Kyle Vogt, former CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, has raised $150 million in a funding round led by Greenoaks for his robotics startup, The Bot Company, which is valued at $2 billion less than a year after its launch.
This funding follows a prior $150 million round from investors like Spark Capital and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, which valued the company at $550 million. The capital will help build the hardware and AI-based software needed to power their robots.
Investors are showing confidence in a company that has yet to release a product or generate revenue, drawn in by the potential of AI-powered robotics capable of learning new tasks.
The rise of large language models (LLMs) is greatly enhancing interest in robotics, as these models allow robots to understand natural language commands and perform complex tasks, making them more intuitive for home and industrial applications. Startups in various robotics segments are attracting substantial funding, signaling a new era of intelligent, adaptive robots.
The Bot Company was co-founded by Vogt, Paril Jain, and Luke Holoubek, former engineers at Tesla and Cruise. The company aims to create at-home robots to assist with daily tasks like household chores. Although specific designs remain undisclosed, sources indicate that the robots are non-humanoid, equipped with a base and grips.
Much of the excitement in robotics also comes from humanoid-focused companies like Tesla and startups such as Figure, which is currently raising funds at a $40 billion valuation with minimal revenue. Cobot, founded by Amazon veteran Brad Porter, has raised $146 million for non-humanoid robots designed for industrial automation. The significant capital required highlights the complexities of developing robots for everyday operations.
At-home robotics is an area where tech giants like Amazon have already made considerable investments. Amazon launched its home robot, Astro, in 2021, focusing on monitoring and entertainment features but has since chosen to discontinue Astro for Business to concentrate on household robotics.
Other startups like Physical Intelligence and 1x have also secured hundreds of millions to develop robots capable of performing household tasks such as folding laundry and cleaning surfaces.
Vogt and his co-founders are part of a growing trend of talent transitioning back into robotics from the self-driving sector. Many of these startups aspire to advance beyond imitation learning toward action-based AI models inspired by LLMs, which enable robots to learn movements more effectively beyond pre-programmed routines.
The investment in The Bot Company underscores the rising interest in robotics startups, especially those integrating AI and spatial intelligence. Last year, venture capitalists invested $6.1 billion in robotics, marking a 19% increase from 2023, according to PitchBook.
In addition to The Bot Company, Greenoaks has previously invested in Mytra, another robotics startup focused on industrial applications.
This San Francisco-based investor has backed billion-dollar valuations for emerging companies like customer service startup Sierra and Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence Inc. It stands to gain $2 billion from its $300 million investment announced this week.