Mecka AI nears $500M valuation in Sequoia-led round as robotics data demand surges

Mecka AI, a two-year-old startup focused on collecting and analyzing human motion data for robotics training, is finalizing a new financing round led by Sequoia Capital at a reported valuation of about $500 million, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. TechCrunch has not confirmed the precise size of the new round, and the terms remain subject to change.

The round follows Mecka’s $60 million Series A, led by Framework Ventures in June 2026, which included participation from Menlo Ventures, SV Angel, and Kindred Ventures. Mecka did not respond to requests for comment, and Sequoia declined to comment on the reported valuation.

Mecka was co-founded in 2024 by four entrepreneurs—Josh Gao, Mogen Cheng, Jason Chong, and Duy Nguyen—who lack direct robotics backgrounds but identified a gap in physical-world data as a bottleneck for training general-purpose robots, including humanoids. The startup pays individuals to record themselves performing everyday tasks, such as making coffee or fixing cars, using body sensors and smartphones to capture egocentric motion data.

As of June 2026, Mecka projected it would reach an annual run rate of $100 million in revenue by the end of the year, according to remarks made to Fortune at the time of its Series A announcement. While Mecka has not publicly disclosed its customer list, the company’s data is used by robotics firms and AI labs to train models, alongside other methods like teleoperation.

The fundraising activity reflects broader investor interest in companies providing data infrastructure for robotics, including peers such as XDOF, which was reported to be nearing a new round at a $1.2 billion valuation, as well as established human-data platforms like Scale AI and Micro1 expanding beyond large language model training.