robotics funding

humanoid robo

2026-08-10 04:04:08

China's 8 humanoid robot firms top $2.9B valuation; data standards lag

Eight Chinese humanoid-robotics companies had reached or passed a 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) valuation by June 2026, according to industry analysis platform Hello China Tech. Five are valued mainly on model capability rather than shipment volume, with annual shipments still around 100 units. Funding for the sector hit $6.95 billion in Q2, more than double the previous quarter. The report also flagged wide gaps in data-collection costs, from roughly 20-40 yuan per hour for frontline workers to 500-1,000 yuan for government-backed training-base data. Only about 50 of every 100 hours of raw collection ends up usable, and firms use incompatible data units such as hours, trajectories and skills. Without independent audits, valuation bases remain uncertain, and the report urges a unified standard for measuring data assets.

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Vicarious Sur

2026-07-26 00:59:10

Vicarious Surgical to Wind Down Operations and Liquidate After Raising About $300 Million

Vicarious Surgical, a U.S. surgical robotics company once seen as a challenger to Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci system, is being wound down after investors voted to cease operations and proceed with bankruptcy liquidation. Founded in 2014 by MIT students Adam Sachs and Sammy Khalifa together with surgeon Barry Greene, the company drew backing from Bill Gates, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, and Khosla Ventures. It later went public through a SPAC in 2021, with its market value at one point topping $1.2 billion. The company built its pitch around a miniaturized robotic surgery platform that combined flexible robotic arms with virtual reality controls. It also became the first surgical robot to receive the U.S. FDA’s Breakthrough Device designation, and its product was named one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2022. Even so, clinical and regulatory milestones kept slipping. Vicarious had planned to begin its first clinical trial in 2024 and file for device clearance by the end of 2025, but engineering challenges delayed both. By March this year, the New York Stock Exchange had notified the company of delisting after its average market capitalization stayed below $15 million for 30 consecutive trading days. Vicarious said it could not secure fresh financing or find a buyer. As of the end of March, it had about $3.7 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

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Agility Robot

2026-07-23 15:00:16

Agility Robotics to Go Public via SPAC at $2.5 Billion Valuation as Digit Reaches 9 Commercial Sites

Agility Robotics plans to merge with Churchill Capital Corp XI in a SPAC deal valuing the company at about $2.5 billion. Its humanoid robot Digit is already deployed across nine commercial customer sites.

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