The archive · Hardware & Devices · Strategic decision · 2025–2026
ATOM raises 3 billion yen six months after founding
ATOM, founded by former Turing CTO, bets on Japan supply chain for humanoids.
ATOM (株式会社アトム)
What the business is
ATOM (株式会社アトム) develops a dual-arm, bipedal humanoid robot: joints, body hardware, and the physical AI foundation model that controls robot behavior are all developed in-house, aiming to replace or assist human labor in manufacturing and logistics sites, with plans for mass production in Japan (日本).
Starting capital：Registered capital of 10 million yen (1000万 yen); seed round of 3 billion yen (30亿 yen) in May 2026 (2026-05) (led by ANRI, Beyond Next Ventures, and JAFCO, with participation by JIC VGI, Sumitomo Corporation VC (住商VC), Mizuho Blue Lab (みずほBlue Lab), MUFG Capital (三菱UFJ资本), SMBC VC, and others); a 1.5 billion yen (15亿 yen) loan from Mizuho Bank (みずほ银行) in August 2026 (2026-08).
How it started
Founded on November 11, 2025 (2025-11-11) in Toyosu (丰洲), Koto Ward (江东区), Tokyo (东京); founder Shunsuke Aoki (青木俊介) is the co-founder and CTO of autonomous-driving startup Turing and a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). He left Turing for his second startup, proposed the mission of 'creating a new species,' said the goal is to raise Japan (日本)'s GDP by 1%, and said the final investment scale will be 100 to 200 billion yen (1000至2000亿 yen).
What happened
On May 26, 2026 (2026-05-26), announced a 3 billion yen (30亿 yen) seed round (only six months after founding); on August 4, 2026 (2026-08-04), signed a 1.5 billion yen (15亿 yen) financing contract with Mizuho Bank (みずほ银行); on August 20, 2026 (2026-08-20), signed a strategic partnership MOU with NSK (日本精工), jointly validating actuators and collecting physical AI data at NSK factories; on August 28, 2026 (2026-08-28), conducted a 3.5-hour unedited work live stream (reported by ITmedia and others), during which the robot occasionally paused and needed human assistance, but worked autonomously overall.
How it ended up
Still in early research, development, and demonstration stage: the product is not publicly sold and has no price; it has secured a 3 billion yen (30亿 yen) seed round plus a 1.5 billion yen (15亿 yen) loan and is tied to the NSK (日本精工) supply chain, continuing to hire AI engineers, develop world models, build a data collection center, and compete head-on with China (中国) manufacturers that have already mass-produced over 10,000 units (上万台).
Background
ATOM was founded on November 11, 2025 in Tokyo by Shunsuke Aoki, former Turing CTO. Mission: create a new species. Develops dual-arm, bipedal humanoid with in-house hardware and AI, mass-produced in Japan.
Aoki aims to raise Japan's GDP by 1%, with final investment of 100-200 billion yen. On May 26, 2026, ATOM announced a 3 billion yen seed round led by ANRI, Beyond Next Ventures, JAFCO. On August 4, 2026, signed 1.5 billion yen loan with Mizuho Bank.
On August 20, 2026, ATOM signed MOU with NSK for actuator validation and data collection. On August 28, live-streamed over 3.5 unedited hours of robot tasks, needing occasional human help, addressing trust crisis.
China leads mass production: Unitree produced about 18,000 units by July 2026, global H1 shipments 19,100, China over 97%. ATOM competes on Japanese precision and unedited reliability, but product not yet sold.
What has to be true
- Japan's labor shortage and precision component expertise create real demand.
- Full-stack in-house development avoids homogenization and supports differentiation.
- Partnering with NSK de-risks actuator mass production early.
- Unedited live stream builds trust by disclosing intervention rate.
What can be applied
Competing with giants, find a dimension rivals' demos dare not expose, like reliability.
Aftermath
As of August 2026, ATOM remains in R&D: no public sales. Completed 3 billion yen seed round in May 2026, got 1.5 billion yen loan from Mizuho Bank in August, and signed MOU with NSK. CEO Aoki continues to aim to raise Japan's GDP by 1%, expanding hiring and competing with China's 18,000 units.
Sources
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