Humanoid
Category: Robotics / Embodied AI
UK-based AI and robotics company building commercially scalable, safe humanoid robots for industrial applications Humanoid was founded in 2024. The company is led by Artem Sokolov. Based in London, United Kingdom. Team size: 101-500. Total funding raised: $270M. Latest round: Series A. Key investors include Prime Movers Lab (lead), Schaeffler, Bosch, Fubon Financial Holding Venture Capital, Aglaé Ventures.
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- London, United Kingdom
- Team size
- 101-500
- Total funding
- $270M
Value proposition
Developing humanoid robots (HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled and Alpha Bipedal) powered by proprietary KinetIQ AI brain to address global labor shortages across manufacturing, logistics, and retail sectors
Products and solutions
HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled (wheeled mobile manipulator, 29 DoF, 15kg payload, 4hr runtime), HMND 01 Alpha Bipedal (bipedal walking robot, learned to walk in 48 hours), KinetIQ AI stack (proprietary 4-layer AI brain for end-to-end fleet orchestration), KinetIQ Ascend (manipulation reliability platform), RaaS (Robotics-as-a-Service) deployment model
Unique value
Europe's first pure-play humanoid robotics unicorn; vertically integrated approach combining proprietary robotics hardware with KinetIQ AI brain; wheeled form factor for industrial stability; modular design enabling customization; fastest development cycle (prototype to deployment in 7-8 months)
Target customer
Industrial manufacturers, logistics/warehousing operators, automotive factories, and retail facilities seeking automation for repetitive physical labor
Industries served
Manufacturing, Logistics & Warehousing, Automotive, Retail, Supply Chain
Technology advantage
Proprietary KinetIQ AI stack (4-layer architecture for perception, reasoning, control, and fleet orchestration); NVIDIA partnership (Isaac Sim, Omniverse, Thor compute); Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models; reinforcement learning training; 360° simulation-to-reality pipeline; modular hardware design; 2x development speed at half cost vs traditional methods
How they differentiate
Wheeled form factor (vs bipedal-only competitors) for industrial stability and reliability; Europe-based with European supply chain (Bosch, Schaeffler); fastest development timeline (2 years to unicorn); vertically integrated hardware + AI; RaaS model; modular design enabling customization per use case
Main competitors
Figure AI (US, ~$1.75B–$1.9B raised, $39B valuation), Apptronik (US, ~$1B raised / $935M+ Series A, $5.5B+ valuation), 1X Technologies (Norway/US, home robots)
Key partnerships
NVIDIA (compute, simulation, edge processing), SAP (automotive manufacturing logistics POC), Siemens (physical AI factory floor deployment with NVIDIA), Bosch (European contract manufacturing partner), Schaeffler (component supplier + 1,000-2,000 robot deployment agreement), Martur Fompak (automotive manufacturing POC)
Notable customers
Schaeffler (1,000-2,000 robot deployment agreement), SAP (automotive logistics POC), Siemens (factory floor deployment), Martur Fompak (automotive manufacturing POC), Ford (factory trial)
Major milestones
Founded 2024, HMND 01 Alpha Wheeled unveiled September 2025 (developed in 7 months), HMND 01 Alpha Bipedal unveiled December 2025 (walking in 48 hours), NVIDIA collaboration announced June 2025, Schaeffler landmark deal for thousands of robots May 2026, Bosch manufacturing partnership May 2026, $152M Series A at $1.35B valuation July 2026 — Europe's first humanoid robotics unicorn
Growth metrics
250+ engineers/researchers; 9+ industrial POCs (logistics/manufacturing/retail) with 10th underway; Beta robot commercial pilots planned Q4 2026; Schaeffler 1,000–2,000 robot deployment agreement
Market positioning
Europe's leading pure-play humanoid robotics company; positioned as the European champion in a market projected to reach $38B industrial TAM, $1T by 2050; competing against US (Figure, Apptronik, Agility) and Chinese players
Geographic focus
Europe (primary; London HQ), North America (Boston, Vancouver, San Diego offices), with global expansion plans
About Artem Sokolov
Ex-Sokolov Jewelry (family business, scaled to $1B revenue); EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2021; Executive Certificate in AI and Digital Business Excellence from IMD
Latest news about Humanoid
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Official website: https://thehumanoid.ai