Andreas Riegler’s Post

🚀 European robotics startup Cyberwave has raised €7 million to tackle one of industrial automation’s toughest challenges — making robots programmable and manageable like software. Backed by United Ventures, Vento, The Techshop SGR, and Pi Campus, Cyberwave is not building new robots. Instead, it’s creating the digital infrastructure that lets developers treat machines as programmable assets — bridging the gap between AI intelligence and real-world action. What sets Cyberwave apart is its modular “digital twins” platform that can reduce integration times from months to weeks, making automation accessible to mid-sized manufacturers struggling with complexity and cost. Our take? In an industry where bespoke integrations have long been the norm, Cyberwave’s abstraction layer could be the catalyst for scaling automation faster and more flexibly across Europe’s factories. 📰 Dive deeper into this story and why it matters: #AI #robotics #automation #manufacturing #startup #funding #deeptech #Cyberwave https://lnkd.in/g2NaEpD8

Let's continue on the insights into humanoid robotics. This time - investment landscape. That's one of the most interesting and sometimes even surprising aspects for me on a massive growth of investment rounds into robotics companies where humanoid is either sole focus or part of the product portfolio. Of course, there are various estimations, but CAGR has been over 30% in the last 10 years, and is estimated to rise to a whopping 45% CAGR! Mainly thanks to advanced LLM, VLM and VLA models that enable much more flexible functionality and scene/context understanding in robotics making them much more adaptable. Some notable recent rounds: - January 2024 1X raises $100M in a massive Series B round, with backing from OpenAI's startup fund. - February 2025 Apptronik secures over $350M in Series A funding from investors including Google and Mercedes-Benz. - June 2025 Agility Robotics closes a $400M Series C round, with major investments from Amazon and Schaeffler. - September 2025 Figure AI raises $1B+ in its Series C round, achieving a landmark $39.5B valuation.

🦾 I've been digging into robotics plays this month and what leading adventure capitalists are investing in (+ why) to try understand patterns, think about where the space might be headed. Thinking (in so far as what top funds are backing) looks converged around four themes: the rise of generalist intelligence, with foundation models transferring skills across robots and tasks (Genesis AI, Skild AI); data as the bottleneck and the moat, with infrastructure to source, license, and monetize real-world datasets (Poseidon); cheaper and tougher perception stacks, from lidar-less sensing to computer vision that works in messy edge cases (Vayu Robotics, Cambrian Robotics); and verticals where the ROI is already undeniable and pain is super painful - logistics, construction, and agriculture - where automation is safer, faster, and already working out (Anyware Robotics, Raise Robotics, Orchard Robotics). a16z crypto's Chris → Poseidon: decentralized data layer/marketplace for high-quality physical AI training data. Khosla Ventures / Kanu → Vayu Robotics: lidar-less perception + mobility using foundation-model methods to lower robot BOM and deploy at scale. Khosla Ventures & Eclipse - Kanu / Charly → Genesis AI: universal robotics foundation model; generalize skills across tasks and hardware. Sequoia Capital / Stephanie → Skild AI: embodied/foundation model for robotics to unlock general-purpose capabilities. GFT Ventures / Jay → Anyware Robotics: automates container unloading/intra-logistics. Cybernetix Ventures / Fady → Cambrian Robotics: machine-vision stack that handles hard parts (small/transparent/shiny) for real factory work. MaC Venture Capital / Marlon + Zacua Ventures / Vivin → Raise Robotics: modular construction-site robot (layout, drilling, install) improving safety and reducing rework. General Catalyst / Niko & Max → Orchard Robotics: vehicle-mounted vision to count/size fruit per tree for precision crop management. If anyone has any reading recs on the trends in robotics or other robotics ventures, let me know in comments - eager to learn.

LaunchPad Raises $11M to Scale AI for Manufacturing Why this matters: - This funding is critical for scaling automation solutions in manufacturing—particularly for small and medium firms where traditional robotics have been too costly or complex. - It also signals growing investor confidence in AI + robotics playing a central role in alleviating labor shortages and raising productivity in industrial sectors. Our take: We see this as a compelling bet—if Launchpad can deliver on reducing time and cost of deployment by ~50%, it could unlock automation for segments that were previously underserved. The risk lies in real-world integration complexity, customer adoption inertia, and ensuring dependable performance across varied manufacturing environments. What do you think? What do you believe will matter more for adoption in manufacturing: cost reduction, ease of integration, or reliability—and do you think AI-driven robotics will become standard in small to mid-size plants in the next 5 years? Jon Quick Steve Smoot Adrian Gillespie Read More:- https://lnkd.in/d8_uY__P #Launchpad #AI #Robotics #SeriesA #Manufacturing #IndustrialAutomation #SmartFactory #AIinIndustry #aitp #aitechnology #artificialintelligence #technology #aitech #machinelearning

Launchpad, the AI-first robotics company addressing global labor shortages in the manufacturing sector, has successfully raised $11 million in a Series A funding round. The company is focused on making factory automation accessible, estimating its advanced AI tools can halve the time and cost of traditional robotics deployment. This technology is crucial for revitalizing domestic manufacturing and improving competitiveness across the US and European markets. The funding round was co-led by Lavrock Ventures and Squadra Ventures, with critical participation from strategic investors, including Lockheed Martin Ventures, Cox Exponential (CX2), Ericsson Ventures, and the The Scottish National Investment Bank. The capital will be used to accelerate product development and scale deployments across the US, UK, and Europe. Congratulations to CEO Jon Quick and the entire Launchpad team on achieving this significant milestone! https://hubs.ly/Q03PcxnW0 #AI #Manufacturing #Robotics #VentureCapital #SeriesA #Industry40

"These Well-Funded AI Startups Are Building Humanoid Robots In Stealth." Flush with hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding, @Rhoda AI and GENESIS-AI.app are developing humanoids they hope can go head-to-head with robots from Figure AI and Tesla. [Read more...https://buff.ly/tallrQB] Article Courtesy of Anna Tong, Senior Editor @ Forbes #forbes #humanoidrobots #startup #anntong

🤖 SoftBank Acquires ABB's Robotics Unit for $5.4 Billion! 🆕 Japanese tech giant SoftBank has announced the acquisition of Swiss-based ABB's robotics division for $5.4 billion. With this move, SoftBank aims to strengthen its position in the artificial intelligence space. 🦾 Under its new strategy called "Physical AI", SoftBank plans to bring together humanoid robots, AI, and automation systems under one roof. The company had previously invested in startups like Ampere, Berkshire Grey, and AutoStore, and also led OpenAI's $40 billion funding round. 💵 ABB had originally planned an IPO for its robotics arm but shifted to a sale after receiving SoftBank Group Corp.'s offer. 💰 ABB Robotics, which employs 7,000 people, generated $2.3 billion in revenue last year — accounting for 7% of ABB's total revenue. 🔜 Once the deal closes — expected by mid-2026 — SoftBank aims to compete with global robotics leaders like Fanuc, Yaskawa, and KUKA.

Advanced robotics firm Launchpad has closed a £8.2 million Series A round, including a £1.5 million investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank, to accelerate the development of its technology. https://buff.ly/oQDW2Z1 #tech #funding #robots

Rodney Brooks, co-founder of iRobot and renowned MIT roboticist, has issued a strong warning to investors who are pouring billions into humanoid robot startups, insisting these investments may be unsustainable and ultimately wasted. Brooks criticized the popular approach of training robots by showing them videos of humans performing tasks, calling this "pure fantasy thinking" and highlighting several technical and economic flaws in current industry optimism. Ram's 😎 Scoop Key Criticisms by Rodney Brooks Brooks emphasized that no robot has matched the complexity of the human hand, which is equipped with nearly 17,000 specialized touch receptors essential for fine dexterity. He argued that touch sensing and manipulation remain vastly underdeveloped compared to visual and speech AI technologies, which benefited from decades of foundational research and data. He warned that video-based learning falls short of replicating the sophisticated tactile feedback humans possess, such as pressure, vibration, and slip detection—capabilities essential for dexterous manipulation. Ram's 😎 Scoop Safety is a major concern: full-sized humanoid robots require massive energy to stay upright and can be extremely dangerous when they fall, with risk growing exponentially as size increases. Brooks predicts that successful robots in the future won’t look human. Instead, they’ll have wheels, multiple arms, and specialized sensors—moving away from the human form entirely. Ram's 😎 Scoop Warnings for Investors Brooks likened the surge of investment in humanoid robotics to historical tech bubbles, asserting that venture capital is fueling hype rather than practical progress, and the majority of current funding is being spent on costly experiments unlikely to scale to mass production. He urges a focus on business outcomes and operational efficiency rather than blind pursuit of "technological hot spots." For Brooks, the practical value and return on investment should drive decisions, not marketing or stock price. Despite his warnings, companies like Figure and Tesla have attracted billions in funding and multi-billion-dollar valuations, even as Brooks points to persistent challenges in dexterity, energy efficiency, and deployment at scale. Ram's 😎 Scoop Industry Implications Brooks’s viewpoint signals an urgent reality check for the sector, urging a transition toward more pragmatic, non-human designs and technologies capable of solving real-world problems efficiently. The market for humanoid robots continues to grow, with some startups like Apptronik securing hundreds of millions in investment, demonstrating the persistent belief in the potential despite technical barriers. Rodney Brooks’s warnings offer valuable perspective for investors, technologists, and business leaders tracking the rapid evolution—and possible overvaluation—of humanoid robotics.