Machenta raises $40 million to teach robots

Machenta, a London robotics start-up, has raised 40 million dollars to teach robots new tasks, Business Insider reported on the 27th of October 2026. The venture firms Creandum and Union Square Ventures led the round.

Machenta's AI model learns a new task after seeing it done just once, the company told Business Insider. It did not share its value.

How it trains robots

Chief executive Edward Johns, a professor at Imperial College London, said the model trains only in computer-made worlds. He said it uses no "single pixel of real-world data".

After training, a robot can tidy a table or pack a box after one demonstration, Johns said. Precise tasks and complex moves are still hard, the report said.

A small team

Machenta has 11 staff and no near-term plans to sell its technology. Johns and his former student Vitalis Vosylius founded it late last year.

It will spend the money on more staff, more computing power and more computer-made data.

Bigger rivals

Rivals are collecting large amounts of real-world robot data. Skild AI said in August its model could do unseen tasks after watching one video, Business Insider wrote.

Below we break down the numbers

Machenta raised about 3.6 million dollars per staff member, by our arithmetic. Skild AI's value of over 14 billion dollars is about 350 times Machenta's round.

What is confirmed and what is not

The robot demo video comes from Machenta. The rival values come from Business Insider.

Key facts

Machenta is based in London and grew out of Imperial College London.

Creandum and Union Square Ventures co-led the round.

Its robot model trains only in computer-made worlds.

Machenta did not share its value.