Figure AI Inc. this week announced its $70 million Series A funding round. The startup said it plans to use the financing to accelerate the development of its Figure 01 humanoid robot, build out its data pipeline for autonomous operations, and continue its commercialization efforts.
“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,” said Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of Figure, in a press release. “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.”
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Figure emerged from “stealth mode” in March. The company said it is designing its “general purpose” humanoid robot to initially support supply chains “on a global scale.”
Figure marks milestones, builds out team
In the past 12 months, Figure said it reached significant milestones, including:
- Brought on industry leading robotics experts, including Dr. Jerry Pratt as chief technology officer. He has been involved in humanoid robotics development for more than 20 years.
- Scaled an organization of 50 employees with a total of over 100 years of robotics experience spanning disciplines of artificial intelligence, manipulation, perception, and robot controls, as well as 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.
In recent months, Figure claimed that it made notable hires across AI, controls, manipulation, perception, and commercial operations. Bob Klunk recently joined the company as head of warehouse solutions to help bring Figure 01 into its first real-world application.
Klunk, former senior vice president of operations at GEODIS, is a fulfillment operations veteran and brings over two decades of warehouse experience to Figure's team.
Parkway Venture Capital led round
Parkway Venture Capital led Figure's Series A round, with participation from Adcock, Aliya Capital, Bold Capital Partners, Tamarack Global, FJ labs, and KUKA Robotics CEO Till Reuter.
“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,” stated Jesse Coors-Blankenship, co-founder and managing partner of Parkway Venture Capital. “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.”
Adcock added: “I look forward to growing this strategic partnership with Parkway and all participating investors to support the success of Figure.”
As with autonomous vehicles, Figure joins a space flush with cash and recent interest, while full functionality and commercialization may still be years away. Other companies developing humanoid robots include Aeolus, Agility Robotics, Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, Enchanted Tools, Sanctuary AI, and Tesla.
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