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1X Technologies did raise $100 million, but the financing was not an OpenAI-led round. Announced on January 13, 2024, the Series B followed a separate $23.5 million Series A2 investment led by OpenAI’s Startup Fund in March 2023. The distinction matters: “backed by OpenAI” describes 1X’s earlier investor relationship, not evidence that OpenAI supplied or led the full $100 million.
What 1X announced
1X Technologies, formerly known as Halodi Robotics, announced a $100 million Series B financing on January 13, 2024. The company said it would use the capital to commercialize its second-generation bipedal android, NEO, support existing enterprise customers, and advance robotics applications including logistics and guarding.
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1X also connected the financing to “embodied learning”: collecting data from physical environments so robots can improve their ability to perceive and perform tasks. The company’s announcement is available on its official funding page.
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OpenAI’s role: two different funding rounds
The funding timeline is the key to understanding the headline:
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- March 2023: OpenAI’s Startup Fund led 1X’s $23.5 million Series A2 round.
- January 2024: 1X announced a separate $100 million Series B.
That earlier investment is why 1X could accurately be described as a robotics startup backed by OpenAI. However, the Series B announcement identifies EQT Ventures and other investors, not OpenAI, as the participants in the new financing. There is no basis in the supplied announcement for saying that OpenAI provided the $100 million or led the Series B. 1X’s announcement of the Series A2 describes OpenAI’s earlier role.
Who participated in the Series B?
1X named or identified the following investors:
- EQT Ventures
- Samsung NEXT
- Nistad Group
- Sandwater
- Skagerak Capital
- Other existing and new investors
The company also disclosed a significant secondary transaction. Sandwater increased its stake, while Samsung NEXT, Skagerak Capital, and Nistad Group participated in secondary transactions.
This is important for interpreting the headline amount. In a primary financing, money generally goes to the company in exchange for newly issued shares. A secondary transaction instead transfers existing shares between shareholders. Therefore, the announced $100 million should not automatically be treated as $100 million of new operating cash on 1X’s balance sheet. The total round size is accurate as announced, but the available information does not establish how much was primary capital versus secondary proceeds.
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How much had 1X raised?
1X said that, following its Series A2 and Series B financings, it had raised more than $125 million in less than 12 months. That figure broadly reflects the $23.5 million A2 round plus the $100 million Series B, while the secondary transaction means readers should avoid treating it as a precise measure of current company cash or lifetime fundraising.
What is NEO?
At the time of the Series B announcement, 1X described NEO as a second-generation bipedal android aimed at the consumer market and everyday home assistance. The company’s current NEO product page presents it as a home robot intended to help with chores, navigate household spaces, provide conversational assistance, and gain additional capabilities over time.
1X currently advertises features including:
- Household-task execution and home navigation
- Voice and mobile interfaces
- Self-charging
- Remote operation
- A scheduled “Expert Mode,” in which a 1X expert can remotely guide the robot through unfamiliar tasks
- A soft-body design and covered joints intended to reduce injury and pinch risks
- An onboard AI system called Redwood AI
- Approximately four hours of operating time
These are company-stated features and specifications, not independent performance results. The inclusion of Expert Mode is especially relevant: advertised autonomy does not necessarily mean that NEO can complete every household task without human intervention, connectivity, or support from 1X.
What changed after the 2024 funding announcement?
1X’s commercial positioning has moved from funding a future robotics platform toward marketing NEO for home use.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →- October 2025: 1X announced NEO consumer pre-orders.
- April 2026: 1X reported opening a vertically integrated NEO factory in Hayward, California.
- 2026: 1X’s order page says U.S. deliveries are expected to begin, while also placing prospective buyers on a waitlist.
In its factory update, 1X referenced 10,000 units of initial production capacity booked after the pre-order launch. That is a company production statement, not evidence that 10,000 robots had been delivered or were operating in homes.
Can consumers buy NEO?
As of August 2026, 1X’s official order page advertises:
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- A $200 refundable deposit
- An early-access ownership option priced at $20,000
- A subscription option priced at $499 per month
- U.S. deliveries beginning in 2026, according to 1X
The ownership option is advertised as including a three-year warranty, premium support, and priority delivery. But this is not the same as purchasing an immediately available appliance. 1X’s pre-order terms say that submitting an order places a customer on a waitlist. Final pricing, add-ons, delivery details, warranty terms, minimum subscription periods, and other conditions may change before a formal order is accepted.
Ownership versus subscription
The advertised $20,000 ownership price is a substantial early-access commitment. The $499 monthly plan lowers the upfront cost, but it creates an ongoing expense and may depend on 1X’s software, connectivity, support, and service infrastructure. At $499 per month, 36 months of subscription payments would total $17,964 before taxes, fees, or changes to the terms—still not an apples-to-apples comparison with ownership because the plans may include different services and obligations.
For personal-finance purposes, prospective buyers should treat the deposit as a waitlist payment rather than a guarantee of delivery, and should review refund conditions, cancellation rights, warranty coverage, maintenance costs, insurance, taxes, and potential service fees before committing. A humanoid robot at this price is closer to a major appliance, vehicle, or specialized service purchase than an ordinary consumer-electronics purchase.
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The practical risks to evaluate
NEO’s potential usefulness comes with unresolved financial and operational questions:
- Reliability: Household layouts, objects, pets, children, and routines vary widely. Demonstrations do not establish dependable performance across ordinary homes.
- Human assistance: Expert Mode may improve usefulness when autonomy fails, but remote operation raises questions about labor, latency, privacy, and data governance.
- Privacy: A robot with cameras, microphones, cloud-connected software, and possible remote guidance could collect sensitive information about a household.
- Maintenance: Buyers should ask who handles repairs, how long replacement parts will be available, and what downtime is covered by the warranty.
- Connectivity: Functions that rely on internet access or cloud services may be limited during outages or after a service-plan change.
- Liability and insurance: Owners should understand responsibility for property damage, injury, or unauthorized access before using the robot around people.
- Delivery risk: A waitlist and changeable terms mean a deposit is not the same as immediate possession.
Where 1X fits in the humanoid-robot market
Potential technology comparisons include Figure, Apptronik’s Apollo, Agility Robotics’ Digit, Tesla’s Optimus program, and Unitree. These companies should be viewed as market alternatives to monitor, not as products verified to be available to consumers on terms equivalent to NEO’s current order page.
What the funding means
The Series B was a major financing milestone for 1X and gave the company capital to pursue both commercial robotics and the difficult transition from prototypes to deployable machines. But the funding itself does not prove that NEO can perform household work reliably, safely, or profitably at scale.
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The most accurate reading of the original headline is therefore: 1X raised $100 million in a Series B after an earlier OpenAI Startup Fund-led round. OpenAI’s connection helps explain the startup’s profile, but it should not be confused with leading or funding the entire Series B. The more consequential question now is whether 1X can turn that financing into dependable home robots, sustainable support operations, and a product whose real-world value justifies its cost.
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