Imperial spinout Machenta raises a $40M seed, co-led by Creandum and USV, to teach robots tasks from a single demonstration

London-based Machenta, founded in 2025 by Imperial College London robot-learning professor Edward Johns (CEO) and his former PhD student Vitalis Vosylius (CTO), has raised a $40M seed round co-led by Creandum and Union Square Ventures, which Imperial calls the largest seed ever raised by a UK robotics startup. The 11-person company trains its robot foundation model entirely in simulation, with no real-world data, so a robot can pick up a new task such as packing or tidying after one demonstration. The money goes to team growth, compute and simulated data, and a new office and lab in King's Cross; valuation was not disclosed.