{"id":4071,"date":"2026-09-08T11:42:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4071"},"modified":"2026-09-08T11:42:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T11:42:58","slug":"the-boston-dynamics-spinout-building-robots-youll-actually-want-to-hug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4071","title":{"rendered":"The Boston Dynamics spinout building robots you\u2019ll actually want to hug"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Danielle\u2019s a poodle, with big eyes, fuzzy ears, and cartoon lavender fur. She\u2019s also a robot, and as I talk on Zoom to Marc Theermann, she\u2019s sitting behind him.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cDanielle is a robot we built on top of Boston Dynamics\u2019 Spot platform,\u201d said Theermann, referencing Boston Dynamics\u2019 famous robot dog. \u201cPeople are excited about robots, but all these robots today look like they\u2019re out of a sci-fi movie. In order to really be welcomed by humans, they need to be cute and cuddly. So, this is Danielle.\u201d<\/p>\n

And even over Zoom, Danielle is obviously snuggly. Her eyes, hooded under purple eyelids move, as do her mouth and legs. She\u2019s one of two prototype companion robots that Theermann\u2014previously chief strategy officer at Boston Dynamics\u2014has been working on. The other is Hugo, a Tyrolean mountain troll whom I\u2019ve only seen pictures of, but looks like the cutest imaginable yeti. Hugo and Danielle are both internal experiments at Dynamic Creatures, the startup Theermann just cofounded with noted AI researcher Farbod Farshidian. The startup declined to disclose the amount of funding it\u2019s raised, but venture backers include Eniac Ventures, Kindred Ventures, BlueGrass Ventures, Heliad, and Sunshine Lake. The company\u2019s a spinout of the most famous name in American robotics, Boston Dynamics, with one mission: Making the cutest and most loveable robots.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems counterintuitive to say that this is the next frontier of robotics when everyone\u2019s running in the industrial direction,\u201d said Theermann. \u201cBut at Boston Dynamics, we had so much inbound of people saying: \u2018Hey, can you come to my event? Can you come to FIFA? Can you come to our football game, and dance at the halftime show?\u201d<\/p>\n

So, while at Boston Dynamics, Theermann monitored robots performing on America\u2019s Got Talent, and with Katy Perry and The Rolling Stones. Some Spots even made a brief cameo in The Mandalorian<\/em>\u2014major, for lifelong Star Wars fan Theermann\u2014and it was clear, he said, that \u201cthere\u2019s a pull from the market, and humans are super excited to interact more with robots.\u201d (To be fair, this probably wouldn\u2019t be the case for all Boston Dynamics\u2019 robots. The company is known for its longstanding ties with the Pentagon and industrial robots.)<\/p>\n

Theermann\u2019s wanted to work with robots since he was a kid, growing up in the countryside in Br\u00fcggen, Germany. The first robot he remembers is R2D2, the most iconic of companion robots, and with Dynamic Creatures, he\u2019s trying to make that dream a reality at some scale as robotics is roaring. As the AI boom matures, investors are pouring billions into robotics\u2014recent PitchBook data said that robotics and physical AI startups drew a record-high $18.6 billion in funding over Q2 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows that the hurdles to build a robotics company are coming down,\u201d said Theermann. \u201cIt\u2019s still not straightforward and it\u2019s still capital intensive, but it\u2019s more possible than it was ten years ago. So, we want to focus on this unique niche: If you go to the theme park today, there are magical animatronics, but they are often stationary, bolted to the ground, and they have a fixed program. They do one dance or one task. We want to marry all our expertise from Boston Dynamics with the field of animatronics to really bring characters to life. So, if you\u2019re an IP holder with a character that you want to bring to life, we\u2019ll be the folks you call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dynamic Creatures takes its name from two places, Boston Dynamics and Jim Henson\u2019s Creature Shop. (Henson isn\u2019t involved, and Boston Dynamics is a partner but has no equity.) This is fitting because while Theermann understands why most humanoids look rather alarming, context matters. And the handcrafted, surreal warmth of Henson\u2019s puppets and Muppets is a useful touchpoint when thinking about what the future of robots, literally, can look like.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have a robot suddenly in your elementary school, theme park, or shopping mall, surely they should be looking different [from industrial humanoids],\u201d said Theermann. \u201cWe\u2019re going heavily cartoonish. And you won\u2019t see a photorealistic robot from us, probably ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, robots that look increasingly human (and very uncanny valley) are all the rage in China, widely believed to be the global leader in humanoids. But as Theermann points out, the market overall is booming: By 2035, worldwide humanoid sales are estimated to hit around $300 billion, a serious leap from 2025\u2019s $2 billion, according to J.P. Morgan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the next five years, robots are going to walk into every aspect of our lives,\u201d said Theermann. \u201cFirst in universities, then in our work environments, and then in our daily lives. That\u2019s why we have to nail the form factor, making them so you want to have an interaction with them\u2026 These are the robots that you\u2019re looking for. These are actually the robots that you want.\u201d<\/p>\n

See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n

Allie Garfinkle
X:<\/strong> @agarfinks
Email:<\/strong> alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com<\/p>\n

Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.<\/p>\n

Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter<\/em>.<\/em> Subscribe here.<\/p>\n

VENTURE CAPITAL<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Guardio<\/b>, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based consumer cybersecurity company, raised $40 million from <\/span>Assaf<\/b> Rappaport<\/b>, <\/span>ION<\/b> Crossover<\/b> Partners<\/b>, <\/span>Union<\/b> Tech<\/b> Ventures<\/b>, <\/span>Vintage<\/b> Investment<\/b> Partners<\/b>, and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Huscarl<\/b>, a San Francisco-based AI actuary platform for corporate self-insurance, raised $5.6 million in seed funding. <\/span>FRST<\/b> led the round and was joined by <\/span>Y Combinator<\/b> and others.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>AI<\/b> Score<\/b>, a London, U.K.-based AI governance platform, raised $5.4 million in seed funding. <\/span>Fuel<\/b> Ventures<\/b> led the round and was joined by existing investor <\/span>GALLOS<\/b> Technologies<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Fluencify<\/b>, a Stockholm, Sweden-based creator marketing platform, raised $4.3 million in pre-seed funding. <\/span>byFounders<\/b> led the round.<\/span><\/p>\n

– <\/span>Lightsage<\/b>, a San Francisco-based platform that runs simulations to understand how AI agents interact with software products, raised $4 million in seed funding. <\/span>Nexus<\/b> Venture<\/b> Partners<\/b> led the round and was joined by angel investors.<\/span><\/p>\n

IPOs<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>ADARx<\/b>, a San Diego, Calif.-based RNA-medicine biotech building gene-silencing injections for diseases, filed to go public on the Nasdaq. The company posted $6 million in collaboration sales for the year ended June 30. <\/span>OrbiMed<\/b>, <\/span>LAV<\/b> Fund<\/b>, <\/span>SR One<\/b>, <\/span>Titanium<\/b> Trust<\/b>, and <\/span>Bain<\/b> Capital<\/b> Life<\/b> Sciences<\/b> Investors<\/b> back the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS<\/h3>\n

– <\/span>Rohati<\/b> Capital<\/b>, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture fund-of-funds firm, raised $50 million for its first fund focused on early-stage venture funds.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#Boston #Dynamics #spinout #building #robots #youll #hug<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Danielle\u2019s a poodle, with big … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6984,941,6985,6986,1834,2248,1775,1835,889,6854],"class_list":["post-4071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","tag-boston","tag-building","tag-dynamics","tag-hug","tag-private-equity","tag-robots","tag-spinout","tag-term-sheet","tag-venture-capital","tag-youll"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Boston Dynamics spinout building robots you\u2019ll actually want to hug - Finance News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vaultinsider.top\/?p=4071\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Boston Dynamics spinout building robots you\u2019ll actually want to hug - 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