Robot hand startup Proception has closed its legal dispute with Tesla and is now moving into a new phase of growth with an $11 million seed round led by First Round Capital, alongside Y Combinator and BoxGroup.
The company, founded by Jay Li after his work on Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot program, is focused on one of robotics' most demanding frontiers: building hands that can perform with human-like precision. Proception says its first batch of high-dexterity robotic hands is now being shipped to researchers and robotics companies, with broader orders opening as production expands.
A data-first approach to dexterity
Instead of relying only on teleoperation, where a human remotely controls a robot, Proception uses sensor-rich gloves to capture detailed hand interaction data directly from people. The company says this method helps collect more scalable and task-specific information, while also improving how its robotic hand learns from touch.
The hand itself features 22 degrees of freedom and multiple joints in each finger, designed to support a wide range of precise motions. Proception believes combining advanced hardware with scalable data collection will help close one of robotics' biggest gaps: dexterous manipulation.
Investors backing the company see that challenge as central to the future of humanoid machines. As robotics moves from prototype to practical use, the ability to grasp, adjust, and handle objects with human-level control may become a defining capability. Proception's latest momentum suggests that the race toward more capable robotic hands is entering a faster, more focused phase.
