Persona AI raises $27M for shipyard humanoids

The Houston startup is building humanoid welders for heavy industry.

On 14 May 2025 Persona AI said it had closed an oversubscribed $27 million pre-seed round to build humanoid robots for shipbuilding and industrial manufacturing.

The round

Unity Growth and Tides Ventures co-led the round, with Mirae Asset Group, Invicta Growth, Embedded Ventures and many others taking part. The company was founded in 2024 by Nic Radford, Jerry Pratt and Jide Akinyode.

HD Hyundai

A week earlier, on 7 May 2025, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and HD Hyundai Robotics signed an MOU with Persona AI and Vazil Company to develop humanoids for shipyard welding. Prototypes were targeted for the end of 2026, with field testing and commercialization from 2027.

Why it matters

Persona plans to rent the robots as a service, so shipyards short of welders would not need a large upfront purchase.

Sources

Source: prnewswire.com