Participated · Seed · May 2025

Persona AI develops bipedal humanoid robots designed to perform welding and other skilled trades in heavy manufacturing, with an initial focus on shipbuilding. The company has iterated three hardware generations in 24 months, performed its first untethered weld in a Houston shop, and demonstrated outdoor walking in protective materials. Persona AI has units already at HD Hyundai and plans prototype delivery by the end of 2026 with commercialization in 2027. It plans to offer robots via a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) model to reduce customer capital expenditure and enable large-scale fleet deployments. The founding team includes veterans from NASA and prior humanoid efforts, and the company targets markets with acute labor shortages and repetitive, high-value welding work.