India’s humanoid robots are getting factory-ready: Meet Sherpa Mecha by Ati Motors

Not just human in form

Ati Motors co-founder and CEO Saurabh Chandra calls Sherpa Mecha a “human-inspired” machine,  but not one that tries too hard to mimic people.

“Too many humanoids globally are designed to be ‘too human-ish’. Our approach is to take inspiration from humans, but still make something that plays to the strengths of a machine,” he told Moneycontrol.

Instead of legs, Sherpa Mecha uses wheels for speed and stability on the factory floor. Its carbon-fiber arms can lift 12 kg at nearly a metre’s reach,  far beyond what a human can manage, with future versions targeting 35 kg.

Instead of human-like fingers, it has swappable tools that can be changed mid-task, allowing it to switch from bin-picking to item-picking without downtime. Cameras embedded in its “hands” enable precise vision for tasks such as inspection and metrology.

Currently positioned as a research product, Sherpa Mecha will work with both industrial research teams and universities over the next year before hitting production environments.

Ati Motors sees applications in discrete manufacturing, especially automotive and electronics assembly, where small, complex parts require both dexterity and consistency.

Industry is catching up

It’s a trend that’s catching on across the Indian robotics landscape. Reliance-backed Addverb Technologies is working on a dual-arm humanoid slated for launch in late 2025, aimed at industrial assembly and handling tasks.

Kochi-based Sastra Robotics is pushing advanced robotic systems for manufacturing test automation, while Zoho-backed Asimov Robotics, known for healthcare and service humanoids, is exploring use cases that could eventually extend to factory environments.

A founder of another Bengaluru-based robotics startup which is working on industrial and defense robots, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “The global narrative is shifting from humanoids as service robots in public spaces to serious industrial use. India has a unique advantage because of our strong IT-hardware integration skills and the fact that we can build at a fraction of Western costs.”

Investor interest

Humanoids for industrial automation are drawing growing attention from investors who see them as the next frontier beyond warehouse AMRs.

Ati Motors, which has raised about $37 million to date, is leveraging a network of domestic and global partners to build components and subsystems.

“What we are showcasing is not just ATI engineering, it’s Indian engineering,” Chandra said, adding that the country has enough depth for “one or two companies like us” to scale globally in industrial robotics.

Zoho recently announced acquiring Asimov Robotics. Asimov Robotics, a Kerala-based startup was founded in 2012, the company specialises in providing robotic solutions to industries for addressing hazardous, inefficient, and repetitive scenarios.

“While full humanoid is still a bit far away, robotic arms and other industrial uses are catching up. Whether it’s humanoids, robotic arms, or other automation, India’s opportunities will grow as manufacturing expands. The decision to invest will follow the pace of that expansion,” said Naganand Doraswamy, Founder and Managing Partner, Ideaspring Capital.

In January of 2025, Chennai-based Vividobots, a robotic automation startup, has raised Rs 1.47 crore in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures.

Speaking during a panel discussion at Accel's Advanced Manufacturing Summit in Bengaluru last week, the venture capital (VC) partners Prashanth Prakash and Prayank Swaroop said the ecosystem has reached a turning point.

Prakash said the VC industry has undergone a clear shift in the last six to nine months, with investors increasingly open to backing companies in asset-heavy, complex sectors such as defence, robotics, semiconductors, and aerospace.

“There is something that shifted in the last six to nine months where VCs don’t seem to be viewing these as old-world, asset-heavy businesses anymore,” he said. “I would guess that in the next three to four years, we will see a unicorn in advanced manufacturing.”

Challenges and supply chain risks

Even as robotics moves from prototype to production, challenges remain, from technical readiness to supply chain stability.

One concern in the wider hardware industry has been the availability of rare-earth magnets, which are crucial in many electric motors and are largely refined in China.

Chandra acknowledged short-term disruptions but said the company is already exploring alternatives such as ferromagnetic and induction motors, which are made in India and avoid reliance on rare earths. “In ground vehicles like ours, we can afford slightly larger batteries to offset lower motor efficiency. It’s not like drones, where weight is critical,” he noted.

Manufacturing humanoids also requires multidisciplinary expertise across robotics, AI, materials, and mechanical design, skills that are still scarce in India. The anonymous founder added:

“Talent is the biggest bottleneck. It’s not enough to have AI programmers; you need people who understand control systems, actuators, and integration for industrial environments.”

The road to deployment

Ati Motors is positioning Sherpa Mecha as part of a broader product suite launched this year, including compact pallet movers, lifters, and trolley-handling robots. The company’s existing Sherpa AMRs already operate in factories across continents, executing millions of autonomous missions annually.

The Mecha project has been in development for nearly two years and builds on Ati’s accumulated intellectual property in navigation, perception, and industrial integration. “We’re not a lab-based startup. We have 50 enterprise customers and live every day on shop floors,” Chandra said. “That’s why we’re designing for actual factory use cases, not home chores.”

In the next 12 months, Sherpa Mecha will be deployed in pilot projects with select industrial partners, with an initial focus on bin-picking, machine tending, fastening, tapping, and quality inspection. Success here could set the stage for a new category of humanoid robots designed in India, for the world’s factories.