RJ Scaringe raises $1B for Mind Robotics in separate humanoid bet

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe founded a humanoid robotics company last year that has raised more than $1 billion, taking a fundamentally different approach from Elon Musk's strategy of building robots inside Tesla.

Scaringe started Mind Robotics in 2025 as a standalone entity, keeping the venture separate from the electric-vehicle maker he has led since founding it in 2009. The company has raised over $1 billion from external investors, he told CNBC, without disclosing the backers or valuation.

"Mind Robotics is a separate company, separate board, separate team," Scaringe said. "The capital structure is independent of Rivian."

The approach contrasts with Tesla's strategy for its Optimus humanoid robot, which Musk has said could eventually become a larger business than the automaker's car division. Tesla develops Optimus internally, using its automotive supply chain and engineering resources. Scaringe's decision to spin out Mind Robotics suggests he sees humanoid robotics as a distinct business requiring its own capital base and operational focus, rather than a natural extension of automotive manufacturing.

Mind Robotics enters a crowded field. Tesla's Optimus has been shown performing factory tasks in internal videos, though commercial deployment remains years away. Figure AI, a competitor backed by Microsoft and OpenAI, raised $675 million at a $2.6 billion valuation in early 2025. Boston Dynamics, owned by Hyundai, has demonstrated Atlas performing autonomous warehouse sorting. Agility Robotics, another well-funded startup, has begun pilot deployments of its Digit robot in logistics facilities.

The humanoid robotics market represents a potential multitrillion-dollar opportunity over the next decade, according to estimates from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, driven by labor shortages in manufacturing, logistics, and elder care. But the technology remains nascent — no company has achieved mass production of a general-purpose humanoid robot, and the cost of components such as actuators, sensors, and batteries remains prohibitive for most commercial applications.

Scaringe's timing reflects a broader shift in investor sentiment. Venture capital funding for robotics startups reached $8.2 billion globally in 2025, up from $5.6 billion in 2024, according to PitchBook data. Humanoid-specific investments accounted for roughly a third of that total, as investors bet that advances in AI foundation models and cheaper sensor hardware are converging to make general-purpose robots commercially viable.

For Scaringe, the robotics bet comes at a critical moment for Rivian. The EV maker lost $3.6 billion in 2025 and has burned through nearly $25 billion over the past eight years. Its stock has fallen from a high of $130 to around $16. The company is betting its future on the R2 SUV, which begins production later this year. Volkswagen Group committed up to $5.8 billion to a joint venture with Rivian in 2024, and Uber announced plans to invest up to $1.25 billion for autonomous robotaxis.

Rivian shares, trading at roughly 2.5x forward sales, have gained 12% this year as investors weigh the VW partnership against ongoing cash burn. Mind Robotics' separate capital structure means its funding needs won't dilute Rivian shareholders, though Scaringe's attention is now split between two capital-intensive ventures.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.