Mecka AI Nears $500M Valuation in Sequoia-Led Round
Mecka AI, a startup that collects and analyzes human motion data to train humanoid robots and other robotic systems, is nearing a new funding round led by Sequoia Capital at a valuation of approximately $500 million, according to two people familiar with the deal.
The financing comes just three months after Mecka announced a $60 million round led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Menlo Ventures, SV Angel, and Kindred Ventures.
TechCrunch has not learned the precise size of the new round. The terms are not final and could still change. Mecka AI did not respond to a request for comment, and Sequoia declined to comment.
Founders and Origins
Mecka AI was co-founded in 2024 by four entrepreneurs: Canadians Josh Gao and Mogen Cheng, who previously built a restaurant fintech startup, and Jason Chong, who joined Coinbase after it acquired his crypto exchange. Duy Nguyen, the only non-Canadian on the team, oversees operations.
None of the four co-founders have backgrounds in robotics. However, they recognized a critical shortage of physical-world data and identified real-world interaction capture as the primary bottleneck holding back general-purpose robots, including humanoids.
The "Egocentric" Data Approach
Named after "mecha"—a fictional giant robot controlled by humans—Mecka aims to do for robotics what Scale AI, Mercor, Surge, and other human data companies have done for large language models. The startup pays people to record themselves performing everyday tasks, such as making coffee or fixing cars, using body sensors and smartphones.
As of early June, Mecka projected it would end 2026 at an annual run rate of $100 million, Gao told Fortune when the startup announced its previous fundraise.
While Mecka AI has not publicly disclosed its customer list, many robotics companies and AI labs rely on real-world data captured through this "egocentric" approach—alongside other physical data collection methods like teleoperation—to build their models.
A Competitive and Fast-Moving Landscape
Other startups collecting real-world data for robot training include XDOF, which TechCrunch reported last week was nearing a new round at a $1.2 billion valuation. Human-data platforms are also expanding beyond LLMs, including Scale AI and Micro1.
via TechCrunch AI