Mecka AI is approaching a new funding round led by Sequoia Capital that could value the startup at around $500 million, according to people familiar with the deal. The company focuses on collecting and analyzing human motion data to help train humanoid robots and broader robotics systems.
The potential round follows a $60 million financing announced just three months earlier, backed by Framework Ventures with participation from Menlo Ventures, SV Angel, and Kindred Ventures. The exact size of the new investment has not been finalized.
Founded in 2024 by four entrepreneurs, including Josh Gao, Mogen Cheng, Jason Chong, and Duy Nguyen, Mecka AI was built around a simple insight: robots need more high-quality data from the physical world to become more capable. Instead of relying only on simulations, the startup pays people to perform everyday tasks while wearing body sensors and using smartphones, creating egocentric datasets for machine learning.
The company's approach aims to support the next generation of general-purpose robots by giving AI systems a richer understanding of real-world movement, object handling, and human activity. As robotics and AI labs continue to expand their data pipelines, Mecka AI is positioning itself as a key infrastructure player in this emerging market.
If this momentum continues, robot training data could become one of the most important building blocks in the future of intelligent machines.
