipients in this vein is San Francisco-based , a developer of software and robotics technology for factory manufacturing. The company raised $106 million in Series C funding, plus $20 million in debt, in a -led financing announced Tuesday.

Another big round went to Silicon Valley-based , which landed a $100 million -led Series B this spring. Its business model centers on building 鈥渃obots鈥� or robots that can work alongside humans doing tasks like carrying boxes and moving industrial carts.

On the agtech front, Seattle-based has harvested a total of $85 million to date, with its latest funding raised in a May Series C. Its primary offering is an AI-enabled weeding robot that provides farmers a less labor-intensive way to reduce reliance on herbicides.

Redwood City, California-based , meanwhile, snagged $60 million in an -led financing in March. The company makes a mobile robot capable of carrying trays or packages, which it markets to customers in hospitality, assisted living, warehouse operations and other industries.

Here come the humanoids

We鈥檙e also seeing large investments in startups developing humanoid robots 鈥� a staple of science fiction that has yet to penetrate everyday reality.

Sunnyvale, California-based , which describes itself as an 鈥淎I robotics company bringing a general purpose humanoid to life,鈥� was the biggest draw here, snapping up $675 million in a February Series B. It drew heavy interest from corporate investors, with , and among its backers.

, a startup with dual headquarters in Norway and Silicon Valley, picked up $98 million in January to further development of its initial humanoid models. This includes NEO, whose human-like body is engineered with muscle-like anatomy, and EVE, a robot which resembles a human but with wheels instead of feet.

Per 1X, the humanoid robot represents the most logical form factor for integrating advanced processing and AI more deeply into the physical world. A research note on its website postulates that: 鈥淎t its core, our world is designed by and for humans, which makes the human form the most effective means of interfacing with it.鈥�

By and large, it鈥檚 still early days envisioning what these AI-powered humanoids might actually accomplish. The startup envisions them making contributions in industries including agriculture, construction and healthcare, with a particular focus on taking on dangerous and repetitive jobs.

Surgical robotics

Surgical robotics has also been a major area for robot-related startup investment over the years, and 2024 is no exception.

The biggest round went to , a developer of technology for robotic-assisted microsurgical procedures that raised $110 million in a February Series C led by . The company says its technology lets surgeons replicate movements of the human hand at the micro scale and can expand treatment options for patients needing soft tissue, open surgical procedures.

Most recently, Shanghai-based raised $44 million in a Series B financing announced this month. The company develops a robotic-assisted system for laparoscopic surgeries.

Easy to appeal, harder to prove

Unlike many other startup sectors, founders of robotics companies usually don鈥檛 have trouble selling us on why we would want their products. After all, who wouldn鈥檛 want a robot to do jobs that are boring, backbreaking, hazardous and time-consuming for humans?

Moreover, as we face lower global population growth rates 鈥� particularly in developed economies 鈥� there won鈥檛 necessarily be enough people willing and able to do the work required to provide and maintain the level of services and infrastructure to which we鈥檙e accustomed.

The challenge is all about execution. Will today鈥檚 funded startups be capable of delivering on their visions with robotics technologies that are capable in their assigned tasks, scalable and affordable?

It鈥檇 certainly be nice to answer in the affirmative. Startup history, however, tells us that for every huge success story, there are usually many more that don鈥檛 make it.