附近上门

Despite our acclimatization to the forward march of technology, many of us remain vaguely creeped out by the concept of humanoid robots.

Sure, it鈥檇 be wonderful to have autonomous machines adept at cleaning the house, harvesting and preparing food, running warehouses and performing a host of generally thankless and burdensome jobs. But must they look like us too?

For many startups, the answer to this question is 鈥渘o.鈥�

While humanoid robots startups like and have drawn headlines in recent months for big and flashy , an array of companies working on less-anthropomorphic designs have also secured considerable investment. These include four-legged models, AI-enabled appendages and skilled swimmers.

The non-humanoid bot startups getting funded

To illustrate, we used 附近上门 data to assemble a sample list of 26 companies in the non-humanoid robot startup sector that have raised rounds in the past few quarters. It鈥檚 a varied lot, with focus areas ranging from farming to pool cleaning to massaging.

Bots around town

The list also features a mix of consumer-facing and industrial use cases, and we figured we鈥檇 start by highlighting the first category. It鈥檚 not that these bots are necessarily more useful, but rather that being out in public does make it a bit more fun to contemplate.

If recently funded startups have their way, some of the bots we see in action could be taking on more of the everyday drudgery currently shouldered by humans.

Cleaning is one of the big areas. China-based , which closed a $100 million Series E in April, makes robot vacuums and mops and touts its 鈥�,鈥� LiDAR navigation and embedded dirt sensor. San Francisco-based , meanwhile, has raised $300 million since last year to iterate its vision of robots for household chores but has not yet released a prototype.

Pool-cleaning, an area already long-dominated by autonomous machines, is also set for an AI era upgrade, with two China-based companies pulling in rounds of $140 million each this year. , which closed its round in September, markets its $3,000 model as the 鈥渨orld’s first AI-powered 5-in-1 robotic pool cleaner.鈥� Rival charges $1,700 for its Scuba Max Pro, which features smart pool mapping and a dedicated app.

And for those who need some pampering after a long day of not cleaning the pool, massage bot startup offers another spending option. The New York-based company secured $83 million in March to its customizable, 鈥渇ully autonomous, AI-driven massage鈥� offering.

Bots behind the scenes

While we may enjoy gawking at the still-unusual sight of a bot in public making a latte or delivering a restaurant meal, the bulk of funded companies in the non-humanoid bot space are working on models that will do their work behind the scenes.

Surgical robots have long been one of the more heavily funded areas, and this holds true for recent investment as well. The largest fundraiser on our list, U.K.-based , developer of a soft tissue surgical robot, has secured $1.1 billion in known funding to date, including a $200 million April . Israel-based , developer of a robotic platform for ophthalmic surgery, is also scaling up, closing a $125 million Series B in June.

On the industrial front, Swiss startup has raised more than $150 million to develop a four-legged bot optimized for inspections, capable of climbing stairs and avoiding obstacles.

And , which closed a $100 million Series C this summer, is working on appendage-like, AI-enabled robots that can be adapted for multiple industries.

Agtech also emerged as a favored area for investment. , based in Switzerland, has raised a couple hundred million for precision crop spraying, while Seattle-based is working on technology to kill weeds with lasers.

Won鈥檛 mistake it for a human

Of all the above-mentioned startups, none appear to be working on anything that could be remotely confused for a human, even from a distance. This seems logical, considering that so many jobs people have historically done don鈥檛 seem ideally suited to our particular form.

If all goes well with these non-humanoid robot startups, perhaps it would leave us humans free to spend more time doing the activities that do seem optimally suited to our form. Sitting on the couch would be high on this author鈥檚 list, though I鈥檓 sure others could find many more productive pursuits.

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