Mowito Raises $3M Pre-Seed to Teach Industrial Robot Arms by Demonstration
Bengaluru- and Detroit-based physical AI startup Mowito has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding led by Version One Ventures to expand its AI foundation models for industrial robotic arms.
Key Takeaways
Mowito, a physical AI startup based in Bengaluru and Detroit, raised $3M in pre-seed funding led by Version One Ventures, with participation from All In Capital, Unisol and iSeed.
Mowito's AI foundation models let industrial robot arms learn manufacturing tasks from a handful of human demonstrations — sometimes just one — instead of months of hand-coded programming, and run on existing arms without hardware changes.
Customers already include a Fortune 500 automotive company and one of the world's largest electronics contract manufacturers.
Founded in 2024 by Puru Rastogi, Adityanag Nagesh and Safar V, Mowito will use the funds to expand in the US, hire engineering and go-to-market talent, and scale across automotive and electronics customers.
Kaan Tınmaz
Bengaluru- and Detroit-based Mowito has raised $3 million in pre-seed funding to scale its physical AI foundation models — software that lets industrial robot arms pick up manufacturing tasks from a handful of human demonstrations rather than months of hand-coded programs.
The Round
The round was led by Version One Ventures, with participation from All In Capital, Unisol and iSeed. Angel backers include PyTorch creator Soumith Chintala of Thinking Machines Lab, Foundry Robotics' Adarsh Kulkarni, Coformer.ai's Ashish Kulkarni and Better Capital's Vaibhav Domkundwar — a check list that reflects the growing crossover between AI research talent and factory-floor robotics.
Learn by Watching, Not by Coding
"Factory robots have always needed rigid, hand-coded programs that break the moment a part changes," co-founder Puru Rastogi said. "Mowito's physical AI flips that: it learns straight from task demonstrations — sometimes as few as one — and picks up the job on the spot, with the precision real assembly lines demand." The company says its models already run on existing industrial arms without hardware modifications, with the software producing hand-eye behavior good enough for a Fortune 500 automotive customer and one of the world's largest electronics contract manufacturers.
Physical AI's Bengaluru–Detroit Corridor
Founded in 2024 by Rastogi, Adityanag Nagesh and Safar V, Mowito plans to use the capital to expand in the United States, hire engineering and go-to-market talent and scale across automotive and electronics customers. The company joins a fast-growing cohort of physical AI startups drawing seed and Series A capital, including South Korea's CarbonSix and Luxonis, both of which raised earlier this month.
The Bengaluru–Detroit corridor is a bet on tight coupling between manufacturing customers and cheaper AI engineering talent — a formula more Indian robotics founders are copying as agentic AI and physical AI investment cycles converge.
Reporting based on coverage from AI Insider, Business Standard, Inc42, Indian Startup News and Mowito's own announcements.
Mowito builds physical AI foundation models — software that lets industrial robot arms learn manufacturing tasks from a handful of human demonstrations rather than months of hand-coded programs. The software runs on existing industrial arms without hardware modifications.
Who invested in Mowito's $3M pre-seed round?
The round was led by Version One Ventures with participation from All In Capital, Unisol and iSeed. Angel backers include PyTorch creator Soumith Chintala, Foundry Robotics' Adarsh Kulkarni, Coformer.ai's Ashish Kulkarni and Better Capital's Vaibhav Domkundwar.
How will Mowito use the funding?
Mowito plans to expand in the United States, hire engineering and go-to-market talent, and scale across automotive and electronics customers.
Who founded Mowito and when?
Mowito was founded in 2024 by Puru Rastogi, Adityanag Nagesh and Safar V, with operations in Bengaluru and Detroit.
