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// Insights & research

Notes From The
Hardware Robotics Frontier

Longform analysis, market data and working notes from the Next Robot Tech team and our network of founders and investors. Published weekly.

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// NEWSFEEDMARKET2H AGOHumanoid robotics funding hits $4.2B YTDFigure, 1X and Apptronik lead the waveDEAL6H AGORoboFleet closes $2M seed in 11 weeksOversubscribed — logistics verticalINSIGHT1D AGOWhy hardware margins finally work in 2026BOM curves and contract manufacturingDUAL-USE2D AGOSubSea Robotics raises $25M Series BEuropean growth + defence strategicsUPDATING · 74 ARTICLES · 12K SUBSVIEW ALL →
// Featured article
Market·April 9, 2026·8 min read

Why Hardware Robotics Funding Is Finally Catching Up With AI

For the first decade of the modern robotics cycle, software-defined startups captured most of the venture dollars. In 2025 that pattern broke — and the shift now looks structural rather than cyclical.

By Alexander SashkoRead article →
Category
Founders6 min read

The New Playbook for Pre-Seed Robotics Founders

Cap tables, first hires, prototype velocity. What we learned working with 60+ pre-seed hardware teams over the last 18 months — and where most of them stall before their first round.

Sergey KochnevMarch 28, 2026
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Investors11 min read

Due Diligence for Physical Robots: A Practical Checklist

A condensed version of the diligence framework our investor network uses when evaluating hardware robotics deals — bill of materials, service margins, integration risk, and field data quality.

Elena MarkovaMarch 14, 2026
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Insights9 min read

Pilot-to-Production: How Top 10 EU Manufacturers Actually Buy Robots

Interviews with seven procurement leads at European tier-1 manufacturers. The takeaway: the technical bar is lower than most founders think, but the commercial bar is much higher.

Alexander SashkoFebruary 26, 2026
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Market7 min read

Southeast Asia Is the Most Underrated Robotics Market of the Decade

Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia are quietly assembling the industrial base that will define the next wave of robotics deployment. Why our Singapore hub sees this before most US-based funds.

Priya RaghavanFebruary 11, 2026
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Insights5 min read

How We Ran the Most Productive Investor Dinner of Our 2026 Calendar

A walkthrough of the format, the room, the curation and the follow-up flow behind a single 20-person event that produced four term-sheet conversations in six weeks.

Sergey KochnevJanuary 30, 2026
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Founders10 min read

Unit Economics for Robotics-as-a-Service Companies

The math that separates RaaS companies that scale from those that burn out between pilot and production. Payback periods, utilization curves and the CapEx you almost always underestimate.

Marco BianchiJanuary 15, 2026
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Market14 min read

The 2025 Hardware Robotics Round Report

Our full-year breakdown of Seed through Series B rounds in hardware robotics: sector mix, geography, median round size, time between rounds, and who wrote the most checks.

Next Robot Tech ResearchDecember 18, 2025
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Investors6 min read

What First-Time Robotics LPs Keep Getting Wrong

A guest piece from a family-office CIO who allocated to robotics for the first time in 2024. Frank lessons on J-curves, reserve strategy, and why the hardware beta is worth the discomfort.

Guest: David Chen, Hartwell Family OfficeNovember 29, 2025
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Founders7 min read

Building a Founding Team That Survives the First 24 Months

The three co-founder archetypes we see work in hardware, the two that quietly don't, and the uncomfortable conversation we recommend every team have before their first institutional round.

Guest: Naomi Larsen, Prelude RoboticsNovember 7, 2025
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