On Wednesday, Figure, a firm that intends to manufacture general-purpose humanoid robots, announced its first external funding round of $70 million from Parkway Venture Capital.
The company’s first autonomous humanoid, planned to emerge in a few months, will be developed and manufactured faster with the extra cash. A close source valued the one-year-old company at about $400 million. Figure CEO Brett Adcock contributed $20 million. Bold Ventures and Aliya Capital invest.
Based in Sunnyvale, California, Figure makes general-purpose humanoid robots for warehouses and retail. The company claimed it’s discussing commercialization with retailers.
Adcock, the former founder of Archer Aviation (ACHR.N), said Figure differs from Boston Dynamics and Amazon Robotics by building general-purpose robots that can learn and interact with the environment.
“We believe general-purpose humanoid robots have far more potential than single-purpose robots,” said Adcock. “The deployment into the workforce can help address labor shortages and over time lead the way in eliminating the need for unsafe and undesirable jobs.”
Tech giants and startups like Figure are racing to create the next commercial humanoid robot. Last year, Tesla (TSLA.O) unveiled Optimus, its humanoid robot. Elon Musk projected the electric vehicle maker could take orders for the robot in three to five years and sell them for under $20,000.
