German Firm Neura Robotics Gets $1.4 Billion In Funding, Amazon And Nvidia Among Backers

Germany's Neura Robotics has secured up to $1.4 billion in funding to build a physical AI platform, with US tech giants like Amazon and Nvidia among its backers.

Tether, Qualcomm Technologies, Bosch, InterAlpen Partners and the European Investment Bank were also among the firms that funded Neura Robotics'  Series C financing.

The company reached a valuation of almost $7 billion, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.

The full funding is dependent on Neura achieving certain milestones based on company performance, the insider added.

Robotics companies have raised $55.8 billion so far this year, a record figure almost double the amount raised last year, according to Dealroom.

The majority of the funding has been raised by companies in China and the US. But new robotics firms in Europe are also being developed, including the UK-based Humanoid.

In a release, Neura Robotics said it is building one of the first open Physical AI ecosystems in the world. Called the Neuraverse, it allows robots to continuously exchange capabilities, skills and real-world learning across deployments.

It said that the funding will help implement this venture, as well as global deployment of cognitive robots and humanoids, scaling of manufacturing and deployment infrastructure and the rollout of NEURA Gyms, which are large-scale real-world training environments for cognitive robots.

David Reger, the founder and CEO of Neura Robotics, explained in a statement, “The future of AI will not only live on screens.”

He explained the company's belief in physical AI and cognitive robotics, staging that these would be “one of the largest technology shifts of the coming decades, transforming industries ranging from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare, services and household robotics.”

Reger stated that Neura's short-term target was to raise production capacity for its humanoid robots to tens of thousands next year from the present scale of 6,000 units annually. The firm's longer-term target is to manufacture millions of AI-powered humanoids and robotic arms by 2030, Financial Times reported.

Tech giants such as Nvidia, Tesla and SoftBank believe robotics can be a driver of growth, with generative AI models helping machines learn skills and adapt to physical surroundings faster.

The global market for humanoid robots can reach $28 billion by 2030, according to estimates by consultancy McKinsey. Early adoption is likely to be led by simple tasks.