XDOF in Talks for Series B at About $1.2B Valuation, TechCrunch Reports

XDOF is in late-stage talks to raise a Series B at a valuation of about $1.2 billion, with 8VC leading the round, according to TechCrunch. The talks come less than three months after the company emerged from stealth. TechCrunch reported that the total capital being raised is not known, and it is unclear whether the valuation includes the new funding. The deal terms are not final and could still change.

XDOF was co-founded in 2024 by UC Berkeley researchers Philipp Wu, CEO, and Fred Shentu, CTO. TechCrunch reported in June that the company raised a $70 million Series A with participation from Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lux, and Spark Capital. The company was not planning to raise again so soon, but rapid growth, with annualized revenue approaching $50 million, prompted venture firms to approach it about a new round, according to people cited by TechCrunch.

XDOF collects real-world teleoperation data for training general-purpose robots. The startup aims to provide data pipelines, collection tools, and annotation systems for frontier AI labs and robotics companies, effectively operating as an outsourced data-supply chain for the robotics industry. Its foundation traces back to GELLO, a low-cost teleoperation system that lets a human remotely control a robotic arm to generate training data.

Unlike large language models, physical robots do not have an internet-scale real-world dataset to train on, making data collection a major constraint for general-purpose machines. XDOF is partnering with UC Berkeley’s AI Research lab to release ABC, which it believes is the largest collection of high-quality robot training data ever assembled. The company combines remote robot teleoperation with human collectors wearing sensors to record everyday tasks such as folding clothes and flattening boxes. XDOF previously told TechCrunch it is working with 20 customers, including several frontier AI labs.