Robotics company Sunday has achieved unicorn status with a new funding round, valuing the company at over $1 billion, as announced on Thursday. Sunday raised $165 million at a $1.15 billion valuation in a Series B round led by Coatue Management, with participation from Tiger Global, Benchmark, and Bain Capital Ventures.
Emerging from stealth last year, Sunday already has 1,000 people on its waitlist, according to Bloomberg reports. Founded by Tony Zhao and Cheng Chi, the company aims to develop a household humanoid robot named Memo, designed to assist with tasks such as laundry and clearing the table.
Efforts to create such a robot, reminiscent of Rosie from “The Jetsons,” have faced challenges over the years, particularly due to insufficient training data for teaching robots to handle objects of varying weights, textures, and fragility (e.g., towels versus wineglasses). With advances in AI technology, new robotic solutions are being introduced, aiming to realize the vision of humanoid helpers.