---
title: '1X — company profile'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/companies/1x'
type: 'company'
updated: '2026-07-02'
---

# 1X

> 1X builds general-purpose humanoid robots, led by NEO, a soft-bodied home robot aimed at handling household chores and heading into industrial fleets.

- **Website:** https://www.1x.tech/
- **Type:** Private (venture-backed)
- **Headquarters:** Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founded:** 2014
- **Founders:** Bernt Oyvind Bornich
- **Total raised:** ~$136M disclosed
- **Latest round:** Series B, $100M (January 2024, led by EQT Ventures)
- **Investors:** EQT Ventures, OpenAI Startup Fund, Samsung NEXT, Tiger Global, Nistad Group, Sandwater, Skagerak Capital
- **Business model:** Consumer hardware sold as a $20,000 one-time purchase or a $499/month subscription that bundles service, plus enterprise volume deployments; remote Expert sessions layer a service model on top.
- **Industries:** Manufacturing & Robotics
- **Open roles:** 81
- **Profile:** https://feeny.ai/companies/1x

## What they do

Designs and manufactures general-purpose humanoid robots and the AI that runs them, most notably NEO, a bipedal home robot, and EVE, a wheeled industrial humanoid.

## Overview

**The company betting a humanoid robot belongs in your living room, not just a warehouse**

Most robotics startups chase the factory floor because it is predictable and the buyer has a budget. 1X went the other way and pointed its flagship robot, NEO, straight at the messiest environment there is: your home, with your kids and pets in it. That is the whole bet, and it shapes everything from the soft knit body to the price tag.

The company started in 2014 in Norway as Halodi Robotics, founded by Bernt Oyvind Bornich, and has since moved its center of gravity to California with engineering in San Carlos and manufacturing in Hayward. It shipped a wheeled industrial humanoid called EVE first, then pivoted hard to the home with NEO, which is now taking $200 deposits ahead of US deliveries in 2026. The catch is that early NEO leans on remote human experts to handle chores it cannot yet do alone, so the promise of full autonomy is still a promise.

## What They Do

**A robot you can talk to, wrap in a knit suit, and machine-wash the shoes**

1X builds general-purpose humanoid robots and the AI that runs them. NEO is a 5-foot-6, 66-pound robot designed to walk around a house, pick up chores, answer questions, and stay soft enough that bumping into it does not hurt. Under the hood it runs Redwood, the company's own generalist AI model, on an Nvidia Jetson Thor compute stack 1X brands as the NEO Cortex.

What makes NEO unusual is the hardware philosophy. Instead of rigid metal joints, 1X uses tendon-driven actuators built on its proprietary Revo1 motor, wraps the whole body in a 3D lattice polymer for cushioning, and covers the joints so there are no pinch points. It is quieter than a refrigerator and the suit comes off for the wash. This is a robot engineered to be lived with, not just deployed.

## Problems

**Give people back the hours they lose to chores**

The pitch is simple even if the engineering is not: household work eats time nobody wants to spend, and a capable home robot could hand that time back. NEO is aimed at the boring, repetitive stuff, tidying, putting away dishes, laundry, opening the door, plus a conversational layer so it doubles as a voice assistant that can actually walk over and do something.

1X is candid that day-one NEO handles a narrow set of tasks autonomously and calls in a remote 1X Expert for anything harder, using those sessions to teach the robot. The honest read is that the time-savings pitch is real for a few chores now and aspirational for the rest, with the robot's usefulness growing as its AI does.

### Problems addressed

- The time and drudgery households lose to repetitive chores
- The lack of a safe humanoid form factor that can operate around people, pets, and children
- Labor shortages in industrial settings like manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics

## Who It's For

**Early adopters at home now, industrial fleets close behind**

NEO's first customers are consumers willing to be beta testers for a first-generation home robot, the kind of buyer who bought an early EV or a first-gen VR headset and expected some rough edges. 1X gates them through a private early-access program rather than shipping to anyone with a credit card.

The second audience is enterprise, and it is arriving fast. Through its Charter Partner program and a December 2025 deal with investor EQT, 1X is lining up industrial deployments across manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics. That two-track strategy, homes and factories from the same platform, is the company's hedge against the home market taking longer than hoped.

### Ideal customer profiles

- **Early-adopter home buyer** — Wants time back from chores; Comfortable beta-testing first-gen hardware; Needs a robot that is safe around family
- **Enterprise operations leader** — High labor demand in manufacturing/warehousing/logistics; Wants a general-purpose robot that works alongside humans; Needs deployment at fleet scale

## Products

**One robot line, from factory floor to living room**

1X's lineup traces its own history. EVE, the wheeled industrial humanoid, proved the company could deploy robots in real customer facilities. NEO, the bipedal home robot, is where the company is placing its future, now in its Gamma iteration and heading into homes.

Underneath both sit the pieces that make 1X vertically integrated: the Revo1 tendon-drive motor it designed in-house, and Redwood, the AI model that lets NEO learn and repeat tasks. Owning the motor, the body, and the brain is the moat 1X is trying to build.

## Business Model

**Buy the robot for $20K or rent it for $499 a month**

1X sells NEO two ways. You can own one outright for $20,000 with a three-year warranty and priority delivery, or subscribe at $499 a month, which bundles the service and, over four years, actually costs more than buying but keeps you on the latest hardware. Either path starts with a fully refundable $200 deposit, and US deliveries are slated for 2026.

The subscription is the interesting part: it turns a robot into recurring revenue and, paired with paid remote Expert sessions, hints at a services business layered on top of the hardware. The enterprise side runs on volume commitments instead, like the EQT arrangement covering up to 10,000 units over several years.

### Plans

NEO is sold two ways: buy it outright or subscribe monthly, both starting with a fully refundable $200 deposit and US deliveries beginning in 2026. The subscription bundles service and keeps owners on newer hardware, while ownership adds a longer warranty. Enterprise deployments run on volume commitments rather than list pricing.

- **Standard (Subscription)** — $499/mo · Consumers who want the latest hardware without a large upfront cost
  Monthly subscription with service included
  - Monthly subscription
  - Starter Productivity Package
  - Standard delivery
- **Early Access (Ownership)** — $20,000 · Early adopters who want to own NEO outright
  Ownership with a 3-year warranty
  - Ownership with 3-year warranty
  - Premium support
  - Priority delivery

Good to know: $200 deposit due at order, fully refundable; US deliveries start in 2026; Complex tasks NEO cannot do yet can be handled by a remote 1X Expert during scheduled sessions

## Competition

**Chasing Tesla and Figure, undercutting Unitree on purpose**

1X is in one of the most crowded and best-funded races in tech, up against Tesla's Optimus, Figure, and a wave of Chinese makers like Unitree whose R1 starts around $5,900. 1X cannot win on price against that, and it is not trying to.

Its wedge is being the humanoid actually designed for the home: soft body, safe joints, quiet operation, and a real consumer go-to-market instead of a factory-only pitch. The bet is that owning the full stack, the Revo1 motor, the NEO hardware, and the Redwood AI model, produces a safer, more capable home robot than rivals bolting parts together. Whether that edge holds once autonomy has to stand on its own is the open question.

### Their edge

- **Designed for the home, not just the factory** — Soft lattice-polymer body, pinch-proof joints, and sub-refrigerator noise make NEO safe to live with, a form factor most rivals aimed at industrial settings do not prioritize.
- **Full-stack vertical integration** — 1X designs its own Revo1 tendon-drive motor, the NEO hardware, and the Redwood AI model, rather than assembling off-the-shelf parts.
- **Real consumer go-to-market** — Pre-orders, a subscription option, and an early-access program put NEO in homes while most competitors sell only to enterprises.

### Where they're betting

- Scaling NEO production and expanding home early-access across the US
- Closing the autonomy gap through Redwood and the 1X World Model
- Enterprise fleet deployments via the EQT partnership and Charter Partner program

## What People Say

**An iPhone moment for home robots, or dressed-up teleoperation?**

Reaction to NEO splits hard. Fans on Hacker News praise the mechanical design, especially the pulley-driven hands, and argue $499 a month is reasonable next to what weekly housekeeping costs, calling it a possible iPhone moment for the home.

The skeptics hit two nerves. First, teleoperation: early NEO relies on remote human operators, which critics frame bluntly as hidden human labor and worry will be offshored to low-wage workers. Second, privacy: a camera-and-microphone robot roaming your house, sometimes piloted by a stranger, raises obvious questions about what gets recorded and who watches. Add a 4-hour battery and tasks that reportedly take much longer than a person would, and the recurring verdict is promising hardware with a big autonomy gap still to close.

## Funding

**OpenAI and EQT money in, and a reported $10B valuation to grow into**

1X has raised roughly $136M in disclosed venture funding. The OpenAI Startup Fund led its $23.5M Series A2 in 2023, and EQT Ventures led a $100M Series B in January 2024 alongside Samsung NEXT and others, giving the company both an AI heavyweight and a European buyout giant on its cap table.

The bigger number is still forming: reports in September 2025 had 1X seeking around $1 billion at a valuation of at least $10 billion, a leap that would only make sense if investors believe home humanoids are about to be real. Treat the $10B figure as reported ambition, not a closed round.

## Team & Culture

**Builders who talk about time like they are running out of it**

1X's culture comes through plainly in its own job posts: it wants builders who move fast, own their work end to end, and, in the company's phrasing, treat time like the one thing you cannot get back. Leadership frames the moment as the hard problems being behind them and the hard work of shipping at scale ahead.

The work itself is heavily hands-on and mostly on-site, split across San Carlos engineering, Hayward manufacturing, and the company's research arm, 1X Labs, which recruits deep specialists in actuation, materials, controls, and biomechanics with an explicit rule that research only counts if it ships. This is an in-person hardware company for people who want to touch the robot, not a remote-first software shop.

## Compensation

**Six-figure engineering bands, equity on nearly every role**

Disclosed pay skews to engineering, where salaried bands run from roughly $72,000 for early-career compliance work up to $300,000 for senior research and staff roles, all in US dollars. A handful of operations, G&A, and hourly technician roles fill out the rest, with hourly rates in the $25 to $50 range.

The consistent thread across postings is equity on top of base, so the salary bands are only part of the package. For a pre-IPO robotics company chasing a large valuation, that equity is a real part of the pitch.

## Security & Legal

**A home robot means data practices get personal fast**

Because NEO lives inside people's homes, 1X's privacy posture is not boilerplate, it is central to the product. Its privacy policy, last updated in October 2025, covers the usual account, payment, and device data, uses third-party payment processors, and leans on legitimate-interest and consent bases for marketing.

The company also builds security into NEO itself: job posts describe secure-boot chains, code-signing, attestation, and hardened cloud services so a robot in someone's house can be trusted by its owner. What the public pages do not spell out is a formal registered legal entity or a compliance-cert list, so those remain unconfirmed here.

## In the News

**From Norwegian factories to a 10,000-robot enterprise deal**

The story reporters keep returning to is the pivot: a robot pitched for the home now being lined up for factories and warehouses. In December 2025, 1X and investor EQT announced plans to deploy up to 10,000 NEO units across EQT's 300-plus portfolio companies through 2030, one of the largest commercial commitments the young humanoid industry has seen.

Around it sits the consumer launch, with pre-orders opened in October 2025 and deliveries promised for 2026, and the reported billion-dollar fundraise. Together they read as a company trying to prove demand on two fronts at once.

### Coverage

- [1X struck a deal to send its 'home' humanoids to factories and warehouses](https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/11/1x-struck-a-deal-to-send-its-home-humanoids-to-factories-and-warehouses/) — TechCrunch (2025-12-11)
- [1X Announces Strategic Partnership to Make up to 10,000 Humanoid Robots Available to EQT's Global Portfolio](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1x-announces-strategic-partnership-10-140000244.html) — Yahoo Finance / GlobeNewswire (2025-12-11)
- [OpenAI-backed startup aims to deliver in-home humanoid robots in 2026](https://sifted.eu/articles/1x-humanoid-robot-launch) — Sifted (2025)
- [1X Technologies Targets $10B Valuation as It Tests Household Robots in Real Homes](https://app.dealroom.co/news/note/1x-technologies-targets-10b-valuation-as-it-tests-household-robots-in-real-homes) — Dealroom (2025-09)
- [1X Secures $100M in Series B Funding](https://www.1x.tech/discover/1x-secures-100m-in-series-b-funding) — 1X (2024-01)
- [1X partners with EQT to roll out humanoids across its portfolio companies](https://www.therobotreport.com/1x-partners-with-eqt-to-roll-out-humanoids-across-its-portfolio-companies/) — The Robot Report (2025-12)

## Outlook

**Everything rides on autonomy catching up to the hardware**

1X has done the hard part few home-robot companies attempt: built a safe, soft, mass-manufacturable humanoid and lined up both consumer pre-orders and a large enterprise pipeline. The hardware and the go-to-market are further along than most rivals.

The risk is concentrated in one place. Today NEO depends on remote human operators for much of what it does, and the whole thesis, the $499 subscription, the $10B ambition, the time-back promise, only pays off if Redwood and the World Model close the autonomy gap faster than skeptics expect. If they do, 1X could define the category. If they lag, it is an expensive robot that still needs a human on the other end.

## Company details

- **Mission:** Build a truly abundant society through general-purpose robots capable of performing any kind of work autonomously, so people can spend more time on what they love.
- **Products:** NEO, EVE, Redwood AI, Revo1
- **Customer segments:** Home consumers (via NEO), Industrial and enterprise operators (manufacturing, warehousing, logistics via NEO/EVE and the Charter Partner program)
- **Buyers / users:** Early-adopter consumers willing to beta-test a first-generation home robot, Enterprise operations leaders with high labor demand across manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics
- **Competitors:** Tesla (Optimus), Figure, Unitree, Agility Robotics, Apptronik
- **What sets them apart:** Purpose-built for the home: soft lattice-polymer body, no-pinch-point joints, quieter than a refrigerator; Vertically integrated across the Revo1 motor, the NEO hardware, and the Redwood AI model; A real consumer go-to-market (pre-orders, subscription) rather than a factory-only pitch; Tendon-driven actuation for safe, low-energy, compliant movement around people
- **Tech stack:** Redwood AI generalist model, 1X World Model, Nvidia Jetson Thor (NEO Cortex), Tendon-drive actuation (Revo1)
- **Integrations:** NEO mobile app, Voice interface, VR / remote control

## Open roles (81)

- [Global Trade Compliance Analyst](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/7d06c7cc-54fa-4765-bb7f-433e0097295b) — Hayward, CA
- [Lead or Head of Embedded, Firmware/Systems Software Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/eff555ab-c37f-4590-a26f-fe6370100c85) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior to Staff Gameplay Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/59edfa1d-e1e0-468b-9995-9d863d08def1) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Test Development Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/1547c5c1-fbe3-4c0d-b6c4-4366c5c606c7) — San Carlos, CA
- [Inventory Control Analyst](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/454f7d55-7bbd-405d-bf9c-4b3a24018392) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Frontend Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/3a11df7b-b5d6-4fc1-a8f9-a6c7d042b4d1) — San Carlos, CA
- [Inventory Control Supervisor](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/2b4c5ac6-d4af-4cb4-8e68-cf0cf698cba5) — San Carlos, CA
- [Software Engineer - NEO Reliability](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/12bd4be7-4b9d-4bae-8239-e1a9df11b19d) — San Carlos, CA
- [Lead or Head of Core, Systems Software Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/4d79b1a6-b405-455f-b2c5-13ca5df20638) — San Carlos, CA
- [Software Engineer - Robotic Controls](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/a02d07dc-851d-4246-bc1d-1f50412015c0) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior to Staff Graphics Engineer, VR Teleoperation](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/826a14af-fe83-43c9-a9e3-27c8956d7fc6) — San Carlos, CA
- [Research Engineer, Robotic Learning](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/d8bcb06b-7cde-40ff-8c63-dc456f747fc1) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Build Engineer, Automated Build & Release](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/06f50940-79db-4505-8bcd-ddc2b739fb81) — San Carlos, CA
- [Tech Lead, Autonomy Systems](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/506eb2de-4d64-46fa-b33e-f666f1bc836f) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior/Staff Loads & Dynamics Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/fb9e6beb-e4b8-4b1a-bc0a-beab5b9f86b8) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Build Engineer, CI/CD Efficiency](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/8de56770-ec14-4625-a9c4-ee23bffeef60) — San Carlos, CA
- [Staff Mechanical Engineer, Robot Head](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/fda0ba2e-d1eb-4a21-a666-7e7ee6e20763) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior to Staff Tools Engineer, Simulation](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/a7e8ba31-8369-4b44-ae26-efd4a23f7118) — San Carlos, CA
- [Mechanical Engineer - Actuators](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/fe801c98-3344-47d0-8b8f-3958fc453fc0) — San Carlos, CA
- [HR People Partner - G&A and Marketing](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/96c37c7f-eefc-4f51-a4d2-293a2b01f1ab) — San Carlos, CA
- [Head of Intellectual Property](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/7f0af0ad-89fb-488a-bbde-8cbbb84c0ebe) — San Carlos, CA
- [Chief of Staff](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/b11cbe70-8a95-4fb6-abb2-ec5c4adb1cda) — San Carlos, CA
- [AI Residency](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/5b2b4c73-13b5-46ca-8467-8024741a4b57) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Harness Manufacturing Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/873f836f-a4b6-4ef8-9500-b960cb1198f9) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior to Staff Mechanical Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/d6c59043-7a78-48ba-8f35-6d47b987a871) — San Carlos, CA
- [Audio Systems Engineer, Robot Head](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/fbe6dc39-da2e-4d64-a660-f9a38454a93e) — San Carlos, CA
- [Software Engineer - Operating Systems](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/a9c41bfd-5b06-4fb4-ae4e-50d82c3dbf7a) — San Carlos, CA
- [Sr Materials and Battery Compliance Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/cecfbda7-3180-49eb-8df0-d08348714e3a) — San Carlos, CA
- [Electrical Engineer - Actuators and Drives](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/114faf79-0ab9-4810-86f4-3b41c3b1b15a) — San Carlos, CA
- [Embedded Firmware Engineer - NEO](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/ea9614dd-94e8-4a3a-a714-645957a298d0) — San Carlos, CA
- [Embedded Firmware Engineer - Battery](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/19004256-4253-41d3-baa7-1f25bbd125be) — San Carlos, CA
- [AI Researcher - Reinforcement Learning](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/a5ad1287-e0a0-471d-9a65-cc24c62b6664) — San Carlos, CA
- [Robot Service Technician](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/aea0150b-5690-422a-b43a-773c706305ff) — San Carlos, CA
- [Tactile Sensing Research Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/e28952a1-8abc-489d-b213-a3011e5fe87d) — San Carlos, CA
- [Software Engineer - Simulation](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/bd7452e9-1f5a-4e49-b468-2ad98c20e2c3) — San Carlos, CA
- [Software Engineer - Core Systems](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/664d3be4-5805-4062-b191-aa9b80f914af) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Identity and Access Management (IAM) Engineer](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/569e303c-db06-4d99-beaa-f0f546f2339f) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Staff - Cloud Security Architect - Security Engineering](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/adce36fb-4e3a-4e54-be20-daea9a9ec7c5) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Device Management Engineer - Linux](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/89fd2de7-8ed7-44ab-86cb-bb8a9d18f410) — San Carlos, CA
- [Senior Technical Recruiter - Software](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/1147901f-b444-4473-825f-21d12e435bc1) — San Carlos, CA
- [Global Supply Manager, Motors & Magnets](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/fe98f703-bceb-4477-acc3-da7124c3fb87) — San Carlos, CA
- [HR People Partner - Manufacturing](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/8f83dd0c-c9a9-4ef4-97c0-cd0f3389d35d) — San Carlos, CA
- [Hardware Technician - Hands](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/f439570d-2c83-4d14-9112-1b91972c398f) — San Carlos, CA
- [Staff/Senior Staff Safety Assurance Engineer - Robot Safety](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/b56a8160-b2f1-4c8b-9926-ec8e5001ade9) — San Carlos, CA
- [Staff Engineer ERP Systems](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/f3733c1b-5df1-418b-abb5-c6e34546a864) — Hayward, CA
- [Material Handler](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/e07a224b-80a0-42cc-87f5-fb43befff095) — San Carlos, CA
- [Staff Manufacturing Recruiter](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/2aff9a16-cc9b-4674-b9c8-d6caab2fdceb) — San Carlos, CA
- [Quality Engineering Technician](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/31aa80a2-f644-4022-9872-b43756aff224) — San Carlos, CA
- [Software Engineer - Product](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/f1f7a715-62a4-43da-a12c-762878dcb684) — San Carlos, CA
- [Staff/Senior Staff Autonomy Safety Engineer - Robot Safety](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/1x/eb3f74f4-3d6e-408a-bd3c-bd381fab01e1) — San Carlos, CA

_…and 31 more at https://feeny.ai/companies/1x/jobs_

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_Source: https://feeny.ai/companies/1x · profile updated 2026-07-02_