Artificial intelligence robotics startup Dexterity Inc. secured a $95 million funding at a $1.65 valuation, according to Bloomberg News on Tuesday. This investment included participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners.
The latest investment brings Dexterity’s total capital raised to nearly $300 million. Strategic investors such as Sumitomo Corp. have also contributed to this total.
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Dexterity specializes in creating industrial robots with the ability to perform tasks with “human-like” precision. These tasks include repetitive and potentially hazardous activities such as loading and unloading boxes from trucks and sorting and moving parcels. The startup’s clientele includes FedEx (Federal Express) and United Parcel Service.
Dexterity is part of a rising number of companies seeking to revolutionize warehouses and factory floors by leveraging AI technology, with the aim of enhancing industrial productivity and potentially reducing the need for certain types of human labor. Founder and CEO Samir Menon—who was formerly a PhD student at Stanford—said the robots use specialized AI models, each focused on a specific task.
At the heart of Dexterity’s innovation is its AI-powered Mech—a two-armed robotic system with a 16-foot arm span capable of lifting over 130 pounds. Engineered to operate in extreme conditions, Mech is designed to transform warehouse logistics by seamlessly handling merchandise. The company’s proprietary Arbiter software ensures precise coordination between its hundreds of AI agents, reducing errors and improving efficiency.
“Since first partnering with them in their seed round in 2017, we’ve seen Dexterity drive advancements in AI-native robotics and truly lay the foundation for Physical AI. They are one of the very few companies to get multi-level agentic AI robotic systems to production at various F500,” said Raviraj Jain, a partner at Lightspeed Ventures, as he congratulated Dexterity on LinkedIn.
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Dexterity’s successful funding is the latest indicator of how the intersection of robotics and AI is being seen as increasingly lucrative among investors. Another such startup is Skild AI, which builds general purpose robotic intelligence. The company received $500 million funding from Softbank.
Physical intelligence, a startup that claims to be developing “brains” for a large range of robots received $400 million funding, with investors including Bezos, Lux Capital, and Thrive Capital.
In February 2024, Figure AI, a startup building an AI-powered humanoid robot, raised $675 million at a $2.6 billion valuation with investments from Microsoft, OpenAI Startup Fund, Nvidia, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, and Bezos Expeditions.