A robotics startup called Figure, an AI Robotics company building general purpose humanoid robots, has raised $70 million in its Series A funding round. The company says the new funding will be used to accelerate the development of Figure 01, which is the company’s autonomous humanoid robot, build out Figure’s AI data pipeline for autonomous operations, and drive towards commercialization.
The round is led by Parkway Venture Capital and joined by participating investments from Brett Adcock, Aliya Capital, Bold Capital Partners, Tamarack Global, FJ labs, and Kuka Robotics CEO Till Reuter. This funding news comes on the heels of Figure’s emergence from stealth.
Figure is building humanoid robots designed for initial deployment into the workforce to address labor shortages and to support supply chain on a global scale. In recent months, Figure made notable hires across AI, Controls, Manipulation, Perception, and Commercial Operations.
Figure’s latest hire, Bob Klunk, joined the team as head of warehouse solutions to help bring Figure 01 into its first real world application. Bob, former SVP of operations at Geodis, is a fulfillment operations veteran and brings over two decades of warehouse experience to the team.
Jesse Coors-Blankenship, co-founder and managing partner of Parkway Venture Capital, says: “We’re focused on investing in companies that are pioneers in AI technology, and we believe that autonomous humanoid robots have the potential to revolutionize the labor economy.
“We are impressed by the rapid progress that Brett and the team of industry experts at Figure have made in the last year and are thrilled to be a financial partner to provide resources to accelerate the commercialization of Figure 01.”
Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of Figure, says: “Figure’s near-term goal is to deploy humanoids into the workforce, and we believe that the structured, repetitive, and often dangerous tasks in warehouses are a great potential first application.
“This investment round will support the testing of early warehouse solutions and gives us the ability to move and iterate quickly ahead of commercial operations. I look forward to growing this strategic partnership with Parkway and all participating investors to support the success of Figure.”
In the past 12 months, Figure says it has reached “significant milestones”, including:
- Brought on industry leading robotics experts such as Dr Jerry Pratt as Figure’s CTO, who has been involved in humanoid robotics development for over 20 years.
- Scaled an organization of 50 employees with over 100 years of Humanoid and AI experience spanning disciplines of AI, Manipulation, Perception, Robot Controls, Software, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering.
- Successfully completed the build, integration, and testing of the alpha prototype of Figure 01.
- Defined commercialization efforts for Figure’s first applications in industries where labor shortages are the most severe, such as manufacturing, shipping and logistics, warehousing, and retail.
