OpenAI-Backed Robotics Startup 1X Raises $100 Million 144

Norwegian robotics startup 1X Technologies, backed by companies such as Openai, announced today that it has raised $100 million in Series B funding from a long list of other major companies, including Samsung.

The investment came from EQT Ventures, with Samsung NEXT, the Nistad Group, and existing company supporters Sandwater and Skagerak Capital participating.

1X, formerly known as Halodi Robotics, is a robotics and engineering company from Norway, founded 10 years ago, that produces humanoid robots capable of performing human-like movements and activities. It currently has a team of about 60 employees, aimed at building general-purpose robots to handle labor-intensive tasks.

Over the years, the company has developed its own technologies, including the world's highest torque-to-weight ratio drive servo motors, used to mimic soft, organic muscle movements, and has begun shipping to enterprise customers.

However, the major breakthrough came in 2022, when 1X partnered with OpenAI and began looking for AI models to add intelligence to its machines.

The company introduced language and embodied learning models that enable robots to understand questions posed by users in natural language and perform the task while learning over time—in essence, its thoughts.

Eve, the company's enterprise-focused wheeled robot, has already been deployed across multiple organizations for industrial tasks such as moving devices, opening doors, and fulfilling orders, while naturally navigating unstructured/structured spaces. The robot's algorithms learned these tasks at the company's studios in Norway.

"At our studio in Moss, Norway, our robots use embodied learning to train on real-world tasks, general-purpose and industry-specific behaviors. Inspired by advances in digital assistants and self-driving cars, 1X's data collection method differs from traditional coding and predetermined algorithms. Using VR Teleop, 1X operators guide the robots through a variety of real-world scenarios, intuitively understanding the difficulty and feasibility of tasks. When data is collected at scale, the robot has learned a new skill.

"It's less about fixed algorithms and more about practical learning for navigating a world built for you and me, or the 'average human shape,'" the company noted in a December blog post.

The company is also developing Neo, a bipedal humanoid robot targeted at the consumer market. It is designed for everyday household assistance, providing support for chores such as cleaning, tidying up, or running errands.

With this round of funding, 1X's total funding reaches nearly $137 million, and the company plans to build on its work to support existing enterprise customers and bring Neo to the consumer market. It also plans to expand its embodied artificial intelligence data collection and training strategy.