Mowito, a robotics startup, raises $3 million to increase its presence in the US.

Bengaluru-based robotics startup Mowito has raised $3 million (around ₹28.6 crore) in a pre-seed funding round to accelerate its growth and strengthen its presence in the United States. The investment marks an important milestone for the young deep-tech company, which is developing AI-powered software that enables industrial robots to learn complex tasks through observation instead of traditional programming.The funding round was led by Version One Ventures, with participation from All In Capital, Unisol, and iSeed. Several well-known angel investors also backed the startup, including AI researcher Soumith Chintala, robotics entrepreneur Adarsh Kulkarni, Ashish Kulkarni, and Vaibhav Domkundwar. Their participation reflects growing investor confidence in India's robotics and industrial AI ecosystem.Founded in 2024 by Puru Rastogi and Adityanag Nagesh, Mowito is building "Physical AI" models that allow standard industrial robotic arms to learn tasks by watching human operators. This approach reduces the need for complex coding and enables manufacturers to deploy robots more quickly on factory floors.

The newly raised capital will primarily be used to expand operations in the US market, hire more engineering and go-to-market professionals, and increase deployments across automotive and electronics manufacturing companies. The startup aims to strengthen its presence in North America while continuing product development in India.According to CEO Puru Rastogi, the company's vision is to make robots learn the same way humans do—through observation and repetition. He said the funding will help Mowito accelerate the adoption of Physical AI and bring smarter automation to more manufacturing environments around the world.Mowito already operates in Bengaluru and Detroit, and claims that its AI-powered robots are being used by a Fortune 500 automotive company as well as one of the world's largest electronics contract manufacturers. The company's technology focuses on improving productivity, reducing manual intervention, and making industrial automation more flexible.