Former Cruise CEO's Robotics Startup 'The Bot Company' Valued at $2 Billion in Latest Funding Round

Exclusive: Former Cruise CEO Vogt's robotics startup valued at $2 billion in new funding, sources say

(Reuters) March 21 - Kyle Vogt, former CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, has raised $150 million in a new funding round led by Greenoaks for his robotics startup The Bot Company, valuing the firm launched less than a year ago at $2 billion, sources told Reuters. This capital injection follows a previous $150 million raised from investors such as Spark Capital and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman that valued the company at $550 million, sources added, as it is trying to build out the hardware and artificial intelligence-based software to power the robots. It reflects investors' confidence in a company that has yet to release its product and has no revenue, as the appeal lies in the potential of robotics powered by AI models that can learn to do new tasks, which have captured Silicon Valley's imagination. The boom in large language models is significantly boosting interest in robotics, as LLMs enable robots to process natural language commands and perform complex tasks, which could make robots more intuitive and adaptive for use cases at home or on factory floors. Robotics startups, with various form factors, are attracting substantial funding and attention, marking a new era of intelligent and adaptive robots. The Bot Company was co-founded by Vogt, Paril Jain, and Luke Holoubek, former engineers at Tesla and GM-owned Cruise. It aims to create at-home robots that assist individuals with daily tasks, such as household chores. While little is known about the design, sources indicate they are non-humanoid robots equipped with a base and grips. Both The Bot Company and Greenoaks declined to comment. Much of the excitement in the space is also spurred by humanoid-focused players like Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab and startups such as Figure, which is currently raising funding at $40 billion with little revenue. Cobot, founded by Amazon veteran Brad Porter, has also raised $146 million for non-humanoid robots that focus on industrial automation. The capital required to build and scale underscores the complexities in developing robots that integrate into day-to-day operations. At-home robotics is a category where tech giants like Amazon have already invested significantly. Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab launched its home robot, Astro, in 2021, focusing on home monitoring and entertainment capabilities. Last year, it decided to discontinue Astro for Business to focus solely on household robots. Two other robot startups, Physical Intelligence and 1x, have also raised hundreds of millions to create robots capable of daily household tasks like folding laundry and cleaning countertops. Vogt and his co-founders are part of a growing pool of talent returning to the robotics space from self-driving. Many startups in this sector aim to move beyond imitation learning to more action-based AI models inspired by large language models, enabling robots to learn movements more efficiently beyond the pre-programmed routines. The investment in The Bot Company reflects the growing interest in robotics startups, particularly those leveraging AI and spatial intelligence. Last year, VC investors poured $6.1 billion into robotics, up 19% from 2023, according to PitchBook. Besides the Bot Company, Greenoaks has previously invested in another robotics startup Mytra which focuses on industrial tasks. The San Francisco-based investor has underwritten billion-dollar valuations for young players such as customer service startup Sierra and Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence Inc. It stands to reap $2 billion from its $300 million investment in Wiz's $32 billion sale to Google this week, according to a source. Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Anna Tong and Kenrick Cai in San Francisco Editing by Nick Zieminski Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial IntelligenceADAS, AV & SafetySustainable & EV Supply ChainEV StrategyProducts Anna Tong Thomson Reuters Anna Tong is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco, where she reports on the technology industry. She joined Reuters in 2023 after working at the San Francisco Standard as a data editor. Tong previously worked at technology startups as a product manager and at Google where she worked in user insights and helped run a call center. Tong graduated from Harvard University. Krystal Hu Thomson Reuters Krystal reports on venture capital and startups for Reuters. She covers Silicon Valley and beyond through the lens of money and characters, with a focus on growth-stage startups, tech investments and AI. She has previously covered M&A for Reuters, breaking stories on Trump's SPAC and Elon Musk's Twitter financing. Previously, she reported on Amazon for Yahoo Finance, and her investigation of the company's retail practice was cited by lawmakers in Congress. Krystal started a career in journalism by writing about tech and politics in China. She has a master's degree from New York University, and enjoys a scoop of Matcha ice cream as much as getting a scoop at work. Kenrick Cai Thomson Reuters Kenrick Cai is a correspondent for Reuters based in San Francisco. He covers Google, its parent company Alphabet and artificial intelligence. Cai joined Reuters in 2024. He previously worked at Forbes magazine, where he was a staff writer covering venture capital and startups. He received a Best in Business award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing in 2023. He is a graduate of Duke University.

Ex-Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt's robotics startup valued at $2 billion

The Bot Company, a robotics startup founded by Kyle Vogt, has raised $150 million, valuing it at $2 billion. The company, focused on developing non-humanoid robots to assist with household tasks, was co-founded by Vogt, Paril Jain, and Luke Holoubek. This follows a previous $150 million funding round.The Bot Company, a robotics startup founded by Kyle Vogt, the former cofounder and CEO of autonomous vehicle company Cruise, has raised $150 million in funding. The round, which valued the startup at $2 billion, was led by global investment firm Greenoaks, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources. Vogt co-founded the company with Paril Jain, who previously led the AI tech team at Tesla, and Luke Holoubek, a former software engineer at Cruise. The latest funding follows an earlier $150 million raise from investors such as Spark Capital and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, which valued the company at $550 million. The Bot Company aims to develop robots designed to assist with everyday tasks, such as household chores. According to Reuters, the robots are non-humanoid, featuring a base and grips. Also Read: ET Graphics: Another ChatGPT moment, robot househelps Vogt launched the startup about five months after stepping down as CEO of Cruise, the autonomous vehicle company he founded in 2013 and later sold to General Motors. Reports suggest his resignation came after an October 2 incident where a Cruise vehicle dragged a pedestrian who had been struck by a human-driven car. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Meta is focusing on developing AI-powered humanoid robots to act like humans and assist with physical tasks like household chores. The company is investing heavily in robots that can perform human tasks and has created a new team within its Reality Labs division to lead the effort, following its push into augmented reality and AI.

Exclusive-Former Cruise CEO Vogt's robotics startup valued at $2 billion in new funding, sources say

(Reuters) - Kyle Vogt, former CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, has raised $150 million in a new funding round led by Greenoaks for his robotics startup The Bot Company, valuing the firm launched less than a year ago at $2 billion, sources told Reuters. This capital injection follows a previous $150 million raised from investors such as Spark Capital and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman that valued the company at $550 million, sources added, as it is trying to build out the hardware and artificial intelligence-based software to power the robots. It reflects investors' confidence in a company that has yet to release its product and has no revenue, as the appeal lies in the potential of robotics powered by AI models that can learn to do new tasks, which have captured Silicon Valley's imagination. The boom in large language models is significantly boosting interest in robotics, as LLMs enable robots to process natural language commands and perform complex tasks, which could make robots more intuitive and adaptive for use cases at home or on factory floors. Robotics startups, with various form factors, are attracting substantial funding and attention, marking a new era of intelligent and adaptive robots. The Bot Company was co-founded by Vogt, Paril Jain, and Luke Holoubek, former engineers at Tesla and GM-owned Cruise. It aims to create at-home robots that assist individuals with daily tasks, such as household chores. While little is known about the design, sources indicate they are non-humanoid robots equipped with a base and grips. Both The Bot Company and Greenoaks declined to comment. Much of the excitement in the space is also spurred by humanoid-focused players like Tesla and startups such as Figure, which is currently raising funding at $40 billion with little revenue. Cobot, founded by Amazon veteran Brad Porter, has also raised $146 million for non-humanoid robots that focus on industrial automation. The capital required to build and scale underscores the complexities in developing robots that integrate into day-to-day operations. At-home robotics is a category where tech giants like Amazon have already invested significantly. Amazon launched its home robot, Astro, in 2021, focusing on home monitoring and entertainment capabilities. Last year, it decided to discontinue Astro for Business to focus solely on household robots. Two other robot startups, Physical Intelligence and 1x, have also raised hundreds of millions to create robots capable of daily household tasks like folding laundry and cleaning countertops. Vogt and his co-founders are part of a growing pool of talent returning to the robotics space from self-driving. Many startups in this sector aim to move beyond imitation learning to more action-based AI models inspired by large language models, enabling robots to learn movements more efficiently beyond the pre-programmed routines. The investment in The Bot Company reflects the growing interest in robotics startups, particularly those leveraging AI and spatial intelligence. Last year, VC investors poured $6.1 billion into robotics, up 19% from 2023, according to PitchBook. Besides the Bot Company, Greenoaks has previously invested in another robotics startup Mytra which focuses on industrial tasks. The San Francisco-based investor has underwritten billion-dollar valuations for young players such as customer service startup Sierra and Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence Inc. It stands to reap $2 billion from its $300 million investment in Wiz's $32 billion sale to Google this week, according to a source. (Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York and Anna Tong and Kenrick Cai in San Francisco; Editing by Nick Zieminski)