Nvidia alumni are fueling a new wave of robotics startups

American investors are touring China’s robot factories to size up the competition

Robotics startup FieldAI is set to raise $700 million at a $10 billion valuation

Robotics startups are courting university researchers. Microagi just hired eight.

Nvidia helped build the foundation for physical AI. Now, many of its veterans are launching the next wave of robotics startups.

As with AI agents and other applications, Nvidia's strategy is to build underlying technology — the chips that power robots and the software used to train them. That ecosystem has become fertile ground for founders.

In recent years, some who helped build the foundations of robotics inside Nvidia "are spinning out to build companies of their own," said Amulya Vishwanath, who left the company last year to start Techable Ventures, a venture firm focused on physical AI.

Nvidia alums are attacking different areas in robotics, from software for deploying robots in warehouses to those that perform physical tasks for businesses.

Flexion CEO and cofounder Nikita Rudin said that Nvidia maintains close ties with the startup, holding biweekly meetings and access to early tools for testing.

Add BI in Google so our reporting is easier to find when you’re searching for what matters.

"We were not necessarily convinced that staying at Nvidia was the fastest way to actually go and deliver that," Hoeller said.

Former Nvidia robotics researcher Arsalan Mousavian cited a similar motivation. He described Nvidia as a "hardware-first" company centered on AI chips, and he wanted to be "laser focused" on building useful robots. Mousavian's startup, founded last year, remains in stealth.

Physical AI companies raised $33.4 billion globally in the first half of 2026, already surpassing the $28.7 billion raised in all of last year, according to PitchBook.