China and U.S. Lead Robotics Funding as Q3 Investment Tops $9.9 Billion

Robotics startups drew $9.9 billion in global venture investment in the third quarter, more than double a year earlier, while China and the United States led funding totals for 2026.

The Q3 total compared with $4.3 billion in the same quarter of 2025. Across the first three quarters of 2026, robotics startup funding rose about 185% year over year.

China attracted $13.2 billion in robotics funding this year, ahead of the United States at $12.1 billion. Germany ranked third with $1.7 billion.

China’s listed rounds included $900 million for Guangzhou-based 小鹏机器人 and a $736 million Series C for Shenzhen-based 智平方. In the United States, Travis Kalanick’s Atoms and Pittsburgh-based Skild AI completed financings in the billion-dollar range. Skild AI raised $1.4 billion for Skild Brain, its robotics foundation model. Germany-based Neura Robotics raised $1.4 billion for cognitive robots.