Most physical AI startups build expensive, proprietary robots that lock customers into a single vendor. Anvil Robotics is taking the opposite approach — and just raised $5.5 million in seed funding to prove it.

Matter Venture Partners and Humba Ventures led the round, with participation from DNX Ventures, Superhuman founder Vivek Sodera, Spacecadet Ventures, and Position Ventures. The San Francisco-based startup had previously raised $1 million in pre-seed from Matter.

The problem it's solving

Founders Mike Xia and Vijay Pradeep spent six months interviewing physical AI teams before starting Anvil last July. Their finding: even well-funded teams were burning more than six months just assembling a working prototype from robot arms, cameras, and open-source libraries.

"This isn't a problem if you're Tesla," Xia said. "But for many companies, standing up a robotic system with all the sensors and tools you need is a huge challenge."

Open-source hardware, fast delivery

Anvil's core bet is modular, open-source robot designs — no vendor lock-in, no black-box hardware. Customers configure what they want, and Anvil ships within 1–2 days from its Taiwan manufacturing facility.

Prices range from $5,000–$10,000 for most models, with an entry-level option at $1,900. Customers already include Nvidia's GEAR lab (humanoid research behind GR00T) and Path Robotics.

The company has shipped over 100 robots, reached seven-figure revenue, and is entirely inbound — no outbound sales.

Why it matters

With tariffs reshaping global supply chains, Anvil's pitch — non-China components, short lead times, open designs — lands at exactly the right moment. Investor Haomiao Huang compared the vision to "what AWS was to SaaS and TSMC to chips."