🦾💸 Xiaomi Bets $293M on Household Humanoids

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As we close out the last week of April, physical AI commands the spotlight: X Square Robot raises $293 million in a Xiaomi-led Series B to deploy household humanoids backed by all four Chinese tech giants, while Sereact pulls in $110 million led by Headline to scale its robot brain across BMW and Daimler factory floors. Data centers keep building momentum, with Applied Digital locking in a $7.5 billion hyperscaler lease at Delta Forge 1 and Bain Capital launching a $5 billion stake sale in pan-Asian operator Bridge Data Centres.

Mobility pushes into new territory as Lyft acquires London black cab app Gett UK for $55 million — its second European consolidation move in twelve months — and Reliable Robotics closes a $160 million round for the first FAA-certifiable autonomous aircraft platform. In energy, X-energy's record $1.02 billion nuclear SMR IPO on Nasdaq signals the mainstreaming of advanced reactors, as Evren secures $600 million to deliver India's largest firm and dispatchable renewable energy portfolio.

Stay sharp,

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X Square Robot's $293M Series B Funds Household Humanoids
Chinese embodied-AI startup X Square Robot closed a ~$293 million Series B led by Xiaomi's strategic arm and HongShan (Sequoia China), making it the only Chinese robotics company backed by all four tech giants — Xiaomi, Alibaba, ByteDance, and Meituan. (Read more)

Pudu Robotics Secures $150M; Pivots to Industrial Automation
Shenzhen-based Pudu Robotics raised nearly $150 million in a growth round — investor undisclosed — pushing its valuation above $1.5 billion and cumulative funding past $300 million. 
(Read more)

Sereact Raises $110M Series B to Scale AI Robotics Software
Stuttgart-based Sereact raised $110M in a Series B led by Headline — with Bullhound Capital, Felix Capital, and Daphni joining as new investors — to develop its Vision Language Action Model AI, which is already running in production at BMW Group, Daimler Truck. (Read more)

Smart Robotics Raises €10M ($11M) Series A for AI Warehouse Automation
Smart Robotics closed a €10 million Series A led by Rotterdamse Havendraken, Innovation Industries, and family office Ernij Next to scale its AI-driven pick-and-place robots — deployed across 15 countries at up to 1,000 picks per hour — across Europe. (Read more)

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Applied Digital Signs $7.5B Hyperscaler Lease at Delta Forge 1 AI Campus
A new U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler signed a 15-year, $7.5 billion lease covering 300 MW at Applied Digital's 500-acre Delta Forge 1 campus — purpose-built for AI and HPC workloads, with initial operations expected in mid-2027. (Read more)

Switch's $2.6B Credit Facility Solves Data Center Power Bottleneck
Switch secured the industry's first-ever syndicated standalone performance letter of credit facility — structured by Natixis CIB and BBVA and syndicated across 11 banks including BNP Paribas, Citibank, and Société Générale — to back credit obligations to utilities and transmission developers rather than fund construction directly. (Read more)

EdgeCore's $1.5B Green Loan Finances Two Pre-Let Virginia Hyperscale Sites
Partners Group-backed EdgeCore closed two limited-recourse senior secured term loans — one structured as an LMA Green Loan — to fund single-tenant hyperscale facilities AS01 and AS02 in Sterling, Loudoun County, both fully leased ahead of their late-2026 and mid-2027 deliveries. (Read more)

Bain Capital Launches $5B Stake Sale in Bridge Data Centres
Bain Capital has appointed Citi and JPMorgan to sell at least a 40% stake in pan-Asian operator Bridge Data Centres — whose anchor tenant is ByteDance — at an implied ~$5 billion enterprise value, with indicative bids expected by mid-May. (Read more)

Verda Closes €100M ($117M) Round to Build Renewable European AI Cloud
Helsinki-based Verda raised €100 million in a combined equity and Nordic debt round led by Lifeline Ventures to scale 100%-renewable AI cloud infrastructure priced up to 90% below hyperscaler rates. (Read more)

Lyft Acquires Gett UK Black Cab App for ~$55M
Lyft agreed to acquire Gett's UK business — commanding the majority of Greater London's registered black cabs — for approximately $55 million, extending its European consolidation play following the 2025 FreeNow acquisition and positioning itself as London's dominant multi-modal platform. (Read more)

Decade Energy Raises €22M ($25M) to Electrify European Truck Depots
Paris-based Decade Energy raised €22M — €16M from Eiffel Investment Group for battery storage deployment at French logistics depots, and €6M led by SET Ventures for software and European expansion — using a zero-CapEx model for fleet operators. (Read more)

Humble Robotics Raises $24M Seed for Cabless Autonomous Hauler
San Francisco-based Humble Robotics emerged from stealth with $24 million in seed funding led by Eclipse and Energy Impact Partners for the "Humble Hauler" — a cabless, fully autonomous Class 8 electric freight vehicle built from the ground up for port, yard, and warehouse operations. (Read more)

Reliable Robotics Raises $160M for Autonomous Aircraft Systems
Mountain View-based Reliable Robotics raised $160 million in a round led by Nimble Partners to scale the Reliable Autonomy System — the first FAA-certifiable fully automated aircraft operation platform — pushing its valuation to nearly $1 billion. (Read more)

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X-Energy Raises $1.02B in Nuclear SMR IPO on Nasdaq
Amazon-backed small modular reactor developer X-energy priced its Nasdaq IPO at $23 per share, raising $1.02 billion, making it the largest nuclear IPO on record and the first advanced reactor firm to go public via a traditional IPO rather than a SPAC. (Read more)

Evren Secures $600M for 1 GW Solar-Wind-Battery Hybrid in India
Brookfield and Axis Energy's joint venture Evren closed approximately $600 million in debt financing from a six-bank consortium to develop a 1 GW firm and dispatchable renewable energy portfolio across Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. (Read more)

Exergy3 Raises £10M ($13M) Seed for Ultra-High-Temp Industrial Thermal Storage
Edinburgh-based University of Edinburgh spinout Exergy3 closed a £10 million seed round led by Axeleo Capital's Article 9 Green Tech fund, with Bayern Kapital and Kibo Invest, to commercialize ultra-high-temperature thermal energy storage for industrial heat decarbonization. (Read more)

Rivan Industries Raises $34M to Build Europe's Largest Synthetic Gas Plant
London-based Rivan Industries closed a $34 million Series A led by IQ Capital, with Plural and Fundomo participating, to deploy Europe's largest synthetic natural gas plant. (Read more)