Eka Robotics raises $150M Series A at $1.45B valuation for force-based manipulation

AIa16z says it is leading Eka Robotics' Series A, betting that dexterous manipulation is one of robotics' largest opportunities. Eka's Vision-Force-Action model combines vision with force feedback, and its policies are trained by reinforcement learning in physics simulation. Eka reports up to 1,500 picks per hour in laboratory induction and bin-picking tasks, two and a half times faster than humans, and says sustaining that through full production shifts is the next test.

AIEka Robotics closed a $150 million Series A round at a $1.45 billion post-money valuation, led by a16z and F-Prime. The startup's robot picks up about 1,500 objects per hour and reports picking reliably more than 95% of the time. Experts praised the demo but say the company still must prove the system works on real assembly lines.