Genesis AI in talks to raise $500M at $3B valuation for robot foundation models

Genesis AI Targets $500 Million in New Funding Round

Genesis AI is in talks to raise $500 million at a roughly $3 billion pre-money valuation, according to a Bloomberg report published on July 231

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. The robotics startup, which builds foundation models for robots, emerged from stealth only last summer with a $105 million seed round co-led by Eclipse Ventures and Khosla Ventures[1](https://thenextweb.com/news/genesis-ai-500m-raise-roboti cs-foundation-model). If the funding round closes, it would represent a remarkable ascent for a physical-AI startup that has been operating publicly for less than a year.

The discussions reportedly involve Premji Invest as a potential lead investor, with HSG (formerly Sequoia China) and Northzone considering additional investment1

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. However, the figures come with standard caveats attached to private fundraising, where rounds can shift, shrink, or fall apart before signatures land on term sheets. The company had not confirmed the raise at the time of reporting, and the investor lineup could still change1

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Building Shared AI Models for Robotics Across Multiple Platforms

Genesis AI sells software rather than hardware, focusing on its universal AI model called GENE-26.52

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. This model is designed to act as a shared brain across different machines, capable of handling diverse tasks from cooking to solving a Rubik's Cube and playing the piano2

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. The company's approach aims to close what it calls the "embodiment gap" between data gathered from human movement and the machines meant to reproduce it1

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The startup trains GENE-26.5 partly on synthetic data generated by an in-house physics engine that runs scenarios hundreds of thousands of times faster than real time1

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. Last month, Genesis unveiled Eno, a wheeled robot positioned as its answer to humanoid hype, demonstrating the practical applications of its universal robotics model1

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. The company also designs dexterous hands with human-like capabilities to run its model.

Full-Stack Approach Centers on $300 Sensor Glove Technology

At the center of Genesis AI's training methodology sits a roughly $300 sensor glove worn by workers to capture training data from human movement1

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. This full-stack approach deliberately integrates both the model and the physical hardware, allowing the company to gather more accurate data for training general-purpose robotics systems. Genesis has positioned itself against rivals such as Skild AI and Physical Intelligence partly on openness, stating it intends to open-source parts of its simulation stack1

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Competing in a Crowded Field of Physical AI Investments

The potential raise would slot Genesis AI into a series of outsized robotics checks flowing through the sector. London-based Humanoid secured a $152 million Series A, while Standard Bots reached a $1 billion valuation on a $200 million round1

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. NEURA Robotics recently lifted up to $1.4 billion, reflecting the broader investor appetite for physical AI1

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. Other competitors in the space include Field AI and Scout AI2

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The wager across all these investments is that general-purpose robots represent the next frontier after chatbots, and backers are pricing bets accordingly1

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. Genesis AI frames its target as the global market for physical labor, which it values at roughly $40 trillion1

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Leadership and Global Operations Span Multiple Continents

The company was co-founded by Zhou Xian, a Carnegie Mellon robotics PhD who serves as chief executive, and Theophile Gervet, a former research scientist at Mistral AI1

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. Genesis AI maintains offices in Paris and the San Francisco Bay Area, with a recent expansion into London, and employs around 60 people split roughly evenly between Europe and the United States1

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The initial $105 million seed round included backing from former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, French billionaire Xavier Niel, Bpifrance, and HSG1

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. A $500 million follow-on inside 12 months would mark a steep markup for the robotics startup. The exact structure of the new round, including how much constitutes primary capital and when it might close, has not been disclosed1

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. Whether the talks convert into a signed term sheet remains to be seen, as the figure currently represents a report rather than a finalized deal1

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