Mecka AI Nears $500 Million Valuation in Sequoia Robot Data Deal
Mecka AI is nearing a Sequoia-led funding round at a $500 million valuation, three months after raising $60 million for real-world robot training data.
Summary
As of September 11, 2026, Mecka AI is nearing a Sequoia Capital led financing at about a $500 million valuation, three months after raising $60 million in a Framework Ventures led round joined by Menlo Ventures, SV Angel and Kindred Ventures. The new round’s size is unknown, its terms are unfinished and could change, Mecka did not respond, and Sequoia declined comment. In early June, co-founder Josh Gao projected a $100 million annual run rate by the end of 2026.
Gao, Mogen Cheng, Jason Chong and operations lead Duy Nguyen founded Mecka in 2024 despite having no robotics backgrounds. Gao and Cheng previously built a restaurant fintech startup, while Chong joined Coinbase after it acquired his crypto exchange. Named after mecha, fictional human-controlled giant robots, Mecka pays people to record tasks such as making coffee and repairing cars with body sensors and smartphones. It aims to relieve the physical-world data bottleneck for general-purpose and humanoid robots, applying to robotics the human-data model used by Scale AI, Mercor and Surge for LLMs. Mecka has not disclosed customers; robotics companies and AI labs also train models with egocentric data and teleoperation. Competitor XDOF is nearing a $1.2 billion valuation, while Scale AI and Micro1 are expanding into robot-training data.
Positives
- A Sequoia Capital led round could value Mecka AI at about $500 million.
- Mecka raised $60 million only three months earlier from Framework Ventures, Menlo Ventures, SV Angel and Kindred Ventures.
- Josh Gao projected a $100 million annual run rate by the end of 2026.
- Body sensors and smartphones let paid participants capture everyday tasks such as coffee making and car repair.
- XDOF’s prospective $1.2 billion valuation signals strong investor interest in robot-training data.
Risks & concerns
- The new financing amount remains unknown, and unfinished terms could still change.
- Mecka did not respond about the deal, while Sequoia Capital declined to comment.
- Mecka has not publicly identified any customers among robotics companies or AI laboratories.
- All four Mecka co-founders entered the company without robotics backgrounds.
- Scale AI, Micro1 and XDOF are pursuing the same expanding robot-data market.