Wandelbots
Dresden robotics software company whose NOVA platform programs and orchestrates robots from different vendors
- Skild AI and Figure top the largest humanoid and embodied-AI funding rounds of 2025-2026, as money moves from robot bodies to robot brains
Skild AI's $1.4 billion Series C, led by SoftBank, and Figure AI's $1 billion Series C, led by Parkway Venture Capital, are the two largest humanoid and embodied-AI rounds in ROBOTNESS's verified records since January 2025, and together make up 41% of the $5.86 billion disclosed across 22 rounds. Humanoid makers took 70% of disclosed money in 2025, but developers of robot foundation models have taken 71% in 2026 so far, and NVIDIA joined seven rounds without leading one.
Mentioned - What is a vision-language-action (VLA) model, and who is building them?
A vision-language-action (VLA) model is one neural network that reads camera images and a plain-language instruction and outputs a robot's next motor commands, built by training a vision-language model on robot demonstrations. Google DeepMind, Physical Intelligence, NVIDIA, Figure AI, Skild AI and AgiBot lead, and the commercial race now turns on the cost of action data rather than model design.
Mentioned - Paris-based Inbolt raises $12.5 million to take its AI robot vision from car plants to data centres
Inbolt, which sells 3D vision and AI software that lets industrial robots correct their motions in real time, said on 30 September 2026 it raised $12.5 million in a round led by Shift4Good. The money funds expansion in the US and Asia-Pacific and a move into data centres and electronics manufacturing, taking total funding to $34 million.
Mentioned - Tokyo's Qibitech raises about ¥600 million in Series B to sell one control layer for robots from any maker
Qibitech, the Tokyo developer of HATS vendor-agnostic robot control software, said on 30 September 2026 it raised about ¥600 million in a Series B through a third-party share allotment to funds managed by JIC Venture Growth Investments and Sumitomo Corporation Venture Partners. The money goes to HATS development, sales and hiring.
Mentioned - Destro AI raises $8 million seed to make warehouse robots from different makers work as one fleet
Destro AI, a Brooklyn startup founded in 2026, said on 29 September 2026 it raised an $8 million seed round co-led by Base10 Partners and Bonfire Ventures. Its software assigns tasks across mixed robot fleets and is already live with Yusen Logistics (Americas).
Mentioned - Wandelbots, SCHUNK and EY team up on NVIDIA-based physical AI for Germany's Mittelstand as Gessmann brings NOVA to Hannover Messe
Dresden software firm Wandelbots, gripper and automation maker SCHUNK and consultancy EY said on April 19, 2026 they would combine SCHUNK's GROW automation cell, Wandelbots' NOVA platform and NVIDIA Omniverse into a standardised physical AI offer for mid-sized European manufacturers. The same day, W. Gessmann GmbH said it would show NOVA-based mobile robots at Hannover Messe.
Subject - Rivian spinout Mind Robotics raises $500 million Series A, and Rivian books a $506 million gain on its stake
Mind Robotics, the industrial AI robotics company founded and led by Rivian chief executive RJ Scaringe, said on March 11, 2026 that Accel and Andreessen Horowitz co-led a $500 million Series A, about four months after a $115 million seed. Rivian's filings show it deconsolidated the start-up in March, valued its remaining 37.6% at about $569 million using the Series A share price and recorded a $506 million gain, which by ROBOTNESS arithmetic implies an equity value near $1.51 billion.
Mentioned - Figure's Helix 02 hands a humanoid's whole body to one neural network, deleting 109,504 lines of control code
Figure AI on Jan. 27, 2026 released Helix 02, a robot foundation model that runs a humanoid from camera pixels and fingertip touch down to joint commands at 1 kHz, replacing 109,504 lines of hand-written C++ with a 10-million-parameter learned controller. The company showed a Figure 03 unloading and reloading a dishwasher across a full kitchen in a four-minute, 61-action run it says had no resets and no teleoperation.
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