Persona AI, a Houston, TX-based embodied artificial intelligence company, raised $27M in Pre-Seed funding.
The round was led by Unity Growth and Tides Ventures, with participation from Mirae Asset Group, Invicta Growth, Fathom Fund, Embedded Ventures, Wave Function Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, dConstruct Technologies, Goose Capital, SGH, Sound Media Ventures, Kalea Ventures, K50 Ventures, Cofounder Ventures, Tola Capital, SGA Capital, and Olive Hill Ventures, and K2 Global.
The company intends to use the funds to accelerate the development and deployment of its humanoid robot platform, engineered for demanding tasks in shipbuilding and industrial manufacturing.
Founded in 2024 by Nic Radford (CEO), Jerry Pratt (CTO), and Jide Akinyode (COO), Persona will deliver purpose-built humanoid robots for physically demanding environments, combining industrial-grade precision and human-like dexterity. The robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) business model eliminates the need for large upfront capital investments from clients.
Persona AI has already signed an agreement with HD Hyundai, the global leader in shipbuilding, to deploy humanoid robots into shipyards, with initial delivery expected within 18 months.
FinSMEs
14/05/2025