EQT’s EUR 95m investment in Norway-based 1X Technologies marks one of the clearest signals yet that humanoid robots are moving from moonshot to operational tool across European mid-market businesses.
The growth funding, recently announced, will support 1X’s push to commercialise its general-purpose humanoid platform NEO, initially focused on domestic environments but with clear spillover into services and light industrial use. For EQT, it is a strategic bet on a robotics layer it can deploy across its portfolio, rather than a single deeptech punt.
A portfolio-wide automation play
EQT is positioning 1X as an automation backbone for its portfolio companies, with plans to deploy thousands of humanoid units across services, logistics and care settings. That makes this deal less about backing a hardware startup and more about locking in privileged access to a new class of labour.
For the European mid-market, this is significant. Most automation to date has been either:
- Fixed industrial robotics – high capex, factory-bound, inflexible; or
- Narrow-service automation – cleaning bots, warehouse AMRs, kiosk-style service robots.
1X’s NEO sits in a different category: a general-purpose humanoid designed to operate in unstructured environments – homes, care facilities, hospitality – performing tasks such as cleaning, caregiving support, vacuuming, folding laundry and tidying. If EQT can standardise deployment, training and maintenance across dozens of portfolio companies, the economics shift from experimental pilots to repeatable mid-market automation.
From Halodi to home: a strategic pivot that matters
1X, originally known as Halodi Robotics, made a decisive pivot in 2022 from broader robotics into domestic humanoids for private homes. That repositioned the company squarely inside the fastest-growing corner of the robotics market: home and personal service automation.
The technology stack is built for that context:
- Tendon-driven mechanisms inspired by the human musculoskeletal system, reducing energy consumption and enabling safer, more compliant interaction around people.
- Proprietary safe actuators and full-body control systems, refined from its Halodi origins, to handle close-proximity operation.
- Reinforcement Learning-based control (NEO Gamma) that allows natural mobility – walking, sitting, kneeling, stair climbing – in cluttered, real-world spaces.
This is not a factory arm repackaged for the living room. It is a platform engineered from the outset for safety, efficiency and adaptability in human environments – precisely the conditions most mid-market businesses face.
Homes as data engines for humanoids
What sets 1X apart in a crowded humanoid narrative is its data strategy. The company is already deploying NEO units into real homes, using them as complex training grounds for its AI models.
1X combines:
- Reinforcement learning,
- Expert demonstrations, and
- Continuous real-world interaction data
to train its control and perception stack. Its Redwood AI model learns from real-world experience – retrieving objects, opening doors, navigating varied layouts – steadily increasing autonomy over time.
For EQT, this means the robots it deploys into portfolio companies are not static assets but continuously improving systems. Each new environment – a care home, a hotel, a logistics hub – can feed back data, sharpening performance across the installed base. That network effect is where the strategic upside lies.
Capital intensity and execution risk
The humanoid race is capital-hungry and unforgiving. 1X is already targeting around USD 1bn in funding by September 2025 to scale development and deployment of its home humanoids. The EUR 95m round from EQT is a substantial mid-market cheque, but only one step in a multi-year capital stack.
Key risks are clear:
- Hardware scale-up – moving from hundreds to tens of thousands of units without quality or reliability issues.
- Regulation and safety – operating humanoids in homes and care settings will attract close regulatory scrutiny.
- Unit economics – proving that subscription or RaaS models beat traditional labour and simpler automation tools.
EQT’s involvement mitigates some of these. The firm can provide a controlled but diverse deployment base across its portfolio, helping 1X validate safety, economics and service models in real operating environments rather than isolated pilots.
What this means for Europe’s mid-market
The deal confirms three trends that matter for European mid-sized companies:
- Humanoid robots are entering the mid-market planning horizon. This is no longer just a Big Tech or mega-cap manufacturer story; a EUR 95m growth investment squarely targets the EUR 10–500m revenue segment where EQT has deep exposure.
- Automation is shifting from task-specific to general-purpose. Instead of buying separate solutions for cleaning, simple logistics and basic care support, mid-market operators will increasingly evaluate a single humanoid platform that can be re-tasked as needs change.
- Data-driven robotics is becoming a competitive moat. Operators plugged into platforms like 1X benefit from continuous software and capability upgrades, while laggards remain stuck with static, depreciating automation.
EQT’s funding of 1X Technologies is therefore more than a deeptech ticket. It is a deliberate move to embed humanoid capability across its mid-market portfolio – and a clear signal to European owners and sponsors that the next wave of automation will look a lot more like a person than a production line.