XDOF is in talks to raise a Series B at a $1.2 billion valuation

In short: XDOF, a startup that collects training data for robots, is reportedly in late-stage talks to raise a Series B funding round at about a $1.2 billion valuation.

What happened

XDOF is in late-stage discussions to raise a Series B round led by venture firm 8VC, according to people familiar with the deal. The talks value XDOF at around $1.2 billion.

This comes less than three months after XDOF emerged from “stealth,” which means it had been working quietly before publicly sharing what it does. TechCrunch previously reported the company raised a $70 million Series A in June, with investors including Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lux, and Spark Capital.

XDOF was not planning to raise money again so soon, the report says. But the company’s fast growth, including annualized revenue approaching $50 million, led investors to approach it about another round. The final terms could still change, and TechCrunch said it could not confirm how much money is being raised or whether the $1.2 billion figure includes the new cash.

XDOF’s business is collecting real-world data that helps robots learn. Think of it like making a huge set of practice examples for a robot, similar to how a student learns faster with lots of worksheets. XDOF gathers this data using teleoperation, where a person remotely controls a robot arm, and by using sensors that record humans doing everyday tasks like folding clothes.

Why it matters

Building useful general-purpose robots is often limited by a simple problem, not enough high-quality real-world practice data. If XDOF keeps growing, it could become a key supplier to robotics companies that want robots to handle more everyday work.

Source: TechCrunch AI