XDOF, just three months out of stealth, is in talks for a Series B at a $1.2B valuation
XDOF, just three months out of stealth, is in talks for a Series B at a $1.2B valuation
XDOF 走出隐身模式仅三个月，正洽谈 B 轮融资，估值达 12 亿美元
Less than three months after emerging from stealth, XDOF, a startup that collects real-world teleoperation data for training general-purpose robots, is in late-stage talks to raise a Series B at a valuation of about $1.2 billion valuation led by 8VC, several people with knowledge of the deal said. 在走出隐身模式不到三个月后，据多位知情人士透露，专注于收集真实世界远程操作数据以训练通用机器人的初创公司 XDOF，目前正处于 B 轮融资的后期谈判阶段，由 8VC 领投，估值约为 12 亿美元。
XDOF was co-founded by UC Berkeley researchers Philipp Wu (CEO) and Fred Shentu (CTO) in 2024. TechCrunch reported on the startup’s $70 million Series A in June, with participation from Thrive Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Lux, and Spark Capital. XDOF 由加州大学伯克利分校的研究人员 Philipp Wu（首席执行官）和 Fred Shentu（首席技术官）于 2024 年共同创立。TechCrunch 曾在 6 月报道了该公司的 7000 万美元 A 轮融资，参与方包括 Thrive Capital、Andreessen Horowitz、Lux 和 Spark Capital。
XDOF wasn’t planning to raise again so soon after that round. But the company’s rapid growth — with annualized revenue approaching $50 million — prompted VCs to approach it about a new round, the people said. TechCrunch was unable to learn the total capital being raised or whether the valuation includes the new funding. The terms of the deal are not final and could still change. XDOF and 8VC didn’t respond to our request for comment. 知情人士称，XDOF 原本并未计划在 A 轮融资后这么快再次融资。但由于公司增长迅速——年化收入已接近 5000 万美元——促使风投机构主动接触并提议进行新一轮融资。TechCrunch 未能获悉此次融资的总金额，也无法确认该估值是否包含这笔新资金。交易条款尚未最终确定，仍有可能发生变化。XDOF 和 8VC 均未回应我们的置评请求。
The startup aims to build the data pipelines, collection tools, and annotation systems that frontier AI labs and robotics companies can’t easily build themselves, essentially acting as an outsourced data-supply chain for the robotics industry. 该初创公司的目标是构建前沿 AI 实验室和机器人公司难以自行开发的数据管道、收集工具和标注系统，本质上是充当机器人行业的外部数据供应链。
As a PhD student, Wu was studying how robots learn from large datasets. One big impediment to his research was the lack of “large-scale data to work with,” he told TechCrunch in June. So he teamed up with Shentu on a project called GELLO, a low-cost teleoperation system that allows a human operator to control a robotic arm remotely in order to generate training data. Their work led to an influential paper in robotics. 作为一名博士生，Wu 当时正在研究机器人如何从大型数据集中学习。他在 6 月份告诉 TechCrunch，他研究的一大障碍是缺乏“可供使用的大规模数据”。因此，他与 Shentu 合作开发了一个名为 GELLO 的项目，这是一个低成本的远程操作系统，允许人类操作员远程控制机械臂以生成训练数据。他们的工作促成了一篇在机器人领域具有影响力的论文。
That research formed the foundation for XDOF, which investors now describe as the Scale AI or Mercor for physical robotics, a reference to the data-labeling giants that helped fuel the AI boom. 这项研究构成了 XDOF 的基础。投资者现在将其描述为物理机器人领域的 Scale AI 或 Mercor，意指那些曾助力 AI 热潮的数据标注巨头。
Unlike LLMs, which initially trained on the entirety of the internet, physical robots don’t have an equivalent real-world dataset to draw from, making data collection a critical bottleneck to building general-purpose machines. 与最初在整个互联网上进行训练的大语言模型（LLM）不同，物理机器人没有可供借鉴的同等规模的真实世界数据集，这使得数据收集成为构建通用机器人的关键瓶颈。
XDOF is partnering with UC Berkeley’s AI Research lab to release what it believes is the largest collection of high-quality robot training data ever assembled, dubbed ABC. To capture this data, XDOF combines remote robot teleoperation with human collectors who wear sensors to record everyday tasks like folding clothes and flattening boxes. XDOF 正在与加州大学伯克利分校的 AI 研究实验室合作，发布其认为是有史以来规模最大的高质量机器人训练数据集，名为 ABC。为了获取这些数据，XDOF 将远程机器人操作与佩戴传感器的真人收集员相结合，记录折叠衣服和压平盒子等日常任务。
The startup plans to hire and train teams of data collectors worldwide, including teleoperators who steer robots remotely and egocentric operators who wear body sensors to capture movement data. XDOF previously told TechCrunch that it is already working with 20 customers, including several frontier AI labs. 该初创公司计划在全球范围内招聘并培训数据收集团队，包括远程操控机器人的操作员，以及佩戴身体传感器以捕捉运动数据的“第一人称视角”操作员。XDOF 此前告诉 TechCrunch，它已经与 20 家客户开展合作，其中包括几家前沿 AI 实验室。
Other startups attempting to collect real-world data for robot training include Mecka AI, as well as human-data platforms expanding beyond LLMs, such as Scale AI and Micro1. 其他试图为机器人训练收集真实世界数据的初创公司还包括 Mecka AI，以及正在将业务扩展至大语言模型之外的人类数据平台，如 Scale AI 和 Micro1。