When Seth Winterroth left his job at GE Ventures to assist launch Eclipse in 2015, robotics was on his thoughts. Or extra particularly, the variety of early-stage robotics startups that had been struggling to launch as a consequence of lack of curiosity.
“These are groups that had simply completed their postdocs at Waterloo, or CMU, or MIT and had been beginning robotics corporations, and the chorus that I frequently heard from the startups was, ‘Hey, we’re having a extremely exhausting time elevating institutional enterprise capital,’” Winterroth advised TechCrunch. “On the time in Silicon Valley, most enterprise capital was going into the very mature software layer or the applying layer of some very mature computing platforms.”
So much has modified since then.
Now, after investing in robotics startups for 10 years, Winterroth, a associate at Eclipse, stated the time to put money into robotics has by no means been higher. The robotics startup market has matured and the {hardware} and software program powering these bots has gotten considerably higher — and cheaper.
Enterprise investing within the class is gaining momentum as nicely. Traders poured $6 billion into robotics startups within the first seven months of 2025 in keeping with Crunchbase data. The information firm predicts that this yr’s funding totals will eclipse 2024, making it one of many solely non-AI classes to expertise a lift in funding.
Whereas one might argue that robotics is seeing a surge in investor curiosity due to AI — and it’s not incorrect to acknowledge AI’s position within the development of robotic tech — traders who’ve centered on the class longer than the previous couple of years stated the business didn’t get up to now simply due to developments in AI over the previous few years.
Reaching maturation
The true catalyst for the business to begin gaining momentum truly occurred again in 2012, Winterroth stated, when Kiva Programs, a small startup primarily based out of Massachusetts, obtained acquired by Amazon.
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“I prefer to say Kiva Programs’ acquisition was the acquisition that launched 1,000 robotic startups,” Winterroth stated. “Between 2011 and 2015, 2016, that basically was the case. You simply noticed numerous completely different new corporations get began. Some like 6 River Programs, or Clearpath Robotics, had been profitable, however most weren’t. However that expertise learns and that studying compounds, and it’s introduced into the following set of ventures.”
This primary wave helped appeal to engineers to the sector and helped corporations determine product-market-fit, he stated.
Kira Noodleman, a associate at Bee Companions, echoed this. Noodleman advised TechCrunch the final decade of trial and error helped startups determine what the market is definitely searching for in the case of robotics and automation.
Some corporations, like Speedy Robotics, which Noodleman backed, shut down attempting to determine what the market wished. These failures have helped the following batch of startup founders, who now have a a lot better concept of what potential clients need from this sector.
Noodleman had an analogous expertise along with her personal investing thesis, she stated, which modified because the market matured.
“Lights out manufacturing assumes there are zero people within the loop; that’s simply not taking place. We proved that already again within the 2010s,” Noodleman stated. “Let me take a easy job, machine tending, all it’s is somebody’s hand placing one thing out and in of a machine. The purpose right here is you’ll be able to think about what number of low-hanging fruit, repetitive duties there are, like machine tending.”
Fady Saad, a common associate at early-stage robotics-focused Cybernetix Ventures, additionally launched his agency previous to the AI growth after he observed he was spending plenty of time connecting early-stage robotics corporations to sources of funding throughout his time as a co-founder at MassRobotics.
Falling {hardware} prices have additionally pushed investor curiosity within the sector, Saad stated, noting that it’s cheaper to construct robots as we speak than 5 years in the past. This permits corporations to have a extra viable path to scale and makes them extra enticing to potential enterprise backers.
“The price of constructing robotics has been going dramatically down,” Saad stated. “Advances in sensor know-how, compute, and batteries, all of that, it was the proper timing to begin full-stack robotics options.”
Developments in AI aren’t hurting the business both. Whereas AI is being touted by many as the primary purpose why robotics are beginning to see a rise in curiosity — alongside an Elon Musk-driven fascination with humanoid robots — it isn’t the one issue.
Saad added that whereas AI and enormous language fashions could be useful for coaching robots, these LLMs are primarily educated on on-line info, whereas robots work together with the actual world.
There are corporations constructing fashions primarily based on that real-life information; Nvidia simply launched a brand new set of world fashions for robotic coaching in August. However Saad predicted it can take a bit longer to seize and practice robots, particularly these that may exist alongside folks, on world information.
Current day
Momentum within the business could also be beginning to swell, however that doesn’t imply each startup has found out the very best strategy but. Nor are some classes inside robotics as mature as others.
A few of the first few markets to undertake robotics and automation, together with manufacturing, warehousing, and development, proceed to be enticing for robotics startup backers.
For Winterroth, Saad, and Noodleman, healthcare and surgical-related robots stay a compelling space to put money into too. Noodleman provides eldercare to that class as nicely.
“In-home help is fascinating, coming from me having checked out industrial robotics for 10 years,” Noodleman stated. “Manufacturing and mining, burning labor shortages, ageing populations, no people can be found at any value, even imperfect robotics are higher than nothing.”
Saad added that vertically centered robotics corporations are likely to have entry to extra real-world and bodily information, too, than horizontal gamers.
One space that these VCs are usually not as enthusiastic about are humanoids or shopper — and particularly not consumer-focused humanoids.
Saad isn’t satisfied that folks will need to have a robotic of their home anytime quickly. He added that even non-humanoid consumer-focused robotics corporations have struggled to get shoppers excited.
“The one profitable shopper robotic firm, iRobot, didn’t give you a second act,” Saad stated. “Pool cleansing robotic, garden mower, mopping and floor-cleaning robotic, none of those labored out for no matter purpose.”
Whereas the business continues to be years away from industrial success of extra intricate robotic fashions, like humanoids, VCs are pouring extra capital into the sector. Even supposing this curiosity is driving up the prices of offers, the surge in curiosity is a web constructive for the business, Winterroth and Saad stated, because the potential buyer base for robotics startups continues to develop.
“There are sufficient examples of profitable industrial organizations, profitable robotics corporations, which have change into a helpful industrial group,” Winterroth stated. “Ten, 15 years in the past, it was questionable whether or not or not there was going to be a big and thriving market for a majority of these options. Now there’s plenty of buyer consciousness.”
