Key facts
- Mecka AI is nearing a new funding round led by Sequoia Capital at a valuation of about $500 million.
- The company collects and analyzes human motion data to train humanoid robots and other robotics.
- Mecka AI previously raised $60 million in a round led by Framework Ventures three months ago.
- The startup pays people to record themselves performing everyday tasks using body sensors and smartphones.
- Mecka AI was co-founded in 2024 by Josh Gao, Mogen Cheng, Jason Chong, and Duy Nguyen.
Mecka AI, a startup focused on collecting and analyzing human motion data for training robots, is reportedly close to securing a new funding round led by Sequoia Capital that would value the company at approximately $500 million. This potential deal comes just three months after Mecka AI announced it had raised $60 million in a round that included participation from Framework Ventures, Menlo Ventures, SV Angel, and Kindred Ventures. The precise size of the new round and its terms are not yet finalized.
The company, co-founded in 2024 by Josh Gao, Mogen Cheng, Jason Chong, and Duy Nguyen, aims to address a gap in physical-world data for robotics development. While the founders do not have direct robotics backgrounds, they recognized the lack of real-world interaction data as a primary bottleneck for general-purpose robots, including humanoids. Mecka AI pays individuals to record themselves performing everyday tasks using body sensors and smartphones, a method described as "egocentric" data collection.
As of early June, Mecka AI projected an annual run rate of $100 million by the end of 2026. The startup's approach is similar to data companies that have supported large language models, and it competes with other startups in the robot training data space, such as XDOF, which was reportedly nearing a $1.2 billion valuation, and platforms like Scale AI and Micro1 that are expanding their data collection efforts.