Rakuten on February 24
According to foreign media disclosures, Figure AI, a humanoid robot startup, raised about 6$7.5 billion, with a pre-investment valuation of about $2 billion.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Nvidia and other big tech companies are investing in Figure AI, which is also backed by ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Microsoft.
Bezos has pledged $100 million through his company, Explore Investments LLC, Microsoft will invest $95 million, and Nvidia and Amazon affiliates** will provide $50 million each.
Investment in AI startups surged after the launch of OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022, with investors recognising the opportunity and betting that these startups could outperform bigger competitors. OpenAI has considered acquiring Figure AI and is currently investing $5 million.
Figure AI's backers include LG Innotek, Intel's venture capital arm, Samsung's investment group, and venture capital firms Parkway Venture Capital and Align Ventures, in addition to ARK Venture Fund, Aliya Capital Partners, and Tamarak, among other investors in the startup.
In 2023, Figure AI also raised $70 million from investors led by Parkway Venture Capital.
According to reports, Figure AI was founded in 2022 and is a general-purpose humanoid robot developer whose goal is to develop general-purpose humanoid robots that can work in different environments and handle various tasks.
Figure AI can be used from warehousing to retail, and its product Figure 01 has demonstrated the ability to complete tasks such as brewing coffee autonomously.
There are also humanoid robot startups in China, for example, UBTECH has been listed on the Hong Kong stock market.
Recently, Unitree, an intelligent robot company, recently announced the completion of nearly 1 billion yuan in B2 round of financing, with investors including Meituan, Goldstone Investment, Source Code, and old shareholders Shenzhen Venture Capital, China Network Investment, Rongyi, Dunhong and Mida Junshi followed the investment.
Lei Di was founded by ** Lei Jianping, if ** please in**.