Walden Robotics launches with $1.1B valuation, $300M funding

What happened

Walden Robotics, a full-stack Physical AI company building general-purpose robots that learn and improve through real work, raised $300 million（約480億円） in funding and launched out of stealth at a $1.1 billion（約1800億円） valuation. The round is co-led by Toyota (Toyota Motor Corp, Toyota Invention Partners, and Toyota Ventures) and Deviation Capital, with participation from NVIDIA, Boeing, AE Ventures, Samsung Ventures, Prologis Ventures, CoreWeave Ventures, and others. Walden's robots, which build on research including Diffusion Policy and Large Behavior Models (LBMs), have been performing useful work in production at a Toyota plant in North America since February—moving from first pilot to real work in under two months.

Why it matters

Walden represents a major bet that general-purpose robots capable of continuous learning will drive the next wave of industrial automation. The company's ability to move from pilot to production use at scale (at a major automaker, no less) within weeks suggests that robotic systems are approaching practical viability for real manufacturing tasks. The backing of Toyota, NVIDIA, and Boeing signals confidence that in-house data collection, proprietary robotic AI models, and vertical integration in hardware are the winning formula for robot makers.

What to watch

Walden launched out of Toyota Research Institute in January 2026 and is already working with customers across multiple industries. The pace of deployment—from February pilot to real production work in under two months—and the roster of industrial and tech investors suggest the company will likely announce additional customer deployments and use cases in the near term.