The Tokyo-based start-up wants to take its robot from prototype to production, in a country that aims to have 10 million machines equipped with AI by 2040.
O-ID, a Tokyo-based company, announced on September 24 that it had raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding. The amount is modest compared to the multi-hundred-million towers that punctuate the humanoid sector, but its purpose is precise: to take a first robot from the prototype stage to that of production, with a view to deployment on Japanese industrial and logistics sites.
The particularity claimed is the fully modular architecture of the machine, designed for industrial manufacturing and logistics. A robot made up of interchangeable elements can be repaired and reconfigured without going through the manufacturer again, an argument that relies more on a production line than the spectacular dexterity highlighted in public demonstrations.
The national context is working in its favour: in June 2026, Japan announced that it was targeting 10,500 billion yen — about $65.1 billion — in public and private investment in "physical AI", the one that controls robots and machines, with the aim of deploying 10 million robots equipped with artificial intelligence by 2040.
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