> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.tao.media/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Ultra Raises $62M to Scale Warehouse Robots With Physical Intelligence Models - URL: https://www.tao.media/ultra-raises-62m-to-scale-warehouse-robots-with-physical-intelligence-models/ - Published: 2026-10-09T14:37:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-12T14:39:49.000Z - Description: The Brooklyn startup says deployment, not demos, is the bottleneck as it expands a robots-as-a-service model for 3PL warehouses. - Author: Bart Hillerich - Tags: Ultra, Robotics, News [Ultra](https://x.com/Ultraroboticsco/status/2108565469682688330?ref=tao.media) has raised $62 million to scale warehouse robots that pack, sort, and kit e-commerce orders, pairing its deployment-heavy robotics model with a deeper strategic partnership with Physical Intelligence. The Brooklyn-based startup said the total includes a $50 million Series A led by [Framework Ventures](https://x.com/hiFramework/status/2108571925433725271?ref=tao.media), with participation from Y Combinator, and an earlier $12 million seed round led by Y Combinator and NextView. Ultra also thanked Wing VC, M13, and other backers in its announcement. Ultra’s pitch centers on deployment rather than demos. Robotics needs companies that can install robots in real warehouses, keep them operating, adapt them to customer workflows, and make the economics work for logistics operators that do not want to buy and maintain complex machines themselves. “Robotics has a distribution problem,” Ultra said in its announcement. The company added that making a robot look impressive in a controlled setting is easier than putting it into open-world warehouse environments, making it useful, earning worker trust, and repeating that process across sites. ![Ultra investor and customer thank-you graphic | Ultra](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HUMWfAaWsAAfkli.jpg) Ultra investor and customer thank-you graphic | [Ultra](https://x.com/Ultraroboticsco/status/2108565480458137636?ref=tao.media) ## Ultra’s Robots-as-a-Service Model Ultra leases robots to third-party logistics operators under a robots-as-a-service model, rather than selling the machines outright. Customers pay an upfront integration fee for installation, followed by a monthly fee that covers the hardware and software support needed to keep the system running. It’s installation, uptime, workflow adaptation, and ongoing support wrapped into a recurring service. The company’s robots, which have already packed more than 500,000 orders, are designed for e-commerce fulfillment work, including packing, sorting, and kitting orders inside 3PL warehouses. Ultra’s robots are operating in warehouses across the U.S. and named Manifest, Highline Commerce, and ShipsaLot among its early customers. CEO Jon Miller Schwartz told Fortune that Ultra has booked meaningful revenue, and that demand has allowed the company to raise prices and charge for operational reliability instead of competing only on hardware novelty. ## Physical Intelligence Supplies the Robot Brain Ultra’s expanded partnership with Physical Intelligence points to a growing split in robotics between companies building the “body” and companies building the “brain.” Ultra builds, installs, and operates the warehouse robots. Physical Intelligence supplies the AI models that help those robots learn and improve in response to each customer environment, according to Fortune. In return, Physical Intelligence gets access to real-world deployment data from functioning warehouses, a valuable input for improving robot foundation models. The arrangement resembles the division already common in software AI, where application companies build products on top of foundation-model providers instead of training every model internally. In robotics, that separation is more complicated because the model has to work through physical hardware, site-specific layouts, human coworkers, changing inventory, and operational constraints that are difficult to capture in a lab. Ultra’s announcement framed real warehouses as the place where that learning happens. “The warehouse floor was our training environment and our test bench,” the company said. The partnership helps both sides. Ultra can focus on distribution, customer operations, fleet support, and warehouse integration, while Physical Intelligence gets a path to evaluate its models in environments where performance has commercial consequences. ## A Counterpoint to Humanoid Robotics Hype Ultra’s raise comes during a period of heavy investment and attention around humanoid robots. Schwartz told Fortune that humanoids receive most of the attention, but other robot formats are having the most real-world impact today. He estimated that humanoids could reach similar scale in about five years. Ultra’s approach fits a more immediate view of physical AI. Warehouses already have defined workflows, measurable throughput, and repeatable tasks that can justify automation when systems are reliable enough. Robots do not need to look human if the job is packing boxes, moving items through fulfillment workflows, or preparing orders for shipment. ![Ultra robots deployed in warehouses, video still | Ultra](https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/2108553609898057728/img/lWAmY7QD8pexC5_v.jpg) Ultra robots deployed in warehouses, video still | [Ultra](https://x.com/Ultraroboticsco/status/2108565477153005997?ref=tao.media) But that does not make the work simple. Warehouses vary by customer, item mix, labor process, software stack, and physical layout. A robot that works in a demo has to survive long shifts, edge cases, equipment failures, and human handoffs before it becomes a useful part of a warehouse operation. Ultra’s bet is that solving those deployment problems is the bottleneck. The new capital gives the company more room to expand its fleet and deepen the Physical Intelligence partnership while continuing to collect operational data from real customer sites.