Hottest Robotics Investors, November 2026

Most robotics coverage follows the largest funds and the biggest rounds. The investors on this list backed eight smaller deals in surgery, labs, factories, and machine safety between September 28 and November 2, 2026, worth at least $416 million combined. BioStar Capital led MMI's $125 million Series D, NantWorks led Multiply Labs' $75 million Series B, and Perceptive Advisors lent Distalmotion up to $70 million.^12,5,20

Each investor is here because of a deal in that window, not a career record. For the companies they backed, see Hottest Robotics Companies, and for the people running them, Robotics Founders to Watch. Our full company reviews are in Companies.

How we chose

We collected every robotics round, loan, and strategic investment announced from September 28 to November 2, 2026 by companies we review, and ranked the investors named in those announcements. The order is by number of deals, then by how early the investor first backed the company, with returning investors ahead of new ones, then by the size of the round. Round size is the whole round, since most firms do not publish their own share. Each firm has a profile on Robotics Reviewed.

The list

Hottest Robotics Investors, November 2026
#	Name	Deals this month	Why now
1	Lux Capital	2: Multiply Labs and Formic	Returned to two companies it first backed in 2021 and 2022
2	Teradyne	2: Bright Machines and Multiply Labs	Two new strategic bets in two days, October 5 and 6
3	BioStar Capital	1: MMI	Led the $125 million Series D on October 8, in since 2022
4	Tiger Global	1: FORT Robotics	Led about $20 million on October 22, in since 2022
5	Angelini Ventures	1: MMI	New investor in the $125 million Series D
6	NantWorks	1: Multiply Labs	Led the $75 million Series B on October 6
7	Perceptive Advisors	1: Distalmotion	Up to $70 million term loan on October 21
8	Mercato Partners	1: Formic	Led the Series B part of a $50 million round on October 22
9	Avego	1: Opentrons	Led the $40 million Series E on October 29
10	Catalio Capital Management	1: ZAP Surgical	Led the $36 million round on October 19

Source: company and investor announcements, September 28 to November 2, 2026.^{5,6,7,12,15,16,20,23,25}

Money in the robotics deals these ten investors joined, September 28 to November 2, 2026, by sector

Each deal is counted once at its full size, even when several investors on the list joined it. Distalmotion's loan is counted at its $70 million ceiling. Teradyne's Bright Machines investment has no published amount and adds nothing to the total.

Source: company announcements. Chart: Robotics Reviewed.^{12,20,25,5,23,6,15}

Key Findings

Surgical and medical robots drew the most money, about $231 million of the $416 million, across MMI, Distalmotion, and ZAP Surgical.^12,20,25
Only two investors joined more than one deal: Lux Capital, returning to Multiply Labs and Formic, and Teradyne, making two strategic bets in two days.^5,6,7
Multiply Labs drew three of the ten investors in one round: NantWorks as lead, Teradyne as a new investor, and Lux Capital returning.⁵

1.Lux Capital

Venture capital firm, New York City and Silicon Valley

2 dealsMultiply Labs and Formic, both returning bets^5,6

Notable bet: Multiply Labs $75M Series B (October 6) and Formic $50M Series B and debt (October 22)
Why now: Put more money into two robotics companies in October 2026.^5,6

Lux invests in early-stage science and technology companies, among them Anduril and Physical Intelligence, and had more than $4 billion under management in 2022.^2,3 It joined Multiply Labs' $20 million Series A in April 2021 and led Formic's $26.5 million Series A in January 2022, when partner Shahin Farshchi joined Formic's board.^4,3

Why now

Coming back to both companies years after first backing them is why Lux ranks first. Both are bets on robots doing manual work at scale, in cell therapy cleanrooms and on factory floors.^5,6

Lux did not publish its share of either round, so its two deals may be smaller checks than the single leads below.

2.Teradyne

Corporate investor, North Reading, Massachusetts

2 dealsBright Machines and Multiply Labs, both new^7,5

Notable bet: Bright Machines strategic investment (October 5) and Multiply Labs $75M Series B (October 6)
Why now: Made two strategic robotics investments on October 5 and 6, 2026.^7,5

Teradyne makes automated test equipment for electronics makers and owns Universal Robots, the collaborative robot maker.⁷

Why now

Both deals back customers of its own robots. Bright Machines, a San Francisco, California, maker of software-defined manufacturing lines, plans to put Universal Robots cobots and Teradyne test systems in its factories, and Multiply Labs builds its cell therapy systems on Universal Robots arms.^7,8

These are strategic positions as much as financial ones, and neither check size was published.

3.BioStar Capital

Medical technology venture firm

$125MMMI Series D, which it led¹²

Notable bet: MMI $125M Series D (October 8)
Why now: Led MMI's Series D on October 8, 2026.¹²

BioStar runs five venture funds focused on cardiology, orthopedics, and robotics, and vets deals with more than 100 practicing clinicians.⁹ It first invested in MMI in its 2022 Series B, and founder Louis Cannon sits on MMI's board.^10,11

Why now

Leading the largest robotics round of the month in a company it has backed for four years is a strong vote for robotic microsurgery.¹²

MMI's CEO, Mark Toland, was a BioStar partner before joining MMI in 2021, and MMI has about 50 systems installed, so adoption is still early.^13,12

4.Tiger Global

Investment firm, New York, New York

$20MAbout $20 million for FORT Robotics, which it led¹⁵

Notable bet: FORT Robotics financing and PIPE commitment, about $20M (October 22)
Why now: Led FORT's new financing on October 22, 2026.¹⁵

Tiger Global led FORT's $25 million Series B in July 2022.¹⁴ In October it led an approximately $10 million financing with Mark Cuban Companies and committed another $10 million to the PIPE tied to FORT's SPAC merger.¹⁵

Why now

Partner Griffin Schroeder said FORT plays a critical role in building an independent safety layer for physical AI.¹⁵

Half of the money depends on the merger closing, which FORT expects in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027.¹⁵

5.Angelini Ventures

Corporate venture firm, Rome, Italy

$125MMMI Series D, as a new investor¹⁶

Notable bet: MMI $125M Series D (October 8)
Why now: Joined MMI's Series D as a new investor in October 2026.¹⁶

Angelini Ventures is the venture arm of Angelini Industries and invests 300 million euros in biotech and health tech worldwide.¹⁷

Why now

Its stake includes a 17 million euro co-investment with the European Investment Bank, and managing director Tanja Dowe joins MMI's board. MMI was founded near Pisa and still makes Symani there.^16,11

It is a new investor, so it ranks behind the firms that have backed their companies for years.

6.NantWorks

Holding company of Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong

$75MMultiply Labs Series B, which it led⁵

Notable bet: Multiply Labs $75M Series B (October 6)
Why now: Led Multiply Labs' Series B on October 6, 2026.⁵

NantWorks is the parent of companies in health and life sciences, energy, and connectivity. Its founder, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, invented the cancer drug Abraxane.¹⁸

Why now

The round is the largest in Multiply Labs' history and took its total above $100 million. The company says its robots cut cost per dose of cell therapy by 74%.⁵

That figure is the company's own and still needs independent results at commercial scale.

7.Perceptive Advisors

Life science investment firm

$70MLoan facility ceiling for Distalmotion²⁰

Notable bet: Distalmotion senior secured term loan of up to $70M (October 21)
Why now: Provided Distalmotion's term loan facility on October 21, 2026.²⁰

Perceptive was founded in 1999 and invests across the capital structure, from equity to credit.¹⁹

Why now

The loan funds Distalmotion's push into US ambulatory surgery centers with its DEXTER robot.²⁰

A loan is not an equity bet. Perceptive is paid back with interest whether or not DEXTER wins share, and the facility may not be drawn in full.

8.Mercato Partners

Growth-stage investment firm

$50MFormic round, where it led the Series B part⁶

Notable bet: Formic $50M Series B and debt (October 22)
Why now: Led Formic's Series B on October 22, 2026.⁶

Mercato has $1.2 billion in assets under management across four funds and says it invests in underserved and underfunded geographies.²¹

Why now

Managing director Ryan Sanders joins Formic's board. He said the bottleneck in robotics is moving from the lab to deploying, servicing, and financing robots in real plants.⁶

Formic did not say how the $50 million splits between Mercato's equity and the debt.⁶

9.Avego

Healthcare investment firm, New York, New York

$40MOpentrons Series E, which it led²³

Notable bet: Opentrons $40M Series E (October 29)
Why now: Led Opentrons' Series E on October 29, 2026.²³

Avego was founded in 2015 by former healthcare entrepreneurs and says it invests its own capital.²²

Why now

Managing partner James Flexner said every AI-driven discovery still has to be tested in a real lab. The bet is that labs using AI will standardize on Opentrons' low-cost robots, more than 11,000 of which are deployed.²³

The valuation of the round was not published.

10.Catalio Capital Management

Healthcare and AI investment firm, New York, New York

$36MZAP Surgical round, which it led²⁵

Notable bet: ZAP Surgical $36M financing (October 19)
Why now: Led ZAP Surgical's financing on October 19, 2026.²⁵

Catalio had $2.4 billion in assets under management as of October 1, 2026, and works with a network of 45 venture partners who are scientist-entrepreneurs.²⁴

Why now

Nicholas von Guionneau joins ZAP's board as an observer. ZAP has shipped 50 systems, so the round funds scale-up more than proof of concept.²⁵

It is the smallest round on this list, which is why Catalio ranks last despite leading it.

What to watch next month

Tiger Global's PIPE commitment to FORT Robotics depends on the SPAC merger, which FORT expects to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027.¹⁵ Teradyne's two bets put Universal Robots arms inside Bright Machines and Multiply Labs, and any deployment figures will show what the strategic side of those deals is worth.^7,8

The Hottest Robotics Investors list is updated monthly. See every edition of our rankings, including past months as they are added.

Sources

Methodology

We collected robotics funding rounds, loans, and strategic investments announced from September 28 to November 2, 2026, by companies Robotics Reviewed covers, and ranked the investors those announcements list. Ranking: number of deals in the window, then how early the investor first backed the company (earlier first, new investors last), then the full size of the round. Amounts are as announced. The chart counts each deal once, at its full size, and counts Distalmotion's loan at its $70 million ceiling and FORT's financing at about $20 million.