With a $40 million seed round, London robotics company Machenta will build out a system that lets robots take on unfamiliar physical tasks after one demonstration.
Creandum and Union Square Ventures led the investment together. Machenta’s foundation model was pretrained solely in simulation, using no demonstrations gathered in the physical world. After deployment, a robot can learn tasks such as packing or organizing from one demonstration. Simulation supplies the model’s prior training, while a demonstration provides input for a robot’s later learning.
Machenta made its public debut this week with a staff of more than 10 and has not yet brought a product to market. The company plans to use the financing to expand its models and add staff at its London base in King’s Cross.
Machenta’s co-founders are doctoral student Vitalis Vosylius and Professor Edward Johns, whose affiliation is Imperial College London’s robotics learning lab.
