Which startups have raised the most funding in the autonomous systems market?
A constantly refreshed list of the top startups in the autonomous systems market, ranked by cumulative funding

In our updated market reports, you will find everything you need
The autonomous systems market brings together robotaxis, autonomous defense platforms, drones, humanoid robots, warehouse robotics, maritime autonomy, and other self-operating machines.
This list ranks autonomous systems startups by cumulative funding raised, using the best disclosed public information available.
We update this list every month, so the ranking stays useful as new funding rounds, IPOs, acquisitions, and shutdowns are announced.
A quick summary table
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Most funded startup | Waymo, with $26.4B raised |
| Second most funded startup | Anduril Industries, with $11.2B raised |
| Largest funding round | Waymo’s $16.0B investment round in February 2026 |
| Median funding | About $258M across the ranked autonomous systems startups |
| Share of funding captured by the top 10 | About 75% of total ranked funding |
| Median time since last round | About 15 months, based on July 2026 timing |
| Startups that raised funding in the last 12 months | 34 startups |
| Autonomous systems companies above $1B raised | 19 startups |
| Autonomous systems startups still active | 70 startups |
| Autonomous systems IPO or public outcomes | 10 startups |
Top startups in the autonomous systems market ranked by total funding raised
Here is an updated table that ranks the top startups in the autonomous systems market based on the total amount of funding they have raised to date.
The table also includes the total number of funding rounds, the date and size of the latest round, the financing type, key investors, the startup’s current status, and a confidence score based on the data collected. We excluded startups with very low data confidence when the funding data could not be used reliably.
| # | Startup | What They Do | Total Raised ($) | Total Rounds | Last Round Date | Last Round Amount ($) | Last Round Type | Key Investors | Current Stage | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waymo | Autonomous robotaxi platform | $26.4B | 4 | February 2026 | $16.0B | Investment round | Dragoneer, DST Global, Sequoia Capital | Active | Full |
| 2 | Anduril Industries | Autonomous defense systems | $11.2B | 8 | May 2026 | $5.0B | Series H | Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund | Active | Strong |
| 3 | Cruise | Autonomous robotaxi software | $10.2B | 8 | June 2024 | $850M | Corporate funding | General Motors | Shutdown | Partial |
| 4 | Motional | Autonomous robotaxi technology | $4.5B | 2 | May 2024 | $475M | Corporate equity | Hyundai Motor Group, Aptiv | Active | Strong |
| 5 | Aurora Innovation | Autonomous trucking software | $3.7B | 5 | August 2024 | $483M | Post-IPO equity | Institutional investors, PACCAR, Volvo | IPO | Partial |
| 6 | Shield AI | Autonomous defense aircraft AI | $3.0B | 8 | March 2026 | $2.0B | Series G / Preferred Equity | Advent International, JPMorganChase, Blackstone | Active | Partial |
| 7 | Saronic | Autonomous naval surface vessels | $2.6B | 5 | March 2026 | $1.8B | Series D | Kleiner Perkins, DFJ Growth, Glade Brook Capital | Active | Strong |
| 8 | Wayve | Embodied AI driving software | $2.5B | 6 | February 2026 | $1.2B | Series D | Microsoft, NVIDIA, Uber | Active | Strong |
| 9 | Nuro | Autonomous driving platform | $2.3B | 5 | August 2025 | $203M | Series E | Uber, NVIDIA, Baillie Gifford | Active | Full |
| 10 | TuSimple / CreateAI | Former autonomous trucking developer | $2.0B | 6 | August 2022 | $15M | Post-IPO equity | HTIF | IPO | Partial |
| 11 | Figure AI | General-purpose humanoid robots | $1.8B | 4 | September 2025 | $1.0B | Series C | Parkway Venture Capital, Brookfield Asset Management, NVIDIA | Active | Strong |
| 12 | Quantum Systems | Autonomous defense drones | $1.7B | 6 | July 2026 | $1.2B | Series D | Blackstone, Airbus, Advent | Active | Partial |
| 13 | Zipline | Autonomous drone delivery network | $1.6B | 13 | March 2026 | $200M | Later-stage equity | Fidelity Investments | Active | Partial |
| 14 | Pony.ai | Autonomous robotaxi and truck software | $1.6B | 8 | November 2024 | $413M | IPO / PIPE | Toyota, Ontario Teachers, NEOM | IPO | Strong |
| 15 | NEURA Robotics | Cognitive humanoid robots | $1.6B | 3 | June 2026 | $1.4B | Series C | Tether, NVIDIA, Amazon | Active | Strong |
| 16 | WeRide | Autonomous driving technology platform | $1.6B | 7 | May 2025 | $100M | Post-IPO private placement | Uber | IPO | Partial |
| 17 | Helsing | Defence AI autonomous systems | $1.5B | 4 | June 2025 | $694M | Series D | Prima Materia, Lightspeed, General Catalyst | Active | Partial |
| 18 | Waabi | Generative AI autonomous driving | $1.3B | 4 | January 2026 | $250M | Strategic equity | Uber | Active | Full |
| 19 | Applied Intuition | Autonomous vehicle simulation software | $1.2B | 6 | June 2025 | $600M | Series F | BlackRock, Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital | Active | Full |
| 20 | Apptronik | Humanoid industrial robots | $963M | 5 | February 2026 | $520M | Series A-X | Google, Mercedes-Benz, QIA | Active | Strong |
| 21 | Geek+ | Warehouse autonomous mobile robots | $813M | 10 | July 2025 | $281M | IPO | Public market investors | IPO | Partial |
| 22 | Skydio | Autonomous drones and software | $740M | 7 | November 2024 | $170M | Series E Extension | Linse Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Next47 | Active | Strong |
| 23 | Inceptio Technology | Autonomous freight trucks | $678M | 4 | February 2022 | $188M | Series B+ | Sequoia Capital China, Legend Capital, NIO Capital | Active | Strong |
| 24 | PlusAI | Autonomous truck driving software | $620M | 6 | June 2021 | Undisclosed | Strategic round | Guotai Junan, FountainVest, Amazon | Active | Partial |
| 25 | Agility Robotics | Humanoid warehouse robots | $578M | 4 | March 2025 | $400M | Series C | WP Global Partners, SoftBank, Amazon | Active | Partial |
| 26 | Einride | Electric autonomous freight trucks | $558M | 6 | March 2026 | $113M | PIPE / IPO financing | EQT Ventures, Capital Group | IPO | Strong |
| 27 | DeepRoute.ai | Autonomous driving software | $450M | 3 | November 2024 | $100M | Series C1 | Great Wall Motor | Active | Strong |
| 28 | Exotec | Warehouse robotics automation | $446M | 4 | January 2022 | $335M | Series D | Goldman Sachs Asset Management | Active | Full |
| 29 | Berkshire Grey | Warehouse robotics automation | $428M | 2 | July 2021 | $165M | PIPE / SPAC equity | Social Capital, BlackRock, SoftBank | Acquired | Partial |
| 30 | Locus Robotics | Warehouse autonomous mobile robots | $416M | 8 | November 2022 | $117M | Series F | Goldman Sachs, G2 Venture Partners, Stack | Active | Strong |
| 31 | GreyOrange | Warehouse robotics automation | $415M | 6 | December 2023 | $135M | Series D | Anthelion Capital, Mithril Capital, Blume Ventures | Active | Partial |
| 32 | Bright Machines | Software-defined manufacturing automation | $385M | 3 | June 2024 | $106M | Series C | BlackRock, NVIDIA, Microsoft | Active | Strong |
| 33 | Starship Technologies | Autonomous sidewalk delivery robots | $379M | 8 | October 2025 | $50M | Series C | Plural, Karma, Latitude | Active | Partial |
| 34 | Saildrone | Autonomous maritime intelligence vessels | $362M | 7 | April 2026 | $50M | Strategic investment | Lockheed Martin, EIFO, BOND | Active | Partial |
| 35 | Gecko Robotics | Infrastructure inspection robots | $347M | 8 | June 2025 | $125M | Series D | Cox Enterprises, USIT, XN | Active | Strong |
| 36 | Oxbotica / Oxa | Industrial autonomous driving software | $328M | 5 | March 2026 | $103M | Series D | National Wealth Fund, NVentures, bp ventures | Active | Strong |
| 37 | Hai Robotics | Autonomous warehouse case-handling robots | $315M | 5 | June 2022 | $100M | Series D+ | Capital Today, 5Y Capital, Source Code Capital | Active | Partial |
| 38 | Forterra | Defense autonomous driving systems | $303M | 2 | September 2024 | $75M | Series B | Moore Strategic Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital, Hedosophia | Active | Full |
| 39 | Dexterity | Warehouse robotic manipulation | $291M | 3 | March 2025 | $95M | Venture round | Lightspeed, Sumitomo Corporation | Active | Strong |
| 40 | May Mobility | Autonomous shuttle services | $272M | 5 | November 2023 | $105M | Series D | NTT Group, Toyota Ventures, Aioi Nissay Dowa | Active | Strong |
| 41 | Opentrons | Lab automation robotics platform | $271M | 18 | December 2025 | $20M | Series C-II | SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, Sands Capital | Active | Partial |
| 42 | AutoX | Driverless robotaxi technology | $267M | 8 | April 2020 | Undisclosed | Series A | Dongfeng Motor, Alibaba, MediaTek | Active | Low |
| 43 | Outrider | Autonomous logistics yard operations | $253M | 5 | October 2024 | $62M | Series D | Koch Disruptive, NEA, 8VC | Active | Strong |
| 44 | Unitree Robotics | Quadruped and humanoid robots | $252M | 6 | June 2025 | Undisclosed | Series C | Tencent, Ant Group, Alibaba | Active | Partial |
| 45 | QCraft | Autonomous driving AI | $249M | 7 | March 2026 | $100M | Series D | Wonderland Capital, Broad Vision Funds, Ningbo Xingtaihe | Active | Partial |
| 46 | Covariant | AI warehouse robotics software | $222M | 5 | April 2023 | $75M | Series C extension | Radical Ventures, Index Ventures, CPP Investments | Acquired | Full |
| 47 | Mytra | Warehouse robotics platform | $198M | 4 | January 2026 | $120M | Series C | Avenir Growth, Eclipse, Greenoaks | Active | Strong |
| 48 | Carbon Robotics | Laser weeding farm robots | $178M | 6 | October 2025 | $21M | Series D-2 | Giant Ventures, BOND, NVentures | Active | Partial |
| 49 | Mujin | Industrial robot intelligence | $178M | 3 | December 2023 | $18M | Series C extension | SBI Investment, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Accenture | Active | Partial |
| 50 | Bear Robotics | Autonomous service robots | $175M | 4 | March 2024 | $60M | Series C / strategic | LG Electronics, SoftBank, IMM | Acquired | Strong |
| 51 | Vecna Robotics | Warehouse autonomous mobile robots | $169M | 4 | June 2024 | $40M | Series C extension | Tiger Global, Proficio, IMPULSE | Active | Partial |
| 52 | Attabotics | Robotic warehouse fulfillment | $165M | 4 | November 2022 | $72M | Series C-1 | Export Development Canada, Ontario Teachers’, Honeywell | Shutdown | Strong |
| 53 | Kodiak Robotics | Autonomous trucking technology | $165M | 2 | November 2021 | $125M | Series B | SIP Global Partners, Lightspeed, Battery Ventures | IPO | Full |
| 54 | Serve Robotics | Autonomous delivery robots | $163M | 4 | January 2025 | $80M | Post-IPO Equity | NVIDIA, Uber | IPO | Partial |
| 55 | Gatik | Autonomous middle-mile trucking | $152M | 7 | August 2024 | Undisclosed | Series B / later equity | Bluepointe Ventures, Flucas Ventures | Active | Partial |
| 56 | Seegrid | Autonomous material-handling vehicles | $152M | 4 | October 2025 | $25M | Later-stage financing | G2VP, Giant Eagle, Private investors | Active | Partial |
| 57 | DroneDeploy | Drone mapping software | $142M | 7 | February 2021 | $50M | Series E | Energize Ventures, AirTree, Bessemer | Active | Full |
| 58 | 1X Technologies | Humanoid home robots | $137M | 4 | January 2024 | $100M | Series B | EQT Ventures, OpenAI Startup Fund, Samsung NEXT | Active | Partial |
| 59 | ANYbotics | Autonomous inspection robots | $132M | 4 | December 2024 | $60M | Series B extension | Qualcomm Ventures, Supernova Invest, TDK Ventures | Active | Strong |
| 60 | Coco Robotics | Sidewalk delivery robots | $123M | 2 | June 2025 | $80M | Later equity financing | Sam Altman, Max Altman, SNR.vc | Active | Partial |
| 61 | Percepto | Autonomous industrial drone inspections | $123M | 4 | June 2023 | $50M | Series C | Koch Disruptive, Zimmer Partners, USVP | Active | Strong |
| 62 | Auterion | Autonomous drone software | $115M | 2 | September 2025 | $105M | Series B | Bessemer, Lakestar, Mosaic Ventures | Active | Strong |
| 63 | Built Robotics | Autonomous construction equipment | $112M | 3 | April 2022 | $64M | Series C | Tiger Global, NEA, Founders Fund | Active | Partial |
| 64 | Orca AI | Autonomous maritime navigation platform | $111M | 5 | May 2025 | $73M | Series B | Brighton Park, Ankona Capital, Hyperlink | Active | Partial |
| 65 | Dronamics | Cargo drone airline | $103M | 4 | June 2025 | $35M | Series A | EIC Accelerator, SeedBlink, Speedinvest | Active | Partial |
| 66 | Airobotics | Autonomous drone systems | $101M | 6 | September 2017 | $33M | Series C | BlueRun Ventures China, Microsoft Ventures, OurCrowd | Acquired | Partial |
| 67 | Sanctuary AI | Humanoid general-purpose robots | $100M | 6 | January 2025 | $3M | Venture extension | Workday Ventures, BDC, InBC | Active | Partial |
| 68 | Scythe Robotics | Autonomous commercial mowers | $97M | 7 | May 2025 | $23M | Late venture extension | Energy Impact Partners, Zigg Capital, True Ventures | Acquired | Partial |
| 69 | Fetch Robotics | Warehouse autonomous mobile robots | $94M | 4 | July 2019 | $46M | Series C | Fort Ross Ventures, Zebra Ventures, SoftBank Capital | Acquired | Full |
| 70 | Fourier Intelligence | Rehabilitation and humanoid robotics | $83M | 7 | January 2022 | $63M | Series D | SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Prosperity7 Ventures, Vision Plus Capital | Active | Partial |
| 71 | OTTO Motors | Autonomous mobile robots for factories | $83M | 3 | June 2020 | $29M | Series C | Kensington, BMO Capital, EDC | Acquired | Strong |
| 72 | Diligent Robotics | Hospital service robots | $81M | 6 | February 2025 | $11M | Venture round | Not fully disclosed | Active | Partial |
| 73 | Matternet | Drone delivery systems | $81M | 15 | May 2026 | $33M | PIPE | EE Holdings, Montrose Capital Partners, existing investors | IPO | Partial |
| 74 | Phantom AI | ADAS autonomy software stack | $80M | 4 | February 2023 | $37M | Series C | InterVest, Samsung Ventures, Shinhan GIB | Active | Strong |
| 75 | Intuition Robotics | AI eldercare companion robots | $76M | 4 | August 2023 | $20M | Series C | Woven Capital, Toyota Ventures, OurCrowd | Active | Strong |
| 76 | Nauticus Robotics | Autonomous subsea robots | $76M | 2 | February 2026 | $3M | PIPE / preferred equity | Master Investment Group, Transocean, SLB | IPO | Partial |
| 77 | Clearpath Robotics | Autonomous mobile robot platforms | $71M | 4 | June 2020 | $29M | Series C | Kensington, BMO Capital Partners, EDC | Acquired | Partial |
| 78 | Manna Drone Delivery | Autonomous drone delivery | $71M | 8 | March 2025 | $30M | Series A | Tapestry VC, Molten Ventures, Coca-Cola | Active | Partial |
| 79 | FarmWise | AI agricultural weeding robots | $65M | 8 | June 2022 | $45M | Series B | Fall Line Capital, Middleland Capital, GV | Acquired | Partial |
| 80 | Miso Robotics | Robotic kitchen automation | $65M | 8 | February 2025 | $0M | Crowdfunding equity | Acacia Research, Levy Restaurants, Cali Group | Active | Partial |
| 81 | Flytrex | Drone delivery services | $60M | 4 | November 2021 | $40M | Series C | BRM Group, OurCrowd, Benhamou Global Ventures | Active | Strong |
| 82 | Burro | Outdoor agricultural robots | $45M | 4 | January 2024 | $24M | Series B | Catalyst Investors, TransLink Capital, Toyota Ventures | Active | Strong |
| 83 | Robust.AI | Collaborative warehouse robots | $43M | 3 | April 2023 | $20M | Series A-1 | Prime Movers Lab, JAZZ Venture Partners, Playground Global | Active | Strong |
| 84 | Sea Machines Robotics | Autonomous marine vessel systems | $39M | 5 | February 2024 | $12M | Funding Round | Nabtesco Technology Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, Ingram Industries | Active | Strong |
| 85 | Venti Technologies | Autonomous logistics yard vehicles | $37M | 2 | March 2023 | $29M | Series A | LG Technology Ventures, Safar Partners, UOB | Active | Full |
| 86 | Tevel Aerobotics Technologies | Autonomous fruit harvesting robots | $30M | 2 | February 2021 | $20M | Series B | OurCrowd, Maverick Ventures, AgFunder | Active | Strong |
| 87 | Swiss-Mile | Wheeled-legged AI robots | $22M | 1 | October 2024 | $22M | Seed | Bezos Expeditions, HongShan, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund | Active | Full |
| 88 | Energy Robotics | Autonomous inspection software | $16M | 2 | October 2025 | $14M | Series A | Blue Bear Capital, Climate Investment, Earlybird Venture Capital | Active | Strong |
| 89 | Refraction AI | Last-mile delivery robots | $11M | 3 | 2021–2023 | Undisclosed | Seed extension | Pillar VC, Trucks VC, Alumni Ventures | Active | Partial |
| 90 | Rain Robotics | Autonomous wildfire aircraft | $10M | 1 | September 2023 | $10M | Seed | DBL Partners, VoLo Earth Ventures, Kapor Capital | Active | Strong |
| 91 | DroneUp | Drone delivery operations | $8M | 6 | 2023 | Undisclosed | Venture round | Walmart, Center for Innovative Technology | Active | Low |
| 92 | Tortoise | Remote-controlled delivery robots | $8M | 1 | April 2021 | $8M | Series A | Rosecliff Ventures, Permit Ventures, TA Ventures | Shutdown | Strong |
| 93 | Milrem Robotics | Unmanned ground vehicles | $6M | 2 | May 2021 | Undisclosed | Strategic equity stake | Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, EDGE Group, Estonian investors | Acquired | Partial |
| 94 | Shone | Autonomous cargo-ship software | $4M | 1 | June 2018 | $4M | Seed | Alven, Liquid 2 Ventures, Paul Graham | Acquired | Strong |
Key funding trends in the autonomous systems market
Insights
- The autonomous systems market is extremely concentrated, with Waymo alone representing roughly 34% of all ranked funding and the top 10 capturing about 75%
- Robotaxi and road autonomy remain the most capital-intensive segments, led by Waymo, Cruise, Motional, Aurora, Wayve, Nuro, Pony.ai, WeRide, Waabi, and Applied Intuition
- Defense autonomy is now a major funding pole, with Anduril, Shield AI, Saronic, Quantum Systems, Helsing, Forterra, and Auterion attracting large strategic and institutional capital
- Humanoid robotics has moved beyond early experimentation, with Figure AI, NEURA Robotics, Apptronik, Agility Robotics, 1X Technologies, Sanctuary AI, and Swiss-Mile all appearing in the ranking
- Warehouse and industrial autonomy is broader but less top-heavy, with Exotec, Locus Robotics, GreyOrange, Bright Machines, Dexterity, Mytra, Covariant, and OTTO Motors spread across the middle of the list
- Large recent rounds are clustered in robotaxis, defense systems, humanoids, and embodied AI driving, while drone delivery, inspection, agriculture, and service robots remain smaller funding categories
- Strategic investors are central to this market, with automakers, defense primes, cloud companies, industrial groups, and logistics players repeatedly backing startups tied to future autonomy infrastructure
- Acquisitions are most visible in warehouse, industrial, and service robotics, suggesting buyers value autonomy startups with deployable hardware, customer relationships, and operational know-how
A few word about our methodology
As you can see, we built a database that ranks startups in the autonomous systems market based on total cumulative fundraising. To create this ranking, we reviewed many sources and cross-checked information across multiple places.
Whenever possible, we prioritized official company communications, since official announcements are usually the most reliable source for funding amounts. When those were not available, we relied on reputable industry sources such as TechCrunch, Crunchbase, Financial Times, Forbes, or other trusted publications.
We excluded random blogs, unverified websites, and any sources that could not be validated.
We also excluded companies when the available rows had no reliable disclosed total fundraising amount, or when only zero identified equity funding could be found.
When funding rounds were announced in other currencies such as euros, Swiss francs, Singapore dollars, Australian dollars, or rupees, we converted them into approximate USD equivalents for consistency.
Sometimes different sources report slightly different numbers, or the exact round size is not fully disclosed. In those cases, we flag the uncertainty and assign a confidence label to each startup, visible in the last column.
Here is what they mean.
Full confidence: The company’s equity fundraising history can be reconstructed completely from public sources. The rounds, dates, amounts, and key investors are clearly identified, with no meaningful gaps.
Strong confidence: The fundraising history is largely complete and reliable. There may be a small missing detail, such as incomplete investor information or a minor round with limited data, but the overall record is clear.
Partial confidence: The main fundraising rounds can be identified, but the record is incomplete or somewhat mixed. Some rounds may be missing or certain funding events may be difficult to separate clearly.
Low confidence: Public information is too limited, inconsistent, or ambiguous to reliably reconstruct the company’s equity fundraising history.
When the confidence level is too low, we take a conservative approach and exclude the company from the ranking when the data cannot be reliably verified.
In a world where LLMs hallucinate and unreliable information is everywhere, our goal is simple: provide data you can trust.
If you want the full detail on a specific calculation, feel free to contact us and we will gladly explain.
Finally, know that we update the dataset once per month, so come back here if you need fresh information.
Related blog posts
- The main fundraising trends in the autonomous systems market
- The most highly valued startups in the autonomous systems market
- How healthy is startup funding in the autonomous systems market right now?
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