China's EVAS Intelligence raises nearly RMB 2B for RISC-V AI chips
EVAS Intelligence raised nearly RMB 2 billion (about $280M), announced Sept 18, 2026, at a post-money valuation near RMB 15 billion from 20+ investors including SMIC Capital and Hu…
Founders News
Founder news on hardware.
20 updates tagged hardware.
Scotland's iGii raises £22.7M for 3D carbon nanomaterial sensors and batteries
Stirling-based iGii announced £22.7M in total funding around September 15, 2026, split between £11.7M equity and £11M public support, from the Scottish National Investment Bank, Ar…
AIDIN Robotics lands KRW 16B from HD Hyundai and Samsung
South Korea's AIDIN Robotics closed a KRW 16 billion strategic round on September 11, 2026, backed by HD Hyundai Robotics and Samsung Venture Investment. The financing pairs the ro…
Japan's Algomatic Dynamics lands 5B yen for physical-AI robotics
On September 9, 2026 Tokyo-based Algomatic Dynamics announced a 5 billion yen (about $34M) first financing to build robotics and physical AI, including motion-data collection and d…
Nairobi's ARC Ride raises $33.3M Series A for battery-swap electric mobility
Kenya-based ARC Ride raised a $33.3 million Series A announced September 8, 2026, co-led by Norrsken22 and Novastar Ventures with IFC, British International Investment and Proparco…
Stoke Space closes first $1B of Series E for fully reusable rocket
Stoke Space announced an initial $1 billion close of its Series E on September 8, 2026, with Point72 Ventures and Spark Capital involved, bringing total funding to about $2.3 billi…
Singapore's Hivebotics raises $6M Series A for robotic restroom cleaning
Hivebotics raised a $6M Series A on September 4, 2026, led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, with Fareast Land Development and Rigel participating. The company builds arti…
Belgian cleantech Octave.energy raises EUR 10M to scale battery storage in Europe
Mechelen-based Octave.energy raised a EUR 10M Series A (equity plus flexible debt) on September 4, 2026, led by SPDG Growth, with imec.istart, BNP Paribas Fortis, and KBC participa…
Nvidia invests $3.5B in MediaTek convertible bonds to expand NVLink Fusion
On August 31, 2026 Nvidia agreed to buy $3.5 billion of MediaTek convertible bonds, the bulk of a broader $3.9 billion offering (Alphabet also participated), deepening their AI-chi…
S-Transistors raises 2.6M euro pre-seed for superconducting quantum control chips
Finland-based S-Transistors (Espoo) raised a 2.6M euro pre-seed round on Aug 31, 2026, led by Lifeline Ventures with an angel investor. The company builds superconducting transisto…
Kioxia and SanDisk to invest over $31B in Japanese flash-memory plants
On Aug 27, 2026, Kioxia and SanDisk announced plans to invest more than $31B (about 5 trillion yen) through 2032 in their Yokkaichi and Kitakami NAND plants, subject to government…
France's Lupin Dental raises 15M euro Series A for dental robotics
Paris-based Lupin Dental raised a 15 million euro Series A around Aug 27-28, 2026, led by Fynveur (10 million euro) with existing shareholders, private investors and Bpifrance loan…
UK energytech Certain Energy raises GBP 10M Series A led by British Business Bank
UK long-duration storage startup Certain Energy (formerly RFC Power, an Imperial College spin-out) closed a GBP 10M (~EUR 11.6M) Series A on August 26, 2026, led by the government-…
Ex-Prometheus founders launch physics-first AI processing 5T data points
Accelerated Understanding, founded by researchers who declined a Bezos-backed Project Prometheus offer (~35% stake and $2B+ committed), unveiled a physics-first AI model on Aug 25,…
Apple opens Mac Mini M6 pre-orders at $899 with on-device AI focus
Apple opened pre-orders on Aug 25, 2026 for a new Mac Mini with the 2nm M6 chip starting at $899 (16GB/256GB), plus an M5 Pro option at $1,699, shipping Sept 22. Apple highlights a…
Robotics-AI startup Generalist raises $200M, second round in two months
Generalist AI reportedly raised ~$200M led by 8VC on Aug 24, 2026, just two months after a $400M round backed by Nvidia and Bezos Expeditions. Its new Gen-1.5 model teaches robots…
XPeng's humanoid-robot unit raises $900M+ at a $6.3B valuation
XPeng's humanoid-robotics business raised over $900M in its first external round at a $6.3B+ valuation, announced Aug 24, 2026, led by IDG Capital and Gaorong Ventures with strateg…
Embedd raises $2.7M to cut cross-chip software-integration work
Embedd raised a $2.7M pre-seed led by Seedcamp, announced Aug 24, 2026, to build developer infrastructure that reduces the software-integration work of supporting different chip pl…
UK opens GBP 20m farm automation and robotics R&D fund, closes 30 Sep 2026
Defra and Innovate UK opened Round 2 of the Farming Futures Automation and Robotics competition on 3 August 2026, offering a share of up to GBP 20 million. Projects must be collabo…
NIST opens ~$46.5M competition for 14 state MEP manufacturing centers
On July 22, 2026 NIST released a Notice of Funding Opportunity totaling roughly $46.5M to establish Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers in 14 states and territories (…