Chips & Hardware
Mind Robotics raises $400 million to scale industrial automation
Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics raised $400 million, pushing its total funding to more than $1 billion and valuing the industrial robotics company at more than $3 billion.
Mind Robotics has raised $400 million in its latest funding round as it works to develop industrial robotics that can further automate factory operations. Kleiner Perkins, a prominent venture capital firm, served as the lead investor for the financing round. The venture arms of automaker Volkswagen and software company Salesforce also contributed investments to the round. This new capital injection follows a previous funding round of $500 million, representing a rapid expansion of the company’s resources.
The company was created in 2025 as a spinoff of Rivian, which acts as its parent company and partner. It was founded by RJ Scaringe, the CEO of Rivian who also serves as the chairman of Mind Robotics. Scaringe attributed his decision to establish the company to his belief that other existing startups were not fully equipped to automate industrial work. The project, which was initially known as “Project Synapse,” is designed to address these perceived gaps in factory automation. In an interview in March, Scaringe told TechCrunch that the company’s core mission is to build “robotics with human-like skills.”
According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal, the latest funding round values Mind Robotics at more than $3 billion. The startup’s capital structure has grown through several distinct phases:
- Initial funding: Mind Robotics previously raised $115 million from Eclipse, a venture firm, shortly after the company was created in 2025.
- Intermediate capital: The company subsequently secured a previous funding round of $500 million.
- Latest round: The company added $400 million in the round led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Volkswagen and Salesforce.
- Total funding: The cumulative capital raised by the company now stands at more than $1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Beyond his work with Rivian and Mind Robotics, Scaringe has also been active in other sectors of the transportation industry. He previously created Also, a micromobility company. To date, Also has raised more than $300 million to support its own operations.
Why it matters
Mind Robotics is attempting to solve the automation gap in industrial manufacturing, a sector where traditional robotics have historically struggled to achieve human-like dexterity.