Stealth Startups Emerge With Over $300 Million to Join Crowded Humanoid Robot Field

The intense investment heat from the artificial intelligence boom is officially spilling over into the notoriously difficult world of robotics hardware. A new report from Forbes has pulled back the curtain on two secretive, well-funded startups in Silicon Valley that are joining the race to build functional humanoid robots.

Palo Alto’s Rhoda AI and the software-centric Genesis AI have collectively raised more than $335 million in early-stage funding, entering a competitive landscape alongside major players like Figure, Tesla, and 1X. Their emergence underscores the growing conviction among investors that general-purpose robots are moving from science fiction to viable commercial products.

Rhoda AI Tackles Heavy Lifting

Rhoda AI appears to be focused on a critical industrial challenge: strength. According to documents viewed by Forbes, the company is developing a “general purpose bimanual manipulation platform” designed for heavy lifting. This is a key differentiator, as many current humanoid prototypes struggle to lift objects heavier than 50 pounds while maintaining stability.

The company's financial backing is substantial. It reportedly closed a $162.6 million Series A round in April, bringing its total funding to $230 million and pushing its valuation to nearly $1 billion.

The team behind Rhoda AI adds to its credibility. It was founded by Jagdeep Singh, a serial entrepreneur with a track record that includes Quantumscape and Infinera. The founding team also includes Stanford professor Gordon Wetzstein and Vincent Clerc, who previously worked on Softbank’s Pepper robot. The company declined to comment on the report.

Genesis AI’s Software-First Strategy

The second stealth venture, Genesis AI, is taking a different, more software-oriented approach. The company, which raised a $105 million seed round from prominent investors like Khosla Ventures and Eric Schmidt, is developing a robot with two arms but wheels instead of legs. This design aims to create a machine that is cheaper, lighter, and potentially safer than bipedal competitors like Tesla’s Optimus.

In a key clarification to Forbes, Genesis AI CEO Zhou Xian stated that the company is primarily focused on training the software models that will control the robots. Rather than building the hardware from scratch, Genesis is collaborating with vendors to produce custom machines, positioning itself as a "full-stack robotics" company with an emphasis on the AI brain.

A Field Fueled by Capital and Caution

The arrival of Rhoda AI and Genesis AI comes at a moment of peak excitement for the humanoid robotics sector. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently predicted that humanoids could become “one of the largest industries ever,” while Tesla CEO Elon Musk continues to assert that the Optimus robot division will one day be the most valuable part of his company.

This optimism has translated into massive funding rounds across the industry. Figure has raised over $1 billion, and are looking to raise more. 1X is reportedly in the process of raising a similar amount.

However, some industry observers urge caution. As Root Ventures general partner Kane Hsieh told Forbes, the leap from promising research to nine-figure seed rounds is a significant one. "After the success of large language models, investors are optimistically looking to robotics as the next big thing and that’s driving a lot of hype," he noted.

While the path to commercialization remains long and fraught with engineering challenges, the significant capital flowing into stealth ventures like Rhoda and Genesis AI signals that the race to build the world's first truly useful humanoid robot is only getting more intense.