Toyota-backed humanoid robot startup is selling general-purpose machines for manufacturing and logistics, with a pilot already running at a Toyota plant in North America.
Walden Robotics, a humanoid robot startup spun out of Toyota's robotics research lab, has raised about $300 million in seed funding at a $1.1 billion valuation. The round was co-led by Deviation Capital and Toyota Motor Corporation, with Nvidia, Boeing, AE Ventures, Samsung Venture Investment, and CoreWeave Ventures also participating. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company is building general-purpose humanoid robots for manufacturing and logistics and has already begun sales. Its machines are designed for physically demanding work such as loading and unloading auto parts and cleaning equipment. A pilot deployment is underway at a Toyota plant in North America, while co-founder Russ Tedrake, whose background includes the Toyota Research Institute and MIT, is leading the company’s robotics development.