Enigma, an Israel-based startup developing foundation AI models and software for robots, has raised a US$71 million seed round led by Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital as it emerged from stealth.

Conviction Partners also participated, alongside technology executives and researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Thinking Machines, xAI, and Cognition.

Founded less than a year ago by CEO Jonathan Jacobi and CTO Gal Niv, Enigma is building AI models, software, and interfaces to make robots easier to deploy and operate.

The company said it aims to cut the manual data collection and engineering work usually needed to deploy robots.

It plans to use the funding to expand its AI research and engineering teams, increase computing infrastructure and graphics processing unit (GPU) capacity, and speed up development of its robotics software platform.

The funding comes amid investor interest in physical AI, as companies try to apply AI beyond language and image systems to real-world environments.

Enigma said it is already working with partners in entertainment, retail, and healthcare, and plans to expand deployments across more robotic environments.

Jacobi and Niv previously served together in Israel’s Unit 8200 military intelligence technology unit.

🔗 Source: Calcalist