O-ID co-founders Simon Gormuzov, CTO (left), and Stian Jakobsen, CEO (right)
“When enough factory roles go unfilled at once, entire supply chains are at risk. O-ID’s robots are built to work alongside the people still on the floor, closing those gaps before they become a crisis for a single factory and for the industries Japan depends on,” said Stian Jakobsen, co-founder and CEO of O-ID.
Tokyo-based O-ID has raised $1.2m in pre-seed funding to build fully modular humanoid robots for industrial manufacturing and logistics. Chicago-based TAWANI Ventures led the round.
Hustle Fund, Techstars and angel investors also took part. The angels include the founders of Humanoid Guide, who were early investors in the robotics company 1X.
O-ID will use the money to move its first robot from prototype to production. It is preparing to place robots on Japanese factory floors.
Repairs on the factory floor
O-ID says its robots fit into a factory’s existing layout with no rebuild required. The company says they meet current industrial safety standards for immediate deployment.
The robots have hot-swappable joints, limbs and compute units, so a worn part can be replaced on site in minutes. Onboard AI sensors monitor component wear and flag parts approaching failure. O-ID can then ship a replacement before downtime occurs.
The company contrasts this with existing industrial robots, which it describes as rigid and costly to build a factory around. It says a single failed component can put a general-purpose humanoid out of commission for months.
For large automotive plants, an hour of downtime now costs $2.3m, Newsweek reported in July.
O-ID has filed a provisional US patent for its modular connector technology.
It has also signed a letter of intent with Sumitomo Electric Industries. The two companies will begin discussions on the potential use of Sumitomo Electric’s technologies in wire harnesses for humanoid robots.
Two founders who met at Waseda
Jakobsen, who is from Norway, founded O-ID in Tokyo in 2025 with CTO Simon Gormuzov, who is from the Netherlands. The two met at Waseda University.
Jakobsen previously worked in cyber defence. Gormuzov, a mechanical robotics engineer, spent years in industrial robotics.
O-ID joined Techstars Tokyo in 2025. Its Delaware parent, O-ID, Inc., oversees fundraising and international corporate activity. Its Japanese operating entity leads research and development, manufacturing and deployment.
What the investors say
William Pritzker, Partner at TAWANI Ventures, said:
“Japan and Chicago share a robust role and history as lynchpins of the global manufacturing ecosystem. Stian and Simon have impressed us with their ability to work and to innovate within this space. Modular humanoids are a generational opportunity to expand industrial productivity just as labor force declines present unprecedented challenges. O-ID will lead the transfer of decades of Japanese robotics expertise, learnings, and supply chain into an AI-native, adaptable platform.”
Yuki Shirato, Managing Director at Techstars, said: “I originally selected Stian and Simon not simply because of their brilliant minds, but because they are building something truly unique.”
“O-ID humanoid robots will be modular, designed for mass production and repairs, and made entirely in Japan. They have made tremendous progress since then, and this fundraise and joint research with Japanese manufacturers mark an important step forward in their mission of reshaping how we live,” he added.
The worker gap
O-ID says Japan faces a shortage of more than 11 million workers by 2040 as its population ages, with factory workers retiring and going unreplaced.
Robotics is also a national priority. In June 2026, Japan announced a target of ¥10.5tn ($65.1bn) in public and private investment in physical AI, according to O-ID. Physical AI is AI that controls robots and machinery. Japan aims to deploy 10 million AI-equipped robots by 2040, the company says.
In the US, manufacturers could need 3.8 million new workers by 2033. As many as 1.9 million of those jobs could go unfilled if the labour gap isn’t closed, O-ID says.
From Japan to the US
O-ID’s first markets are automotive manufacturing and logistics in Japan. It plans to expand into other industries and the US over time.
O-ID builds and manufactures its robots in Japan. The company says they are designed to meet the requirements of the US National Defense Authorization Act, as it looks to ship robots to the United States.
In August, XPENG’s robotics arm raised more than $900m ahead of its humanoid production run.
LG’s humanoid robot is due in 2027, running Nvidia’s Isaac GR00T. Figure, another humanoid maker, is buying $3.5bn of compute from Nscale.
In Europe, NEURA and SECO will build robot compute modules.
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