Sequoia leads new round for robot data startup Mecka AI at $500M valuation
Mecka AI, a startup that pays people to record everyday tasks to train humanoid robots, is close to a new funding round led by Sequoia Capital at a valuation of about $500 million. The round comes three months after a $60 million raise. The company aims to provide physical-world data for robotics, similar to what Scale AI does for large language models.
The four founders came from fintech and crypto backgrounds rather than robotics, yet identified physical-world data as the key bottleneck for general-purpose robots. They pay individuals to capture their own daily activities — from brewing coffee to auto repair — using wearable sensors and mobile devices.
Mecka projects reaching $100 million in annual revenue by the end of 2026, according to co-founder Josh Gao. It joins a growing field of physical-data startups, including XDOF, reportedly nearing a $1.2 billion valuation. The name references "mecha," the fictional human-piloted robots.
Mecka AI's rapid valuation growth reflects investor confidence that human motion data will be essential for training general-purpose robots. If successful, this approach could accelerate humanoid robot deployment in homes and workplaces, potentially affecting workers in service industries and reshaping how everyday tasks are automated. The company's model of paying people for data also raises questions about data ownership and fair compensation, though these concerns remain speculative at this stage.