Humanoid (SKL Robotics)
London maker of HMND 01 industrial humanoids; Europe's first pure-play humanoid unicorn
Scaleup · Pilot · Humanoid startup · London, England, United Kingdom · Founded 2024 · thehumanoid.ai
Profile
Humanoid (legal name SKL Robotics) builds HMND 01 industrial humanoids in wheeled and bipedal versions, run by its KinetIQ AI framework. Schaeffler is a preferred actuator supplier and plans to deploy its robots. A $152M Series A in Jul 2026 at $1.35B post-money made it Europe's first pure-play humanoid unicorn.
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People
As of . X handles are shown only when we could confirm they belong to the person.
Flagship robots
- HMND 01 (wheeled) Wheeled humanoid
- HMND 01 (bipedal) Humanoid
- KinetIQ AI model
Robot AI framework
Funding and valuation
Latest round
$152M
Series A · Jul 21, 2026
Led by Prime Movers Lab
Also Bosch, Schaeffler, Fubon, Aglaé.
Valuation
$1.35B
post-money (Series A) · Jul 21, 2026
Hiring signals
- Open roles
- 109all roles
- Top location
- UK · 71%77 of 109 roles
- Top role area
- Other engineering & ops14 roles · 17% of 83 engineering & ops
Where the roles are · share of 109 open roles (all roles)
- UK, London71%77 roles
- US, Boston, MA16%18 roles
- Canada, Vancouver, BC7%8 roles
- US, San Diego, CA4%4 roles
- Other locations2%2 roles
Locations are where the posting says the job is based, not where the robots are built. A posting that lists several sites is counted once, under the first.
Role mix · 83 engineering & ops roles
Show 8 more areas
Roles are sorted into a fixed list of areas by job title. Percentages are of engineering & ops roles. The other 26 open roles (finance, HR, legal, sales, facilities and similar) are in the total but not shown here.
Notable postings
- JobSenior role in Other engineering & ops, one of the company's largest hiring areasDirector of Autonomy - BipedUS, San Diego, CA
- JobSenior role in AI & foundation models, one of the company's largest hiring areasVP of AI TransformationUK, London
- JobSenior role in Software & infrastructure, one of the company's largest hiring areasSenior/Staff Software Engineer - Data PlatformUK, London
- JobSenior role in Actuators & mechanical, one of the company's largest hiring areasSenior Actuator Mechanical Design EngineerCanada, Vancouver, BC
- JobSenior role in Supply chain, one of the company's largest hiring areasSenior Materials PlannerUK, London
As of . Scope: all roles. Counts are our reading of public job postings, not company statements.
Scope note All open Humanoid (SKL Robotics) postings, read from its Ashby job board (jobs.ashbyhq.com/humanoid).
Trademarks
2 names filed in the US since 2025 · last checked .
- H M N D RegisteredIndustrial robots; robots for building construction; robots for building maintenance; robots for power washing.
- HUMANOID AbandonedHumanoid robots with artificial intelligence for use in household cleaning and laundry.
Source: USPTO Trademark Search, matched on the company’s legal names. Rechecked on the 1st and 15th of each month. A filing shows intent to use a name in the US, not a launched product.
Competitors
Companies with overlapping products. Direct = same customers and same job; Adjacent = overlapping technology or market, different focus.
Figure AI
Direct competitorBoth are building humanoids for factory and logistics customers: Figure AI builds general-purpose humanoids run by its own Helix AI model, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
NEURA Robotics
Direct competitorBoth are building humanoids for factory and logistics customers: NEURA Robotics makes cognitive cobots and the 4NE1 humanoid, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
Apptronik
Direct competitorBoth are building humanoids for factory and logistics customers: Apptronik builds the Apollo humanoid, now in pilots with Mercedes-Benz and GXO, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
Show 5 more
Agile Robots
Direct competitorBoth are building humanoids for factory and logistics customers: Agile Robots makes industrial cobots and has launched the Agile ONE industrial humanoid, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
Boston Dynamics
Direct competitorBoth are building humanoids for factory and logistics customers: Boston Dynamics is training the electric Atlas for Hyundai's factories and also sells Spot and Stretch, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
Hexagon Robotics
Direct competitorBoth are building humanoids for factory and logistics customers: Hexagon Robotics makes the wheeled AEON industrial humanoid, piloted with BMW and Schaeffler, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
Wandercraft
Adjacent competitorBoth are European makers of industrial humanoids: Wandercraft makes the Calvin industrial humanoid with Renault, alongside walking exoskeletons, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
Tesla (Optimus)
Adjacent competitorBoth are building general-purpose humanoids for factory work: Tesla develops Optimus in-house and so far builds it mostly for its own factories, while Humanoid (SKL Robotics) builds the HMND 01 industrial humanoid in London.
Recent news
- — Raises $152M Series A at $1.35B post-money Humanoid
- — Schaeffler names Humanoid as preferred-actuator partner and plans deployments in its plants Schaeffler
Suppliers
- Schaeffler (incl. Ewellix) — Integrated rotary actuators (60-250 N·m: planetary gearbox, motor, encoder, controller); planetary roller screws; bearings
Sources
- Humanoid raises $152 million at $1.35 billion post-money valuation (Humanoid) (Jul 21, 2026)
- U.K.-based Humanoid secures $152M in Series A funding (The Robot Report) (Jul 21, 2026)
- Schaeffler: Powering Humanoid Motion (investor presentation) (Jan 12, 2026)
- Humanoid team page (Oct 8, 2026)
Confidence: medium.