PortfolioMinerva Humanoids
Meet Roger: the humanoid built for the world’s most dangerous jobs
Minerva Humanoids has emerged from stealth with approximately $10 million in pre-seed funding led by General Catalyst. RunwayVC is among the investors backing a team building humanoid robots for hazardous work across energy and public safety.
There are still jobs that require people to enter environments where a single mistake can have serious consequences.
Offshore and onshore energy operations, explosive ordnance disposal and hazardous material response are among them. Many of these tasks require judgment, dexterity and the ability to work in environments built around the human body.
Minerva Humanoids is building Roger for exactly these conditions.
Roger is a purpose-built semi-autonomous humanoid designed to let trained specialists carry out critical work from a safe distance. The operator controls the robot through a VR headset, while Minerva Intelligence, the company’s proprietary AI control system, manages balance, fall recovery and navigation.
The specialist remains in control of the critical actions. Roger takes the physical risk.
01Five months from idea to walking humanoid
Minerva was founded by CEO Sandor Felber and CTO Maurice Rahme.
Felber previously worked on Tesla’s Optimus programme and helped launch MIT CSAIL’s research line on humanoid robots using AI. Rahme spent six years at Boston Dynamics and was one of the technical leads on Stretch, helping take the robot from an early prototype to a commercially deployed product.
Minerva says the team went from an idea to a fully functional walking humanoid in five months, including the bespoke design, manufacturing and assembly of Roger.
That speed was one of the things that caught our attention at RunwayVC.
02Built for industrial reality
Minerva is initially focusing on energy operations and public safety.
Its software and AI are primarily developed in the United States, while the first Roger prototypes are manufactured and assembled in Germany. The company says it plans to produce commercial humanoids in both Germany and the US using a Western industrial base without reliance on single-source Chinese components.
Ahead of the launch, Minerva showcased its technology at the NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence in Slovakia. It has also established research partnerships with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and the University of Waterloo, focused on capabilities relevant to energy operations and vision-denied environments such as smoke and darkness.
The company is also exploring deployments at two of the world’s ten busiest airports and has completed on-site testing focused on high-risk public safety applications.
Its first paid pilots are planned for this fall.
03Backing the next generation of industrial robotics
The approximately $10 million pre-seed round is led by General Catalyst, with Long Journey Ventures and Credo Ventures as co-leads. RunwayVC is among the additional investors.
For us, Minerva sits at the intersection of several areas we care deeply about: robotics, industrial technology and the deployment of advanced software and AI into real physical environments.
Roger is still at the beginning of that journey.
But a team that has already taken robotics from research and prototype to commercial deployment has now built its first humanoid in five months, with a clear focus on problems industry already has today.
We’re excited to see where they take it next.
Learn more about Minerva Humanoids at minervahumanoids.com.