1X has acquired Kind Humanoid, the Norwegian robotics startup told TechCrunch on Monday. The deal marks a small but key consolidation for a humanoid robotics industry on the brink of a major moment in 2025.
TechCrunch spoke with Kind Humanoid in October, when the then-three-person startup announced that it had enlisted famed designer Yves Behar to help create its first commercial robot.
The story had all the charm one anticipates from a plucky startup formed in a Silicon Valley garage. CEO and ex-Google robotics researcher Christoph Kohstall gave us a quick tour of the company’s chaotic East Bay headquarters via Zoom on his phone. He revealed, among other things, that Kind had eschewed a ceiling-mounted gantry system visible in the shot for a far less conventional $80 coat rack.
Along with attracting Behar — the designer of products like the Jawbone fitness tracker, One Laptop Per Child, and August Locks — Kind clearly won over fellow robotics firms. 1X, meanwhile, has made headlines for both its generative AI-driven approach to the space, as well as high-profile funding rounds, including $100 million raised last January.
Firms including Tiger Global and OpenAI have counted themselves as investors. The latter is especially notable as interest around platforms like ChatGPT show no sign of slowing. Much of Kind’s work, meanwhile, has focused on the role LLMs (large language models) are likely to play as more robotics firms push to create a kind of general intelligence to couple with general purpose form factors like humanoids.
1X notes,
Kind Humanoid’s unique expertise and culture complement 1X’s mission to create an abundance of labor through safe and intelligent humanoids. The relationship between the two newly joined companies is built on the foundational belief that humanoids need to be developed alongside humans– living and learning among us
Kind’s operations will also help 1X expand its Bay Area operations. Details of the deal have not been disclosed.
