Ajay Agarwal, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures, invested in Kiva Systems in 2004, a robotics company rejected at the time by Silicon Valley investors despite having no revenue, finished product, or customers. Amazon acquired Kiva eight years later for $775 million, and Bain’s initial investment reportedly generated a 26.6-fold return. Agarwal says robotics and physical AI are entering a new phase, supported by falling component costs, advances in AI capabilities, and the arrival of talent from companies such as SpaceX and Google DeepMind. Robotics and physical AI startups raised $27.6 billion across 1,009 deals in 2025, more than double the previous year’s total. Bain was also the first investor in TerraFirma in 2024 and reinvested in its $100 million Series A.
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