Robotics startups raised $9.9 billion in the third quarter of 2026, more than double the $4.3 billion Crunchbase recorded in the third quarter of 2025, according to Crunchbase data reported on October 27.

Crunchbase’s headline says funding jumped 185%; the article attributes that figure to the first three quarters of the year, while the quarter-on-quarter figures imply growth of about 130%. Year to date, Chinese robotics startups have raised $13.2 billion and US startups $12.1 billion. The article gives no breakdown by country for the quarter alone.

The money is spread across robot makers, software models and data infrastructure. Travis Kalanick’s Atoms is named among the founder-led bets behind the surge, without a round size, and the article names no other rounds.

The article’s own caution is that the surge reflects investor conviction, not yet widespread deployment.

Sources

Image: 20260425 Unitree Headquarter 02.jpg by Windmemories, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Illustrative photo; it does not show the events described.