Neura Robotics reportedly raising €1B from Tether to scale AI humanoid robots
What's the deal? German robotics startup Neura Robotics is raising €1 billion ($1.2 billion) in a new funding round backed by Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin, USDT. The round values the Metzingen-based company at roughly €4 billion.
Founded in 2019 by David RegerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Neura builds AI-powered humanoid robots designed for both industrial and consumer use. It already has nearly $1 billion in orders from customers including Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Omron.
Why now? Neura raised €120 million in January 2025 in a round led by Exor's Lingotto Investment ManagementDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, then began exploring a much larger raise by mid-year. The new round reflects surging investor appetite for humanoid robotics — Apptronik alone raised $520 million in February.
Barclays analysts last month projected the market for AI-powered robots could reach a trillion dollars by 2035, framing the current moment as the opening of what they called "the decade of the robot."
What could go wrong? Tether is an unconventional backer for a deep-tech robotics company. The stablecoin issuer has been expanding aggressively beyond crypto — funding brain-computer firm Blackrock NeurotechDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Italian robotics startup Generative Bionics — but its long-term commitment to capital-intensive hardware development remains unproven.
Competition is also intensifying fast. Chinese firms are racing to market: Honor unveiled its first humanoid at MWC Barcelona this week, while Hangzhou-based Unitree has been showcasing acrobatic robots at high-profile public events.
The signal: Humanoid robotics is attracting the kind of capital that once flowed into large language models. Neura's raise — if completed — would be one of the largest in the sector and signals that Europe is staking a claim alongside the US and China in what could be the next major technology wave.
Tether's involvement adds an unexpected dimension: crypto-native capital is increasingly flowing into physical AI infrastructure, blurring the line between digital asset firms and deep-tech investors.
A.M.
