5 Interesting Startup Deals You May Have Missed: Robotic Hands, An Artificial Retina Developed In Space, A GenAI Sticker Printer For Kids, And More

This is a monthly column that runs down five interesting startup funding deals every month that may have flown under the radar. Check out our September entry here.

Many months, this column is dominated by AI-related startups of the software variety. That鈥檚 not too surprising, given that those companies receive the bulk of venture funding these days.

Still, for this month鈥檚 edition of 5 Interesting Startup Deals, all the funded companies that caught our eye were hardware-centric, from a medical device for at-home acne treatment, to an artificial retina developed aboard the International Space Station. Here鈥檚 a closer look.

$25M for in-home injectable acne care

Just a few short years ago, the idea that one would get a prescription without ever stepping into a doctor鈥檚 office, then administer said treatment oneself, at home, by injecting oneself with a needle seemed 鈥� far-flung, to say the least.

But that was then, and this is now. In 2025, to getting prescriptions for injectable medications such as Ozempic online, with a few clicks of a button, and then administering those treatments to themselves in the comfort of their own homes.

One of the platforms that led the way in online healthcare is , which started in 2017 by prescribing and selling men鈥檚 products such as generic Viagra and hair-loss treatments online, and now operates a fully fledged telehealth network offering everything from birth control medications to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.

Now, an alumnus of Hims has started a similar business, but for acne care. Hims & Hers co-founder s new startup, , recently emerged from stealth with $25 million in funding. The startup, which is still in clinical trials, says it aims to be the first and only company to bring prescription corticosteroid injections for acne straight to consumers in their homes, via its ClearPen microneedle device.

鈥淐learPen will be the first big innovation in acne care since Accutane,鈥� Abraham, who also serves as managing partner at , said in a statement. 鈥淔or too long, people have had to choose between ineffective surface treatments or waiting weeks for a dermatologist. ClearPen will provide patients instant access to a corticosteroid microneedle injection right in their bathroom cabinet.鈥�

Along with Atomic, investors in Indomo include and . The company said it will use its capital to support Phase 2 clinical trials and the development of its device platform. Long-term, it aims to use its ClearPen technology to address other skin conditions beyond acne.

鈥淲e look for teams that marry scientific rigor with practical impact,鈥� Foresite partner said in a statement. 鈥淚ndomo applies proven dermatology science in an accessible, patient-friendly format 鈥� with an emphasis on precision and patient safety during development. That combination is rare.鈥�

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Just the hands, please: $16M for humanoid robotic limbs

If you鈥檝e been following the robotics sector, you鈥檙e likely aware that there鈥檚 something of an ongoing debate in the industry: To be humanoid, or not to be humanoid?

For Zurich-based , the answer is: Both, sort of.

The Swiss company earlier this month announced $16 million in new funding to develop its industrial robotic limbs, which sport human-like hands and are designed to sit on a rolling table top in a factory or retail setting.

鈥淗umanoids are exciting, but there aren鈥檛 many industrial scenarios where the full-body form factor truly adds value,鈥� , co-founder and CPO at Mimic, said in a statement. 鈥淥ur approach pairs AI-driven dexterous robotic hands with proven, off-the-shelf robot arms to deliver the same capabilities in a way that is much simpler, more reliable and rapidly deployable.鈥�

That鈥檚 a similar approach to , a San Francisco-based startup that we featured in last month鈥檚 edition of this column. That company, too, eschewed the full-body bot approach to focus only on the appendages needed for a particular task, though the Bay Area company鈥檚 robotic arms featured various tool attachments rather than humanoid hands and fingers.

Mimic has raised $20.8 million to date, . Its latest round was led by , alongside . Other investors in what the company described as a 鈥渉eavily oversubscribed鈥� seed round were , , , and .

Overall, robotics funding 鈥� for both humanoid and non-humanoid designs 鈥� has been on a tear this year, 附近上门 data shows. In fact, investment to robotics-related startups in 2025 is on track to hit the highest total since 2021 as companies including and . raise large rounds.

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$7M for a blindness treatment developed in low-earth orbit

It takes a lot for a funding round to land on this list, given the steady flow of intriguing deals that cross our desk in any given month. But a startup making artificial retinas aboard the International Space Station certainly crosses that high bar.

is a startup working on developing an artificial retina in the microgravity environment . The Farmington, Connecticut-based company earlier this month closed a $7 million seed funding round to continue work on developing a protein-based artificial retina for people with retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, which cause partial or complete blindness for millions of people worldwide every year.

The startup is working to develop highly uniform, 200-layer protein thin films for artificial retinas in the microgravity environment aboard the ISS, since the process is challenging to do on Earth, according to the company. Its new funding will be used to advance preclinical development and scale up space-enabled manufacturing of the retina.

鈥淭he round underscores the growing recognition of the potential for space-based biomanufacturing to accelerate the development of life-changing therapies on Earth,鈥� LambdaVision CEO said in a statement. 鈥淭his seed round funding will help bring us closer to clinical trials and continue to pioneer scalable production of our artificial retina, including manufacturing techniques implemented in low-Earth orbit.鈥�

Its latest funding was co-led by and with support from . 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited to support their journey as they scale their microgravity manufacturing platform toward clinical impact,鈥� , partner at space-tech focused investor Seraphim Space, said in a statement.

The company has now raised $13.7 million to date, according to , including a $5 million grant from in 2020.

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$7M for AI-generated stickers for kids

says it got its start just two months ago when co-founder 鈥檚 4-year-old son asked: 鈥淐an we make our own coloring sheets?鈥�

That question prompted Whitney, an alumnus of , to join co-founder and CEO (formerly of ) to start Stickerbox, a toy company that claims it鈥檚 developed the first-ever voice-powered AI creativity tool for kids.

The idea was apparently so compelling that the New York-based startup quickly secured $7 million in seed funding from , , and tennis legend 鈥� .

The Stickerbox is pretty much like what it sounds like: A cube that prints stickers. Children deliver prompts for images with their voices. Importantly, the company says, the box doesn鈥檛 collect voice data and doesn鈥檛 have a camera.

Like many other popular techie toys these days, including the and Toniebox audio players, Stickerbox also emphasizes that while it鈥檚 tech-enabled, it鈥檚 screen free, meaning it doesn鈥檛 come with many of the

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$6.9M for lab-made rare metal alternatives

Rare-earth minerals are essential inputs for everything from smartphones to electric vehicle motors to wind turbines and defense systems.

But, despite their name, this group of 17 closely related elements are not so much geologically scarce as they are supply-constrained. That鈥檚 due to both the difficulty and expense of extraction and China’s near-monopoly on their production and processing. China鈥檚 dominance has also made rare earths and a critical vulnerability for industries and governments worldwide.

So when a startup that claims to be developing lab-grown alternatives to rare metals enters the scene, we take a closer look. Oxford, U.K.-based said last month that it has raised $6.9 million in seed funding to 鈥渞ecreate Earth鈥檚 rarest metals from abundant elements and scale commercialization across clean energy, transport, electronics, and chemical manufacturing.鈥�

The company said it鈥檚 working to design the next generation of low-cost nanomaterials that replace some of the world鈥檚 most scarce and strategic materials in clean energy, catalysis and optoelectronics. Its nanoalloys and membranes are currently being tested in partnership with global electrolyser OEMs and chemical manufacturers.

Milvus鈥� funding was led by , with , , , , , , , and returning investor also participating.

Rare-earth minerals are an area of intense interest to startup investors. In the past few quarters, a growing roster of venture-backed companies has secured funding for areas including battery and magnet recycling, rare earth-focused mining technology, and even extracting materials from space, 附近上门 data shows.

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