Robot business and funding
Robot business covers the money side of robotics: funding rounds, deals, public listings and how robot companies plan to make money.
Latest, from November 4, 2026: RobotWorld 2026 opens in Korea with a record 402 exhibitors and a new humanoid pavilion.
Companies in this coverage include Unitree, AgiBot, Agility Robotics, UBTech and Waymo.
Explainers: How robots work: a beginner's guide
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- RobotWorld 2026 opens in Korea with a record 402 exhibitors and a new humanoid pavilion
RobotWorld 2026 opened Nov 4 near Seoul with a record 402 exhibitors from 17 countries, 1,198 booths and a new humanoid pavilion.
- Peppermint Robotics raises ₹100 crore ($10.5M) pre-Series B for autonomous cleaning robots
Peppermint Robotics raised ₹100 crore (~$10.5M) led by pi Ventures and Crane Venture Partners to scale its autonomous cleaning robots.
- China robotics funding falls to about $1.6 billion in October, under half of August's total
Chinese robotics firms raised about 11B yuan ($1.6B) in October, under half of August's total, per ITjuzi data cited by Bloomberg.
- ManuPrax Robotics raises nearly $10M in two rounds for dexterous robot hands
Beijing startup ManuPrax Robotics, registered in September, closed two rounds totaling nearly $10M, led by Alphaist Partners and Yaotu Capital.
- Schaeffler cuts 3,460 European jobs, names humanoid robots a growth area
Schaeffler will cut a net 3,460 jobs in Europe and close five sites, naming humanoid robotics and defense as growth areas.
- Waymo pioneer Sebastian Thrun's new startup Dulo raises $130M
Sebastian Thrun, who helped start Google's self-driving project that became Waymo, has a new company, Dulo, building AI models that design planes, cars and other complex hardware. The $130 million raise shows investors betting AI can speed up how physical machines get engineered.
- Unitree's first earnings as a public company: revenue up 70%, profit down
Unitree, the Chinese maker of robot dogs and humanoids, reported Q3 revenue of 665 million yuan, up 69.9% from a year ago, while net profit fell 17.4% as R&D spending rose about 250%, Reuters reports.
- Agility Robotics (AGLT) set to start Nasdaq trading Nov. 5
Digit maker Agility's SPAC merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI is expected to raise about $465 million before expenses. Churchill XI shareholders approved it on Nov. 2.