The HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled robot. | Credit: Humanoid AI
Humanoid, an AI and robotics company building industrial humanoids, today announced a $152 million Series A financing at a $1.35 billion post-money valuation. This funding brings the total amount raised to date to $270 million.
London-based Humanoid is offering early access to the HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled version, a bimanual mobile manipulator. The robot runs on KinetIQ, an AI framework for end-to-end orchestration of humanoid robot fleets. KinetIQ Ascend extends KinetIQ with the ability to learn from trial and error.
The company, which was founded as SKL Robotics Ltd. in 2024, is also developing a bipedal version of the robot.
Humanoid takes a fast growth path
“In just two years, we’ve partnered with some of the world’s leading industrial companies and built one of the strongest pipelines in the industry,” noted Artem Sokolov, founder and CEO of Humanoid. “What we’ve accomplished in such a short time would typically take a decade.”
“None of this would have been possible without an extraordinary team that challenges every single day what people believe is possible,” he said. “This funding gives us the resources to move even faster and to turn humanoid robots from breakthrough technology into everyday industrial tools.”
Humanoid said it plans to use its funding to focus on:
- Development and launch of its next-generation humanoid platform
- Long-term commercial deployments at customer facilities across logistics, manufacturing, retail, and other sectors, beginning with the roll-out of Beta version robots in Q4 2026;
- Starting mass production of wheel-based semi-humanoid robots
- AI and software development, including Humanoid’s proprietary KinetIQ “brain” as a step “on our way toward a general-purpose robot for industrial applications”
The company is deploying at several early access customers.
“Humanoid robotics is rapidly moving from a visionary concept to an industrial reality, and Schaeffler, as a leading motion technology company, is uniquely positioned to help shape this evolution,” stated Klaus Rosenfeld, CEO of Schaeffler AG. “By combining our decades of industrial expertise and manufacturing excellence with Humanoid’s breakthrough physical AI platform, we are actively backing one of the most exciting frontiers in technology.”
“We are proud to support Humanoid as both a strategic investor and a commercial partner as they scale a technology that holds the power to fundamentally redefine productivity across global industries,” he said.
“We see significant growth opportunities in the field of humanoid robotics,” said Mathias Pillin, chief technology officer of Robert Bosch GmbH. “Through our subsidiary Robert Bosch Robotics GmbH, we have already entered into a manufacturing partnership with Humanoid. Bosch will act as Humanoid’s contract manufacturing partner, while also providing strategic consulting and technical expertise in hardware design, production, and supply chain.”
Competition keeps growing
Humanoid claimed that its funding round was the largest Series A for a Europe-based humanoid robotics company. Over the past year, the industry has seen a growing number of funding announcements as interest increased. Metzingen, Germany-based NEURA Robotics GmbH recently opened its Series C, aiming to raise $1.4 billion.
Noteworthy humanoid funding rounds
| Company Name | Date | Funding Round | Round Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Figure AI | Sept. 2025 | Series C | $1.0B+ | Figure funding news |
| 1X Technologies | Jan. 2024 | Series B | $100M | 1X funding news |
| Apptronik | Feb. 2026 | Series A | $520M | Apptronik funding news |
| AI² Robotics | July 2026 | Strategic / Growth | $735M | AI2 funding news |
| Apptronik | March 2025 | Series A | $53M | Apptronik funding news |
| Apptronik | Feb. 2025 | Series A | $350M | Apptronik funding news |
| Agility Robotics | June 2026 | IPO - SPAC | $620M | Agility SPAC news |
| Unitree | March 2026 | IPO | Up to $900M | Unitree IPO news |
| Leju Robotics | Oct. 2025 | Undisclosed | $200M | Leju funding news |
| Unitree | June 2025 | Series C | Undisclosed | Unitree funding news |
| Neura Robotics | June 2026 | Series C | Up to $1.4B | Neura funding news |
| Avatar Robotics | July 2026 | Seed | $6M | Avatar funding news |
| Humanoid | July 2026 | Series A | $152M | Humanoid funding news |
| Holiday Robotics | July 2026 | Series A | $105M | Holiday Robotics funding news |
| XPENG/Dogotix | Aug 2026 | Seed | $900M | XPENG funding news |
Also in the past year, robotics and AI investments have shifted to foundation models. A growing amount of capital is supporting startups working on general-purpose physical AI and foundation models, such as Physical Intelligence and Skild AI. They provide the brain for humanoids built by hardware manufacturers including Figure AI and 1X Technologies.
Note that most high-value capital infusions remain concentrated in Series A and Series B rounds, reflecting the technology‘s rapid transition from research-and-development prototypes to pilot deployments in logistics and manufacturing.
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