PitchBook report Robotics & Physical AI VC Trends 2025 says the defence, security and industrial automation sectors in 2025 attracted 27.6 billion US Dollars for 1.009 deals, more than twice as much 2024 13.7 billion and 851 transactions.
In 2025, investors poured 8 billion (+138.8% yoy) in 234 (+41% yoy) defense & security robotics deals. Such an increase is unprecedented for the sector.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAS) firms raised 6.2 billion for 169 transactions while unmanned maritime systems and autonomous land vehicles companies attracted 944 million and 512 million.
The current tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East are an accelerated testing ground for robotic technologies. Ali Javaheri, a PitchBook senior research analyst for Emerging Spaces, said that Venture Capitals are responding to a real and urgent demand from governments, defence ministries and contractors seeking operational capabilities that can be deployed immediately.
The robotic defence sector cuts across all start-up developments. It is not just late-stage capital backing already mature companies: early-stage and seed rounds are also growing rapidly, a sign that investors are building positions across the entire value chain.
Relevant late-stage deals in 4Q25 include Forterra, an US developer of robotic vehicles for military and logistic appliance that secured 238 million to speed up the development of its platform (press release). German UAS Quantum Systems attracted 180 million euros for the extension of its Series C round. In 2025, the company raised 340 million euros for an enterprise value of above 3 billion euros (press release).
A significant yet underestimated aspect of the exponential growth in robotic defence is the growing convergence between military and civilian applications. Many of the funded start-ups are developing platforms capable of operating in both contexts: drones for monitoring critical infrastructure, autonomous vehicles for logistics in conflict zones as well as in hazardous industrial environments, and computer vision systems for target recognition as well as for quality inspection in factories.
This dual-use nature broadens the potential addressable market and reduces the perceived risk for investors, who do not have to rely solely on military budgets but can also count on commercial demand. In 4Q25 exits unsurprisingly include both defence players, such as the Israeli firm UVision, which acquired SpearUAV, a specialist in unmanned aerial systems; and industrial technology companies, such as Ondas, which purchased Roboteam, a developer of unmanned ground vehicles.
The paradigm shift: from warehouses to battlefields
The growth in the defence sector comes partly at the expense of the logistics & warehousing segment – traditionally the most heavily funded area in robotics – which saw a 28.5% decline in value in 2025 (1.2 billion euros across 81 deals). Investment in categories such as autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) slowed as capital shifted towards sectors with greater differentiation and more urgent demand.
The manufacturing sector drives a 70% growth to Industrial robotics
Industrial robotics experienced a year of rapid growth: 5.9 billion across 201 deals for a 70% yoy increase. The sub-segment assembly & manufacturing robots (4.24 billion across 82 deals) reflected the growing adoption of robotic solutions in factory automation.
Robots for hazardous environments also posted a strong growth (+128% YoY), raising 681 million across 60 deals: demand comes from sectors such as energy, mining and heavy manufacturing, where safety and labour shortages remain structural challenges.
Hadrian raised 391 million to expand its automated manufacturing platform serving the aerospace and defence supply chains. GalBot, an industrial robotics start-up, closed a 300 million early-stage round to scale up its assembly and manufacturing robots.
AI and autonomy: cross-cutting infrastructure
The Robotics Software & AI segment raised 3.4 billion across 124 deals. Autonomous AI platforms secured 2.5 billion of such amounts (59 deals). Investors increasingly view these software layers as critical infrastructure for coordinating fleets of robots in complex, multi-sector environments.
The standout deal was Physical Intelligence’s 600 million US Dollars CapitalG led funding round (November 2025) for developing the foundational AI models capable of controlling robots in heterogeneous environments. The post-money valuation reached 5.4 billion US Dollars, twice as much the previous round.
Strong growth for M&A activity: 20 deals in 2025 vs 4 in 2024
The number of strategic acquisitions in the sector rose to 20 transactions in 2025 from 4 in 2024. The highest figure that PitchBook dataset recorded. Large industrial technology firms and defence contractors are acquiring robotics start-ups to integrate autonomy, perception and automation capabilities into their own platforms.
The list of notable deals in 4Q25 includes Bentley Systems acquisition of Pointivo (computer vision & perception).
