Persona AI

Persona AI develops industrial humanoid robots for heavy-duty work environments. The Houston company is building humanoids for shipyards, construction, energy infrastructure and other demanding sites where robots can assist with labor-intensive, hazardous or repetitive tasks.

Facts

Segment: Humanoid Robotics
Country: United States
Founded: 2023
Website: https://www.persona-ai.com

Market context

Early-stage industrial humanoid builder targeting labor automation in heavy industry. Particle-1

ATOM Humanoid - comparable profile - peer: Humanoid Industrial Builder
Galbot - stack adjacency - capability: Dexterous Manipulation
Tokyo Robotics - stack adjacency - capability: Dexterous Manipulation

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Products

Persona

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Funding

2025-05-14 - Pre-seed - $27M - Persona AI secures $27M pre-seed for humanoid robot development - Persona AI closed a $27 million oversubscribed pre-seed round to develop and deploy humanoid robots for shipbuilding and industrial manufacturing. - source: prnewswire.com

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Investors

Cofounder Ventures - Participant - VC - 1 funding event - first seen 2025-05-14
dConstruct Technologies - Participant - Angel / Individual - 1 funding event - first seen 2025-05-14
Embedded Ventures - Participant - VC - 1 funding event - first seen 2025-05-14

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Timeline

2026-05-11 - Partnership - Persona AI announces R&D collaboration with Under Armour for humanoid robot performance materials - Persona AI announced a research and development collaboration with Under Armour to evaluate advanced performance materials for humanoid robots. The work focuses on early-stage testing of textiles under heat, friction, repetitive motion and related physical… - source: globenewswire.com
2025-12-31 - Product Launch - Persona AI's Gen-1 humanoid robot unveiled - • Persona AI unveiled its Gen-1 humanoid robot, designed for welding tasks in shipyards. • The company secured $42 million in pre-seed funding. • An agreement was signed with HD Hyundai to deploy these robots in shipyards, with initial deliveries expected… - source: robohorizon.com
2025-11-13 - Award - Persona AI Named Finalist for Startup of the Year at 2025 Houston Innovation Awards - • Persona AI was named a finalist for Startup of the Year at the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards. • The awards ceremony took place on November 13, 2025, at Greentown Labs in Houston. • Persona AI was also a finalist in the Deep Tech Business category. - source: houston.innovationmap.com

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Team

Nicolaus Radford - Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

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Relations

HD Hyundai - Shipbuilding Deployment Partner - Persona AI signed an agreement with HD Hyundai to deploy humanoid welding robots for shipbuilding automation.
Hyundai Motor Company - Partner - Deploy humanoid welders for shipbuilding automation

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Deployments

Named Customer Program - 1 named shipyard program - 2025-05-07 - HD Hyundai - shipyard welding automation - HD KSOE and HD Hyundai Robotics signed an MOU with Persona AI and Vazil for shipyard welding humanoids, targeting prototype completion by end-2026 and field testing in 2027. … - source: prnewswire.com

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