Indian robotics startup Addverb Technologies Ltd., backed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, is seeking to raise more than $100 million in a fresh institutional funding round, marking its first major capital drive since 2021 when Reliance injected $132 million to acquire a controlling 54% stake.
The fundraising will primarily fund the development of next-generation physical AI products including humanoid robots and quadruped autonomous machines. CEO Sangeet Kumar revealed the company's ambitions to compete directly with global automation giants like Tesla's Optimus and Unitree Robotics.
"We want to be in the top 10 in the next 5 years and top 5 in the next 10 years," said Kumar, 46, in an interview at Addverb's factory on the outskirts of New Delhi. The company currently estimates it ranks just outside the global top 30 in robotics market share by revenue.
To reduce overseas supply chain dependencies and protect profit margins, Addverb is investing heavily in vertical integration. Following more than two years of internal R&D, the startup is preparing to launch its own proprietary LiDAR sensors, dramatically reducing reliance on imported Chinese components.
Addverb has built its market reputation on industrial autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) used for material movement and warehouse inventory sortation. The company currently employs 1,100 people across two dozen countries, serving clients including Indian corporations and expanding in markets including the US, the Netherlands, and Australia.
The company expects total revenue to hit ₹1,300 crore ($136 million) for the current fiscal year, supported by an active global order book of roughly $200 million. After absorbing predictable losses due to aggressive infrastructure build-out, Addverb is now approaching profitability.
The $100 million fundraising will also fund data collection, software infrastructure, and AI model training required to scale humanoid and quadruped robots for deployment in complex industrial, healthcare, and defense environments.
