When Artem Sokolov launched Humanoid out of London in mid-2024, few observers might have predicted the company would reach a billion-dollar valuation before its second birthday. But in the increasingly frenzied world of humanoid robotics—where the line between science fiction and supply chain reality grows thinner by the month—conventional timelines no longer seem to apply.
The startup closed $150 million in the first tranche of its Series A round at a $1.2 billion pre-money valuation, The Information reported in mid-July. The financing makes Humanoid one of the youngest companies to achieve unicorn status in the robotics sector, a milestone that reflects both the founder's audacious personal bet and the industry's surging appetite for machines that can navigate warehouses and factory floors on two legs—or wheels.
Perhaps more remarkable than the valuation itself: Sokolov, who previously ran a family jewelry manufacturing operation in Russia, injected capital into Humanoid's seed round—a figure that Forbes reported as $30 million in February, though The Information indicated it reached roughly $100 million by July, according to sources familiar with the matter.
It's the kind of founder commitment that tends to get investors' attention—or at least signal a level of conviction that's hard to ignore.
The round isn't done yet.
Humanoid is aiming to raise an additional $80 million to $100 million by September, according to people familiar with the financing. Companies House filings reveal a series of share allotments recorded between May and July, consistent with the multi-closing structure common among fast-growing startups managing simultaneous deals with multiple backers.
The capital infusion comes as Humanoid cements several high-profile manufacturing partnerships that could provide the revenue visibility investors prize. In May, the startup secured Bosch as a contract manufacturer for its HMND 01 robot—positioning the German industrial giant to produce units for the European market following a successful proof-of-concept at Bosch's logistics facility in Bühl.
That same month, Reuters reported that Humanoid plans to deploy between 1,000 and 2,000 robots across plants operated by Schaeffler, the automotive supplier, by 2032. If realized, it would rank among the largest planned humanoid rollouts in the industry—a multi-year commitment that translates into long-horizon component orders and the kind of predictable revenue that can smooth the path toward an eventual public offering.
Earlier pilot projects with Siemens and SAP demonstrated the HMND 01's logistics chops, including a throughput of 60 totes per hour and seamless integration with SAP's enterprise warehouse management system. The deals suggest the company is moving beyond flashy demos and into the grittier work of proving its robots can operate reliably at scale.
Racing Toward the Public Markets
Sokolov told Reuters in May that Humanoid is targeting a U.S. IPO by 2030—an ambitious timeline, but one that mirrors the broader ambitions swirling around the humanoid robotics space. The company joins a growing cohort of well-capitalized rivals sprinting toward public markets: Apptronik raised $935 million at a valuation above $5 billion in February, while Agility Robotics announced a $2.5 billion SPAC deal in June.
Humanoid's Series A valuation sits below those peers but edges past Sunday Robotics, which hit a $1.15 billion valuation in March. Meanwhile, Chinese competitors LimX Dynamics and RobotEra have each pulled in close to $200 million in recent months, underscoring the global nature of the race to commercialize humanoid robots.
The company now employs approximately 230 people across offices in London, Boston, and Vancouver. It manufactures two variants of its HMND 01 platform: a wheeled version standing 220 centimeters tall with a 15-kilogram dual-arm payload, and a bipedal model at 179 centimeters that relies on reinforcement learning-trained whole-body control. Both versions use NVIDIA-based AI and modular end-effectors designed for industrial logistics and manufacturing applications.
Whether Humanoid can convert early manufacturing deals into sustained revenue—and meet Sokolov's 2030 IPO target—remains to be seen. But in a sector where hype often outpaces execution, the company's manufacturing partnerships and founder backing offer at least a measure of substance beneath the billion-dollar headline. That counts for something, even if the hardest work still lies ahead.
