Walden Robotics
Toyota Research Institute spinout building wheeled, partly humanoid robots for factories; $300M seed at $1.1B
Startup · Pilot · Robotics leader · Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States · Founded 2026 · waldenrobotics.com
- Founded 2026 · year not confirmed
- Customers · not named
Profile
Walden Robotics is a spinout of Toyota Research Institute, led by MIT professor Russ Tedrake, who previously ran TRI's Large Behavior Model work. It builds its own hardware, software and AI models for general-purpose robots aimed at manufacturing: orange-and-white machines with two arms and a head on a wheeled base or fixed platform, designed to keep learning while doing real work. It came out of stealth in July 2026 with a $300M seed round at a $1.1B valuation, co-led by Toyota and Deviation Capital, with NVIDIA, Boeing, Samsung Ventures, Prologis Ventures and CoreWeave Ventures. Its co-founders come from TRI, MIT, Stanford and Amazon; Chief Product Officer David Johnson earlier founded kitchen-robot maker Dexai Robotics.
Notes The company says it was founded in 2026; its Form D gives 2025 as the year of incorporation.
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Leadership
- Russ Tedrake, Co-founder & CEO
- Ben Burchfiel, Co-founder & CTO
- David Johnson, Co-founder & Chief Product Officer
- Adrien Gaidon, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer
Flagship robots
- Walden robot Wheeled humanoid
Two-armed upper body with a head, on a wheeled base or fixed platform, run by Large Behavior Models that keep learning on the job
Funding and valuation
Latest round
$300M
Seed · Jul 15, 2026
Led by Toyota (Toyota Motor Corp, Toyota Invention Partners, Toyota Ventures), Deviation Capital
Also NVIDIA, Boeing, AE Ventures, Samsung Ventures, Prologis Ventures, CoreWeave Ventures, Calibrate Ventures, Shine Capital, NextView Ventures, Menlo Ventures.
Form D filed Jul 15, 2026 reports $302.0M sold of a $305.6M offering.
Total raised
$300M
As of Jul 15, 2026
Only round announced; the Form D shows $302.0M sold
Valuation
$1.1B
post-money · Jul 15, 2026
Hiring signals
- Open roles
- 48all roles
- Top location
- Cambridge · 73%35 of 48 roles
- Top role area
- AI & foundation models18 roles · 40% of 45 engineering & ops
Where the roles are · share of 48 open roles (all roles)
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, US73%35 roles
- San Francisco, California, US27%13 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 · 45 engineering & ops roles
Show 6 more areas
Roles are sorted into a fixed list of areas by job title. Percentages are of engineering & ops roles. The other 3 open roles (finance, HR, legal, sales, facilities and similar) are in the total but not shown here.
Notable postings
- JobSenior role in AI & foundation models, one of the company's largest hiring areasMember of Technical Staff: Data Curriculum LeadSan Francisco, California, US
- JobSenior role in Other engineering & ops, one of the company's largest hiring areasFacility ManagerCambridge, Massachusetts, US
- JobSenior role in Software & infrastructure, one of the company's largest hiring areasMember of Technical Staff: DevOpsCambridge, Massachusetts, US
- JobSenior role in Controls, one of the company's largest hiring areasMember of Technical Staff – Engineer, RL and ControlCambridge, Massachusetts, US
- JobSenior role in Embedded & electrical, one of the company's largest hiring areasSenior Member of Technical Staff: Platform Electrical EngineerCambridge, Massachusetts, US
As of . Scope: all roles. Counts are our reading of public job postings, not company statements.
Scope note All open Walden Robotics postings, read from its Rippling job board.
Trademarks
No US filings since 2025 (last checked ).
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.
Galaxea AI
Adjacent competitorBoth build wheeled two-armed robots: Galaxea AI builds wheeled dual-arm and humanoid robots, while Walden Robotics builds wheeled two-armed robots for factories, run by its own Large Behavior Models.
Dyna Robotics
Adjacent competitorBoth sell robots running their own foundation models: Dyna Robotics deploys robots running its own DYNA-1 foundation model in hotels, laundromats and gyms, while Walden Robotics builds wheeled two-armed robots for factories, run by its own Large Behavior Models.
Collaborative Robotics (Cobot)
Adjacent competitorBoth build wheeled robots with arms for industrial sites: Collaborative Robotics makes Proxie, a mobile robot for hospitals, warehouses and factories, while Walden Robotics builds wheeled two-armed robots for factories, run by its own Large Behavior Models.
Recent news
- — Launches from stealth with a $300M seed at a $1.1B valuation, co-led by Toyota and Deviation Capital Walden Robotics
Sources
- Walden Robotics Launches with $300 Million to Put General-Purpose Robots to Work Today (Walden Robotics) (Jul 15, 2026)
- The Walden Team (Walden Robotics) (Oct 13, 2026)
- Boston-area AI startup Walden Robotics raises $300 million (Boston Globe) (Jul 15, 2026)
- Form D: Walden Robotics, Inc. (SEC) (Jul 15, 2026)
Confidence: high.