Machenta raises $40M, UK's largest robotics seed round, for sim-trained robot foundation model
lukas_m_ziegler · x · 2026-10-27
Machenta raised $40M in seed funding — the largest robotics seed round ever in the UK — co-led by Creandum and USV. Founded by Ed Johns, Vitalis Vos and an Imperial College London team, it launches "Instant Robot Learning": a robot foundation model trained entirely in simulation with zero real-world data, teaching a robot a new manipulation task in about a minute. The demo shows a robot flipping a shoe by passing it between hands twice — a creative multi-step sequence learned by trial rather than pre-programming. Ed calls it "physical vibe coding."
Related event: Machenta Exits Stealth with $40M Seed Round for Instant Robot Learning(6 posts)→
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