Destro AI exits stealth with $8M seed to coordinate robots, workers and trucks at cross-docks

Destro AI, founded by NYU Tandon robotics graduate Manthan Pawar, came out of stealth on Sept. 30 with an $8 million seed round led by Base10 Partners and Bonfire Ventures, with CoFound Partners also investing, TechCrunch reported. The startup sells software rather than robots: a vision system built on open-weight vision-language-action models and an orchestration layer that directs people, carts and trucks in cross-dock operations, currently paired with Miva Robotics cart movers. Customer Yusen Logistics grew a three-robot pilot at a Pacific Northwest site to 26 robots and has started a 17-robot pilot in Southern California. Pawar said the company expects to turn cash-flow positive by the end of 2026.