Noble Machines Raises $18M Series A Led by Insight Partners to Scale Humanoid Robotics for Industrial Automation
Noble Machines, a Sunnyvale, California-based robotics startup focused on building general-purpose humanoid systems for industrial applications, has raised approximately $18 million in Series A funding, according to available startup financing records. The round was completed in September 2022 and included participation from a group of nine investors across venture capital, accelerator, and strategic technology funds.
The funding round was led by Insight Partners, a global software investor known for backing high-growth enterprise and infrastructure companies. The round also included participation from Y Combinator, one of the most prominent early-stage startup accelerators in the world, which has supported thousands of companies across deep tech, AI, and robotics sectors.
Additional investors in the round included Cross River Digital Ventures, TLV Partners, Operator Partners, Verissimo Ventures, Interplay Ventures, Plug and Play Tech Center, and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, forming a diversified investor base spanning venture capital firms, accelerator platforms, and philanthropic investment entities.
Founded in 2024 and emerging from stealth in 2026, Noble Machines builds AI-driven humanoid robots designed to perform hazardous and physically demanding industrial tasks across manufacturing, logistics, construction, energy, and semiconductor environments. The company was founded by engineers with backgrounds at major technology and aerospace organizations including Apple, SpaceX, NASA, and Caltech, and is led by CEO Wei Ding.
The startup’s flagship robotics platform integrates full-body AI control systems with end-to-end autonomy, enabling robots to learn new industrial skills in a matter of hours using natural language instructions, demonstrations, and real-time interaction. Its humanoid robot, known as “Moby,” is designed to operate in complex environments such as scaffolding, stairways, and unstructured factory floors while handling payloads of up to 27 kilograms.
The $18 million Series A capital was primarily aimed at accelerating R&D, scaling hardware production, and expanding pilot deployments with industrial customers. Early deployments have already included pilot programs with Fortune Global 500 manufacturers, where the robots are being tested in real-world production and logistics workflows.
Investor participation from firms such as Insight Partners and TLV Partners reflects growing venture capital interest in “physical AI” and robotics platforms capable of general-purpose automation, particularly in industries facing labor shortages and high safety risks. Accelerator involvement from Y Combinator and Plug and Play Tech Center also highlights the startup’s early validation within leading deep-tech ecosystems.
Beyond funding, Noble Machines has also formed strategic partnerships with infrastructure and industrial technology providers such as ADLINK, Schaeffler, and Solomon, which support its edge computing, actuator systems, and factory integration capabilities. These partnerships are intended to help scale the company’s robotics deployments from pilot environments to broader industrial adoption.
As demand grows for automation solutions in physically intensive sectors, Noble Machines’ early financing positions it among a new wave of robotics startups aiming to move humanoid systems from experimental demonstrations into real-world industrial deployment.
