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Tether is in talks to lead a €1bn funding round in German start-up Neura Robotics, as the crypto group seeks to expand its sprawling investment portfolio with a bet on artificial intelligence-powered humanoid robots.
The company, issuer of the world’s most traded cryptocurrency, was in discussions with Neura over a deal that was expected to value the start-up at between €8bn-€10bn, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Tether’s move comes as tech giants including Nvidia, Tesla and SoftBank are all betting on robotics as a driver of growth, with generative AI models that help machines adapt to physical surroundings and learn new skills faster.
The crypto group has become profitable investing customer funds while issuing non-interest-bearing tokens in return. The El Salvador-based company posted a $13.4bn profit last year from the interest income derived from the Treasury holdings that back USDT.
It has used the growing fortune to back 140 companies including an Argentine agricultural group and a US brain implant company, as well as Juventus football club.
Tether said: “We are actively exploring numerous opportunities to continue investing in frontier tech . . . but we won’t be disclosing details of any specific deals until they’re finalised.”
Neura declined to comment.
Tether planned to continue to invest across finance, communication and energy, according to recent public comments from chief executive Paolo Ardoino, who signalled an interest in robotics, saying he believes: “the future will be holding trillions of AI agents and billions of robots and billions of humans”.
Neura is seeking new investment as it prepares to sell its humanoid robot, initially aimed at industrial customers with plans to expand into home robots. It has previously said it was aiming to produce 5mn devices by 2030, with the ambition of creating an “iPhone moment” for robotics.
The new round would value the six-year-old company as much as 10 times higher than when it last raised funds in January. It took in €120mn in a deal led by Lingotto alongside BlueCrest, C4 Ventures and Volvo Cars Tech Fund. At the time, it said its order book had hit €1bn. The German group was working with Morgan Stanley on its latest round, the people added.
Robotics is fast becoming a major frontier in the AI boom. Nvidia chief Jensen Huang said deploying robots at scale using AI could create a multitrillion-dollar market and pave the way to “the largest technology industry the world has ever seen”.
Neura will face stiff competition in the humanoid market. Elon Musk’s Tesla is building humanoid “Optimus” robots powered by models developed by his AI start-up xAI. Musk plans to produce 1mn a year by 2030, while Unitree Robotics leads a pack of Chinese start-ups in the sector.
Several other start-ups are also developing the technology. 1X Technologies recently unveiled Neo, a home robot that it says will do chores around the home, due for release next year and priced at about $20,000.
Other recently launched start-ups raising significant sums this year include The Bot Company, led by former Twitch and Cruise co-founder Kyle Vogt, and Figure AI.
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