Addverb’s Humanoid Bet: How This Noida Robotics Startup Is Building Physical AI
•February 13, 2026
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Companies Mentioned
Why It Matters
It signals India’s push into general‑purpose robotics, offering a locally‑priced alternative to foreign humanoids and addressing labor shortages in manufacturing. The deployment could accelerate adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and boost Addverb’s revenue trajectory toward ₹1,400 cr by FY27.
Key Takeaways
- •Addverb unveiled 6‑ft humanoid robot with 15 kg payload.
- •Humanoid targets unstructured factory and warehouse environments.
- •100 units planned for pilot deployments within next year.
- •Reliance holds 54% stake, providing market access and funding.
- •Indian robotics market $2 bn, 15% CAGR through 2035.
Pulse Analysis
India’s manufacturing sector stands at a crossroads as labour shortages and the drive toward Industry 4.0 force firms to rethink automation. The domestic robotics market, valued at roughly $2 billion, is expected to expand at a 15‑16 % compound annual growth rate over the next decade, buoyed by Make‑in‑India incentives and the Production‑Linked Incentive scheme. While traditional conveyor‑based systems excel in structured lines, unstructured environments such as mixed‑use warehouses and legacy factories remain largely untapped. This gap has created fertile ground for next‑generation robots that can navigate, manipulate and adapt without extensive retrofitting.
Addverb’s newly unveiled humanoid robot embodies that next‑generation promise. Standing six feet tall, weighing 80 kg and capable of lifting 15 kg, the machine uses wheeled legs for mobility while a biped version is in development. Built largely in‑house at the company’s Noida campus, the robot integrates multiple cameras, LIDAR, and a high‑performance compute stack to deliver what the CEO calls “physical AI” – the ability to reason and act in real‑world settings. A dedicated data factory generates millions of training episodes through tele‑operation, simulation and synthetic data, giving Addverb a proprietary dataset advantage that rivals global players. With Reliance holding a 54 % stake, the startup can leverage extensive industrial networks to pilot the humanoid with select customers, targeting 100 units in the coming year.
The introduction of a cost‑competitive humanoid could reshape automation strategies across sectors ranging from solar and battery production to hazardous chemical handling. By offering a form factor that fits existing human‑centric layouts, Addverb sidesteps costly facility redesigns, a key advantage as multinational manufacturers pursue a China + 1 footprint. Government programmes such as the RDI fund and the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber‑Physical Systems promise additional capital and ecosystem support, accelerating the path to mass production. If the pilot deployments validate reliability and ROI, Addverb is poised to capture a larger share of the projected ₹1,400 cr revenue target for FY27, while cementing India’s role as a hub for embodied AI.
Addverb’s Humanoid Bet: How This Noida Robotics Startup Is Building Physical AI
They say the day is not far when most of India’s manufacturing industry would be run through so-called ‘dark factories’ where manual labour is minimally used, if at all. Machines manufacture, monitor, assemble and quality-test and even fix other machines. We call them machines for the sake of simplicity, but effectively these are robots.
And this is perhaps why we can argue that India’s manufacturing and logistics sectors are at an inflection point. Robotics is the answer to rising labour shortages, increasing pressure to improve productivity, the skill gap when it comes to advanced manufacturing and a push towards Industry 4.0.
New and even legacy factories, warehouses, and industrial units are turning to companies like Addverb, GreyOrange, Unbox Robotics, CynLr, Sastra (also founded in 2016 like Addverb) and others to take them to the age of robotics.
The robotics and industrial automation market in India is currently estimated at around $2 Bn and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15–16% over the next decade, supported by government initiatives such as Make in India and PLI schemes and greater adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies.
Noida-based Addverb’s latest launch is a humanoid robot. The robotics and automation company claims this is a result of deliberation, R&D, and training over 14 months. The first version is six feet tall, weighs 80 kg, and can carry a 15 kg payload. It will have wheels for legs, while a biped version is planned for later.
The humanoid product joins Addverb’s roster of robots, which includes quadruped robots (otherwise known as robot dogs) designed for surveillance, research, logistics, and defence applications. The four-legged robots, capable of carrying payloads ranging from 5 kg to 30 kg, have been deployed in uneven terrains and mountainous regions, earning its moniker of Digital Mule.
And now, Addverb says the new humanoid has been designed specifically for unstructured environments such as factories and warehouses, where traditional automation systems struggle. But naturally there are questions about how quickly these robots will become ubiquitous for the industry and what is the critical success factor.
After all, it’s not just Indian companies that would be looking to target the Indian market. A whole vast robotics industry is spawning worldwide and this industry will look to India for its China+1 strategy.
Addverb’s Decade-Long Robotics Journey
Founded in 2016, Addverb initially focused on grid-based and natural navigation robots, akin to self-driving vehicles for warehouses and factories. These robots enabled automated material movement in structured and semi-structured environments.
Addverb’s foray into humanoid robotics marks the culmination of a decade-long journey that began with mobile robots and warehouse automation, cofounder and CEO Sangeet Kumar told Inc42.
Along the way, it got a major backing from Reliance that catapulted the company to the big leagues. But the R&D from day one and iterations and improvements over the years have resulted in a cohesive product lineup.
For instance, before launching its first quadruped, Addverb started out with collaborative robots, or cobots — six-axis robotic arms capable of performing a wide range of industrial tasks such as pick-and-place operations, painting, welding, screwing, and bolting. Then came the robot dogs and the humanoid. It’s an evolution that’s kept up pace with the industry.
“Each form factor brought us closer to understanding the complexities of real-world robotics. Mobile robots taught us navigation, cobots taught us manipulation, quadrupeds taught us stability and terrain adaptability. Humanoids are the natural next step that combines all these elements into a single, general-purpose machine,” CEO Kumar added.
Currently, early production plans for the humanoid product include building around 100 units over the next year to collaborate with five to six selected customers for product maturation.
Today, Reliance owns a majority 54% stake in the company, and thanks to the vast manufacturing, industrial and warehousing network of its majority stakeholder, Addverb has a significant competitive advantage in the global market.
Why Humanoids, And Why Now?
Globally, humanoid robots have become one of the most talked-about frontiers in robotics, driven by advances in artificial intelligence and a growing labour shortage across manufacturing hubs. Kumar believes there are two fundamental reasons behind the renewed interest.
First, the physical world has been designed around the human form. A humanoid robot, with a similar form factor, can seamlessly operate within these environments without requiring costly redesigns.
Second, the rapid evolution of AI models has unlocked new possibilities in robot autonomy. While large language models (LLMs) and vision-language models (VLMs) have transformed digital workflows, the next frontier is vision-language-action (VLA) models. These models enable robots to perform complex tasks autonomously, moving towards what Kumar calls ‘general purpose robots’.
Approximately 80% of the humanoid is built in-house at Addverb’s Noida facility, including assembly, testing, SMT lines, and electromechanical parts, while the rest is outsourced to local partners. The robot incorporates multiple cameras, LIDAR sensors, and a high-end compute engine for physical AI that reasons and executes human-like tasks.
“This is what we call physical AI or embodied AI,” Kumar explained. “It is the toughest form of artificial intelligence because data is scarce, environments are unpredictable, and errors have real-world consequences. It bridges the gap between digital intelligence and physical work.”
Initial deployment targets include solar, battery, and electronics manufacturing sectors, along with hazardous jobs in nuclear and chemical industries that require robotic intervention.
According to Kumar, the pricing will be more competitive than European, Japanese, and American players, but difficult to benchmark due to subsidies enjoyed by humanoid robot firms in China. “Clearer cost structures will emerge once Addverb transitions from proof-of-concept (PoC) deployments to mass production,” said Kumar.
One of the biggest challenges in developing general-purpose robots is the lack of high-quality training data, admitted Kumar. Unlike autonomous driving, where millions of miles of road data are available, industrial environments are highly varied, and standardised datasets are limited.
To address this, Addverb has built a full-fledged data factory at its Noida campus. Here, engineers generate millions of training episodes through a combination of teleoperation, simulation, and synthetic data generation. In teleoperation, a human operator controls a ‘master’ robot, while a ‘slave’ robot replicates the same actions autonomously, creating paired datasets of human intent and robotic execution.
The company also uses smart glasses equipped with multiple cameras to capture egocentric data, which are visual inputs that mimic what a human operator sees. These datasets are supplemented by simulations created using platforms such as Nvidia Omniverse and Google DeepMind’s MuJoCo, where virtual cities, factories, and warehouses are modelled to generate synthetic training data at scale.
“We also leverage open datasets from academic collaborations and platforms like Hugging Face, but a large part of our data is proprietary,” Kumar said. “Every robotics company, whether it’s Google, Meta, Microsoft, or Tesla, is building its own data advantage. This is the true moat in physical AI.”
Currently, Addverb’s humanoid robot is at the prototype stage, with all major manufacturing, assembly, and testing processes handled at its Noida facility. The company has invested heavily in electromechanical fabrication, CNC and VMC machining, laser cutting, welding, wire harnessing, and surface-mount technology (SMT) lines for motor driver cards and compute PCBs.
The Noida plant has a total manufacturing capacity of up to 1 Lakh robots annually across different form factors. For humanoids, the immediate focus is on controlled production, with plans to build around 100 units in the next year for PoCs with selected enterprise customers. These deployments will help refine hardware reliability, software intelligence, and system integration before a full commercial rollout.
The Business Of Making Robots
“Addverb has demonstrated strong growth, diversified its sector focus, and adapted to trade policy shifts impacting international sales,” said Kumar.
According to him, global revenue is expected to grow from ₹600 crore in FY25 to ₹800 crore in the fiscal year ending March 2026, with a target of over ₹1,400 crore for FY27.
Addverb’s revenue from operations in India stood at over INR 330 crore in FY25, according to a filing made by Reliance Industries, which owns 54% stake.
“Over the past decade, the company has clocked an average annual growth rate of 55–60%, with some years exceeding 100%. Typically, its revenue mix stands at 40% India and 60% overseas, though last year India’s share rose to 50% due to higher US tariffs. Key international markets include the US, Europe, Australia, and Singapore, with the US expected to regain its position as the second-largest market following tariff reductions,” Kumar said.
There has been some chill in the market due to the uncertain tariff regime and the intricacies of the potential trade deal between India and the US. Kumar said that while none of Addverb’s orders in the US were cancelled, decision-making has slowed considerably among customers. “Projects that should have closed in March or April got pushed to November or December.”
With duties now reduced to around 18%, Addverb expects renewed momentum in the US market, restoring confidence among buyers.
Sector-wise, Addverb has diversified from its earlier dependence on retail and ecommerce, which now account for 30% of revenue, down from 90%. New energy contributes about 20%, while electronics account for 10–15%.
The company is also actively pursuing opportunities in semiconductors and OSAT facilities, aligning with emerging factory automation needs. As of now, India has 10 approved semiconductor projects (including fabs, assembly, and testing units) in various stages of development under the government-led India Semiconductor Mission.
Addverb’s client roster includes parent company Reliance, logistics giant UPS, retail major Albertsons, and companies across solar, battery, mobile phone, and electronics manufacturing.
While Reliance is a strategic partner and investor, it is not the largest customer, given the scale of overseas contracts, Kumar noted.
“There is significant value in our close collaboration with different arms of Reliance including telecom, AI, cloud, and geo-intelligence. We work very closely with these teams to access the deep technical expertise required to build and scale advanced robotic systems,” said Kumar.
The company has access to the broader Reliance ecosystem comprising retail, petrochemicals, solar, and battery manufacturing as real-world deployment environments. Kumar said this allows Addverb to gain firsthand operational insights for the industry at large and to iterate or improve its own robots.
Where India’s Robotics Ecosystem is Heading
This is perhaps the best time for any robotics company to overcome these challenges. India’s robotics industry is witnessing rapid growth, driven by rising automation across manufacturing, warehousing, logistics, healthcare, and defence.
Industrial robotics, particularly in automotive, electronics, and warehouse automation, dominates the market, while service robotics in healthcare, retail, and sanitation is emerging as a high-growth segment.
The rise of ecommerce, quick commerce, and organised retail has accelerated the deployment of autonomous mobile robots and sorting systems, while defence, space, and deep-tech robotics are gaining momentum through indigenous innovation.
India is now among the world’s top installers of industrial robots. In 2023, India installed 8,510 industrial robots in 2023, marking a 59% increase from the previous year, according to the International Federation of Robotics, outperforming France, Mexico and Spain.
That said, overall robot density remains low, indicating significant headroom for expansion. With strong engineering talent, growing AI capabilities, and a large domestic market for real-world deployments, India is well positioned to become a major hub for next-generation robotics, even as challenges around cost, skills, and ecosystem maturity remain.
Addverb is navigating key scaling challenges, particularly around product standardisation and reliability, as it approaches the $100 Mn revenue mark.
Managing and standardising across 22 robot product families has emerged as a major operational hurdle, for instance. This makes it critical for Addverb to build shared components and software platforms to drive efficiency and consistency. Creating a cohesive tech base is always tricky and challenging in a space like robotics where evolution is rapid.
Improving system reliability and upskilling teams are also top priorities as the company expands into new markets.
What could work in Addverb and the robotics industry’s favour is that investments are expected to grow thanks to the outlay of ₹1 Lakh Cr under the central government’s Research Development and Innovation (RDI) scheme which will focus on robotics and other sunrise sectors like energy security and transition, climate action; quantum computing and more.
This includes a fund for funds for deeptech which is likely to boost access to capital for companies like Addverb and the early stage robotics ecosystem. And there’s the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), which will create robotics hubs among other advanced technologies.
When Addverb began in 2016, the Indian robotics ecosystem was just about starting out. GreyOrange had been around since 2012, but everyone knew the journey would be long. 10 years later, now that the groundswell is in the favour of robotics companies, can Addverb make the most of it?
Edited by Nikhil Subramaniam
The post Addverb’s Humanoid Bet: How This Noida Robotics Startup Is Building Physical AI appeared first on Inc42 Media.
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