According to sources who spoke to Reuters, Kyle Vogt, the former CEO of the self-driving car business Cruise, has raised $150 million for his automation startup The Bot business in a fresh investment round headed by Greenoaks. The company was founded less than a year ago, and its valuation is $2 billion.
As the business works to develop the hardware and AI-based software that will power the robots, it has already raised $150 million from investors like Spark Capital and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, who considered the company at $550 million, according to reports.
A growing interest in robotics firms, especially those utilizing artificial intelligence and spatial intelligence, is reflected in the investment in The Bot Company. According to PitchBook, VC investors invested $6.1 billion in robotics last year, a 19% increase from 2023. In addition to the Bot Company, Greenoaks previously invested Mytra, a robotics business that specializes in industrial jobs.
Vogt, Paril Jain, and Luke Holoubek—all former researchers at Tesla and GM-owned Cruise—co-founded The Bot Company. Its goal is to build at-home robots that help people with everyday duties like housework. Although there isn't much information available, reports suggest that they are non-humanoid bots with grips and a base.
Humanoid-focused companies like Tesla (TSLA.O), new tab, and startups like Figure, which is presently raising $40 billion in funding despite having little income, are also major contributors to the interest in the field. Brad Porter, a veteran of Amazon, established Cobot, which has also received $146 million for industrial automation-focused non-humanoid robots. The amount of money needed for construction and expansion highlights how difficult it is to create robots that work with daily tasks.
