Robotics startups are setting a faster pace for venture fundraising, with 2026 totals already surpassing last year’s target, as investors pour more money into machines that can act in the physical world.
Robotics companies have collected $18.8 billion globally in 2026 to date, compared with $15 billion across all of 2025. The 2026 tally also exceeds the $14.1 billion raised during 2021, a prior high-water mark for venture activity, according to Crunchbase.
The surge suggests investors are no longer viewing robotics as a risky hardware bet. Instead, many are treating it as the next major phase of artificial intelligence.
The shift is being fueled by enthusiasm around so-called embodied AI — artificial intelligence systems that exist in physical machines and interact with the real world. While generative AI captured headlines over the past several years by creating text, images and code, embodied AI aims to bring those capabilities into factories, warehouses, ships, construction sites and eventually homes.
Investors are writing increasingly large checks to make that vision a reality. Defense technology startup Saronic raised $1.75 billion earlier this year to expand its autonomous naval vessel platform. Germany’s Neura Robotics secured up to $1.4 billion, while robotics software developer Skild AI raised another $1.4 billion at a valuation exceeding $14 billion.
