{"id":"e3505269-e0d1-4d36-9a89-420514375b4f","name":"Eka Robotics","slug":"eka-robotics","description":"Eka Robotics is a Cambridge, MA-based physical AI startup building general-purpose robotic intelligence through its [Vision-Force-Action (VFA)](https://ekarobotics.com) foundation model. Founded by MIT professor Pulkit Agrawal and former Google DeepMind researcher Tuomas Haarnoja, the company exited stealth in April 2026 with a focus on contact-rich dexterity tasks — treating force as the native language of the physical world rather than relying on vision-language-action models.","status":"private","founded":2025,"hq":"Cambridge, MA, USA","hqLat":42.3656347,"hqLng":-71.1040018,"hqGeocodedAt":"2026-08-05T00:50:53.085Z","hqAddress":null,"hqPrecision":null,"website":"https://www.ekarobotics.com","fundingTotal":"161000000","type":"hardware","roles":["robot_maker"],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","heatIndex":75,"lifecycleState":"active","supersededByCompanyId":null,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.wired.com/story/when-robots-have-their-chatgpt-moment-remember-these-pincers/","title":"I've Covered Robots for Years. This One Is Different"},{"url":"https://www.businessinsider.com/investors-to-know-in-robotics-and-physical-ai-2026-6","title":"Meet the 22 Investors to Know in Robotics and Physical AI"},{"url":"https://app.dealroom.co/companies/eka_robotics","title":"Eka Robotics company information, funding & investors"},{"url":"https://ekarobotics.com/blog/eka-robotics-raises-150m-to-build-superhuman-intelligence-for-the-physical-world","title":"Eka Robotics Raises $150M to Build Superhuman Intelligence for the Physical World","sourceName":"Eka Robotics","publishedAt":"2026-10-20"},{"url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/eka-is-worth-1-45-billion-thanks-to-a-physical-ai-model-that-has-experts-raving/","title":"Eka is worth $1.45B thanks to a physical AI model that has experts raving","sourceName":"TechCrunch","publishedAt":"2026-10-20"},{"url":"https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-eka-robotics/","title":"Investing in Eka Robotics","sourceName":"Andreessen Horowitz","publishedAt":"2026-10-20"},{"url":"https://www.humanoidsdaily.com/news/eka-robotics-150-million-series-a-vision-force-action","title":"Eka Robotics Raises $150 Million to Give Robots a Better Feel for the Physical World","sourceName":"Humanoids Daily","publishedAt":"2026-10-20"}],"keyFacts":[{"label":"Founded","value":"2025"},{"label":"HQ","value":"Cambridge, MA, USA"},{"label":"Founders","value":"Pulkit Agrawal (MIT), Tuomas Haarnoja (ex-Google DeepMind)"},{"label":"Funding","value":"USD 11M Seed (2026), E14 Fund, Harper Court Ventures, MFV Partners, Obvious Ventures, Sabrina Hahn"},{"label":"Focus","value":"Self-supervised learning for robotic manipulation"},{"label":"Core technology","value":"Vision-Force-Action (VFA) model"},{"label":"Stealth exit","value":"April 29, 2026"},{"label":"Advisory board","value":"Rodney Brooks (iRobot, ReThink Robotics founder)"},{"label":"Team provenance","value":"MIT, Berkeley, Harvard, CMU, DeepMind, Microsoft, Boston Dynamics"},{"label":"Approach","value":"Sim-to-real reinforcement learning, no human imitation data"},{"label":"Prior company (Pulkit Agrawal)","value":"Co-founded SafelyYou Inc. (fall prevention technology)"},{"label":"Pick speed and reliability (company-claimed, Oct 2026)","value":"Picks objects up to 1 kg outside its training set at about 1,500 per hour versus about 600 for a human, with over 95% reliability in Eka's own tests."},{"label":"Industrial pilots (reported, Oct 2026)","value":"Running undisclosed pilots with industrial customers in pick-and-place and wire handling, its two initial verticals."},{"label":"Gripper hardware (company-claimed, Oct 2026)","value":"Force-sensing gripper costs under $1,000 and is rated for 5 million duty cycles; the goal is the 20 million cycles of standard industrial arms."}],"aliases":[],"collisionRisk":"low","reviewNote":null,"atsProvider":null,"atsSlug":null,"factoryLocations":null,"manufacturingCapacity":null,"orgType":null,"burnSignal":null,"litigationEvents":null,"insurancePostureDisclosed":null,"unitEconomicsDisclosed":null,"tickerSymbol":null,"stockExchange":null,"secCik":null,"revenueUsd":null,"revenueBasis":null,"revenueAsOf":null,"employeeCount":null,"employeeCountBasis":null,"employeeCountAsOf":null,"marketCapUsd":null,"marketCapAsOf":null,"marketCapSource":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-04T11:37:06.012Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-20T21:01:04.414Z","jsonLd":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","@id":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/eka-robotics","url":"https://registry.deploy.report/companies/eka-robotics","name":"Eka Robotics","description":"Eka Robotics is a Cambridge, MA-based physical AI startup building general-purpose robotic intelligence through its [Vision-Force-Action (VFA)](https://ekarobotics.com) foundation model. Founded by MIT professor Pulkit Agrawal and former Google DeepMind researcher Tuomas Haarnoja, the company exited stealth in April 2026 with a focus on contact-rich dexterity tasks — treating force as the native language of the physical world rather than relying on vision-language-action models.","identifier":"e3505269-e0d1-4d36-9a89-420514375b4f","foundingDate":"2025","address":"Cambridge, MA, USA","publisher":{"@id":"https://deploy.report/#organization"}},"framework_metadata":{"framework_schema_version":"0.1.0","verification_status":"verified","maturity_stage":null,"lifecycle_state":null,"architectural_position":{"cohort":null,"sub_cohorts":[]},"within_cohort_verified_vs_claimed_pair":null,"cap_flags":[],"verification_depth":{"sources_count":7,"primary_source_types":["secondary-industry-publication"]}}}