Figure AI, its Series C Funding and Brett Adcock

You thought your friend's startup getting a few thousand bucks from their uncle was a big deal? Hold my beer, because Figure AI just casually announced they’ve raked in over a cool billion dollars in their Series C funding. Yes, that’s a ‘B’ as in ‘billion’, ‘bot’, and ‘bonkers’. This fresh pile of cash propels their valuation to a staggering $39 billion. To put that in perspective, that's more than the GDP of some small countries, and certainly more than my entire life savings, my cat's life savings, and the spare change I found in the couch combined. I know we've just covered this in one of our previous article but here's a little bit more background on what has happened so far.

The Founder: A Serial Entrepreneur with a Penchant for Big Machines

Behind this robotic revolution is a guy named Brett Adcock. If that name sounds familiar, it's because he’s been busy. Before diving into the world of walking, talking robots, Adcock co-founded Vettery, an AI-powered recruiting platform he sold for a tidy $110 million. Not content with just shaking up the HR world, he then founded Archer Aviation, a company building electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft – basically, flying taxis. Archer went public with a valuation of $2.7 billion. It seems Adcock has a thing for creating companies that sound like they’re straight out of a sci-fi movie.

A Quick and Dirty Guide to Startup Funding: A, B, C, and a Whole Lot of Moolah

Now, you might be hearing "Series C" and thinking it's a new type of vitamin. In the wild world of startups, it's all about the funding rounds, and they're named with the creativity of a first-grade alphabet book. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Seed Funding: This is the "please, someone, believe in my idea" stage. It's the initial cash to get the ball rolling, often from friends, family, and angel investors.
• Series A: The "Okay, we've got a product and a plan" round. This is where venture capitalists (VCs) step in, looking for a solid business model and a path to making some serious cash. Figure AI's Series A in May 2023, led by Parkway Venture Capital, brought in $70 million.
• Series B: The "Let's pour some gasoline on this fire" stage. The company is established, has a customer base, and now it's time to scale up, expand, and hire a bunch of smart people. In February 2024, Figure AI's Series B was a whopping $675 million, with heavyweights like Microsoft, OpenAI, NVIDIA, Amazon, and even Jeff Bezos jumping on board.
• Series C: The "We're a big deal, and we're going global" round. This is for the successful, mature startups looking to dominate their market, acquire other companies, and generally take over the world (in a nice, business-y way, of course). Figure's latest billion-dollar haul falls squarely in this category, with Parkway Venture Capital once again leading the charge, joined by the likes of NVIDIA, Intel Capital, and Salesforce.

So, What's Next for Figure AI? (Besides a Really Big Party)

This new mountain of cash isn't just for show. Figure AI has some big plans. The funding will be used to:

• Scale up manufacturing: They're not just building a few prototypes to show off at tech conferences. Figure AI wants to mass-produce their humanoid robots.
• Boost AI development: The "AI" in Figure AI isn't just for marketing. They're working on making their robots smarter, more autonomous, and less likely to trip over the cat.
• Expand their team: They're on a hiring spree for the brightest minds in robotics and AI.

With this kind of financial backing and a team of brainiacs, Figure AI is poised to be a major player in the emerging field of humanoid robotics. While the idea of robots walking among us might still feel like something out of a movie, Figure AI is making it a reality, one billion-dollar funding round at a time. And who knows, maybe one day a Figure robot will be writing these articles for me. But until then, I'll keep my eye on them, and my other eye on my wallet, just in case they start charging for autographs.