From teaching robots to do everyday household chores to using lasers to track satellites in space, this month’s crop of interesting startup deals spans some decidedly different corners of tech.
Other startups that caught our eye are working on making cement production less polluting, turning agricultural waste into a useful tool for carbon removal, and helping independent video game developers get their product in front of more players. Let’s take a closer look.
$30M to teach robots by watching humans
Before robots can fold laundry, load dishwashers or prepare meals, they need to learn how humans actually do those things. Maxinsights is betting there’s a big business in supplying the training material.
The Santa Clara, California-based startup this week announced a $30 million seed round led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Tola Capital, South Park Commons, Ince Capital and Alumni Ventures. The company, founded by veterans of the robotics and autonomous vehicle industries, is building what it calls the data layer for physical AI.
Its approach is surprisingly low-tech in some respects: Pay people to wear cameras while they go about everyday tasks, from washing dishes to preparing food or cleaning hotel rooms. But turning all that footage into something useful for robotics models is more complicated. Maxinsights develops its own recording hardware and AI-powered software to collect, label and organize the data so robots can learn from it.
The startup says it has already captured more than 2 million hours of human activity, with 1.5 million hours ready for use in AI training. Its customers include robotics model developers Genesis AI and Dyna Robotics.
£8.2M to track satellites with lasers
Space is getting crowded, and keeping track of everything flying around up there is becoming an increasingly complicated problem.
With that in mind, London-based Foundational emerged from stealth this month with £8.2 million (around $11 million) in pre-seed funding led by Inflection, with participation from investors including Type One Ventures, Final Frontier, Backed VC and Adjacent.
The company uses a technique called satellite laser ranging, which involves firing laser pulses from ground stations toward reflectors mounted on satellites. The company says that by measuring how long the light takes to return, its system can calculate satellite positions with millimeter-level accuracy.
While the technology has existed for decades, Foundational is working to make it cheaper and more scalable. Its system combines automated ground stations, satellite-mounted hardware and a software platform called Origin that provides positioning data to satellite operators.
$10M to make cement without so much carbon
Cement is the glue holding much of the modern world together. It’s also responsible for roughly 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions, per an MIT estimate.
Calgary, Canada-based Cura Climate wants to change that. The startup last month said it raised $10 million in new funding led by Zacua Ventures, with participation from Sandpiper Ventures, Amplify Capital and Vantage Futures.
Cement manufacturing traditionally requires heating limestone to extremely high temperatures, a process that releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide. Cura is developing an electrochemical alternative that uses electricity to separate carbon dioxide from limestone before it enters the kiln.
$10M to help mobile games find their players
Making a successful mobile game is one thing. Getting enough people to discover and play it is an entirely different — and often very expensive — challenge.
Cyprus-based Mika Games is tackling that problem with an unusual investment model. The company said this week that it had raised $10 million in new funding led by Flint Capital to help early-stage gaming studios turn promising titles into commercial successes.
Mika isn’t a traditional game developer. Instead, it invests in small studios and helps finance the expensive marketing campaigns needed to attract players. The investment comes as gaming startup funding is showing signs of recovery. Companies in the sector had raised around $2 billion globally in 2026 as of late September, already exceeding the full-year 2025 total.
$3M to turn coffee waste into carbon removal
Zurich-based Cotierra said late last month that it had raised $3 million in funding co-led by PINC, the venture arm of food and beverage company Paulig, and Carbon Removal Partners. Cotierra says it’s developing technology that turns agricultural waste into biochar, a charcoal-like material that can store carbon for long periods while improving soil health.
The company has initially focused on Colombia’s coffee-growing regions, where growers face increasing pressure to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. Cotierra is now moving toward larger commercial deployments, with plans to expand into cocoa, cotton and citrus production.