Starship Technologies Funding, Investors & Competitors

Quanergy Systems is a San Jose-headquartered designer of 3D LiDAR sensors for automotive ADAS, industrial automation, and physical security. The company's S3 solid-state sensors deliver 1.3 million points per second with 120-degree FOV for object detection up to 300 meters. Deployed by 400 customers including Volvo and John Deere, Quanergy partners with 50 integrators globally. Founded in 2012, it emerged from Chapter 11 in 2023 to focus on smart sensing markets.

Zipline is a Half Moon Bay-headquartered drone delivery company that manufactures and operates fixed-wing drones for transporting medical supplies such as blood and vaccines. It runs autonomous logistics networks in Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, and the United States, completing over 1 million deliveries since 2016. Zipline's Platform 2 drones achieve speeds up to 100 mph with parachute drops for precise landings. The company partners with health organizations like WHO and holds FAA approvals for beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations, expanding to Japan in 2023.

LexxPluss is a Japanese developer of autonomous mobile robots for warehouse logistics, combining self-navigation and remote guidance modes. Tokyo-headquartered, its Lexx robot handles pallet transport in e-commerce facilities, integrating with WMS like SAP. Deployed in sites for Amazon Japan and Rakuten, it reduces labor by 40 percent across 50 installations. Founded in 2020, the company expanded to Southeast Asia.

Tesla is a vertically integrated battery electric vehicle automaker and developer of real world artificial intelligence software, which includes autonomous driving and humanoid robots. The company has multiple vehicles in its fleet, which include luxury and midsize sedans, crossover SUVs, a light truck, and a semi truck. Tesla also plans to begin selling a sports car and offer a robotaxi service. Global deliveries in 2025 were nearly 1.64 million vehicles. The company sells batteries for stationary storage for residential and commercial properties including utilities and solar panels and solar roofs for energy generation. Tesla also owns a fast-charging network and an auto insurance business.

Honeywell traces its roots to 1885 with Albert Butz’s firm, Butz Thermo-Electric Regulator, which produced a predecessor to the modern thermostat. Other inventions by Honeywell include biodegradable detergent and autopilot. Today, Honeywell is a global multi-industry behemoth with one of the largest installed bases of equipment. It operates through four business segments: aerospace technologies, industrial automation, energy and sustainability solutions, and building automation. Recently, Honeywell has made several portfolio changes to focus on fewer end markets and align with a set of secular growth trends. The firm is working diligently to expand its installed base, deriving around one third of its revenue from recurring aftermarket services.

With roots tracing back to the early 1900s, Rockwell Automation is the successor to Rockwell International, which spun off its avionics segment in 2001. It is a pure-play industrial automation company that operates through three segments. Its largest segment by revenue, intelligent devices, sells factory floor-level devices such as motors, drives, sensors, relays, and actuators. Its software and control segment sells visualization, simulation, and human-machine interface software and control products such as programmable controllers, computers, and operator terminals. Its smallest segment, lifecycle services, offers digital consulting, engineered-to-order services, and other outsourced services such as remote monitoring, cybersecurity, and asset and plant maintenance and optimization.

Fanuc's primary products include industrial robots, computerized numerical control systems (CNC), and compact machining centers (Robodrills) globally. The company had its beginnings as part of Fujitsu developing early numerical control systems and commands the top global market share with its CNC systems and industrial robots.

ABB India Ltd enables a more sustainable and resource-efficient future with the technology leadership in electrification and automation. It energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, and sustainable by connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation, and motion portfolio. The company's revenue is split between its four operating segments: Robotics and Discrete Automation, Electrification, Motion, and Process Automation. The company has several manufacturing sites located in India, and the majority of its revenue is generated in India.

Fuji Electric Co Ltd is a Japanese electrical equipment manufacturer and distributor. The company operates through four segments. The Energy segment covers geothermal, hydro, thermal, fuel cells, photovoltaic, wind power, substation equipment, storage systems, UPS, and control equipment. The Food Distribution segment provides vending machines, store equipment, and money-handling systems. The Industry segment includes inverters, FA components, sensors, FA systems, nuclear power systems, railway and ship systems, electrical works, air conditioning, and ICT equipment. The Semiconductor segment focuses on industrial and automotive power semiconductors, while Others includes financial services, real estate, insurance, travel, and printing services.

Founded in 2015, XPeng is a leading Chinese smart electric vehicle company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets EVs in China. Its products primarily target the growing base of technology-savvy middle-class consumers in the midrange to high-end segment in China’s passenger vehicle market. The company sold over 190,000 EVs in 2024, accounting for about 2% of China’s passenger new energy vehicle market. It is also a leader in autonomous driving technology.

Hadrian is a Los Angeles-headquartered precision manufacturing firm automating factories for aerospace and defense sectors. It deploys software-controlled robotic systems producing high-tolerance metal components such as turbine blades, satellite brackets, and rocket engine parts from materials including titanium and Inconel. Founded in 2020, the company equips facilities for clients building SpaceX rockets, Boeing jets, and Joby Aviation eVTOLs, reducing lead times from weeks to days through AI-orchestrated machining centers.

Mobileye Global Inc engages in the development and deployment of ADAS and autonomous driving technologies and solutions. It is building a portfolio of end-to-end ADAS and autonomous driving solutions to provide the capabilities needed for the future of autonomous driving, leveraging a comprehensive suite of purpose-built software and hardware technologies. The company's reportable operating segment are Mobileye and Moovit. Its solutions comprise Driver Assist, Cloud-Enhanced Driver Assist, Mobileye SuperVision Lite, Mobileye SuperVision, Mobileye Chauffeur, Mobileye Drive, Self-Driving System & Vehicles. It derives maximum revenue from Mobileye Segment.

Apptronik is an Austin-based developer of humanoid robots including the Apollo model for logistics, manufacturing, and service applications. The company builds general-purpose robots capable of handling repetitive tasks in warehouses and hazardous environments to boost human productivity. Apptronik collaborates with NASA and delivers systems through its manufacturing services division, focusing on bipedal mobility, dexterity, and AI-driven autonomy.

Sharpa is an AI robotics company developing automated robotics for commercial food service, including a fully automated robot restaurant built in partnership with CFB Group's Dairy Queen franchise in China. Founded in 2024 by the three co-founders of Hesai Technology, CEO David Li, CTO Xiang Shaoqing, and chief scientist Sun Kai, the company is using its early capital to commercialize automated restaurant operations and expand into broader robotics applications.

Sineva is a Shenzhen-based robotics manufacturer producing transfer robots, test handlers, and intelligent factory automation systems. The company supplies equipment for semiconductor assembly, electronics testing, and service robotics applications in Asia.

Picnic engineers food production robotics, including the Pizza Production System for commercial kitchens that automates custom pizza assembly from chef-specified ingredients and recipes at high volumes.

Vayyar is a Yehud-headquartered manufacturer of 4D imaging radar chips for automotive ADAS and eldercare fall detection. Its Walabot sensor scans through walls up to 10m, used in devices by Samsung and Bosch. Founded in 2011, Vayyar ships 60GHz ICs with 80cm resolution to smart home OEMs in the US and Europe. The technology equips vehicles from Continental partners.

Shenzhen-headquartered PuduTech develops service robots for the hospitality sector, including delivery models like BellaBot and KettyBot alongside disinfection units such as Adibot. Founded in 2016, the company has deployed over 40,000 units to restaurants in 60 countries, with clients including KFC outlets and Hilton hotels. PuduTech's solutions feature SLAM navigation, multi-robot fleet management via PUDU Scheduler software, and integration with POS systems for streamlined operations in hotels, cafes, and hospitals.