1X Technologies AS this week announced a strategic partnership with EQT, a private equity firm and investor in 1X through EQT Ventures.
The companies said they intend to roll out up to 10,000 of 1X’s humanoid robots across EQT’s global portfolio between 2026 and 2030. EQT noted that ultimately each portfolio company will make implementation decisions.
“This partnership brings humanoid robotics into the real economy,” stated Bernt Øivind Børnich, founder and CEO of 1X Technologies. “EQT’s global reach and operational expertise make them the ideal partner to help deploy our technology safely, responsibly, and at scale. Together, we aim to demonstrate how humanoid robots can enhance productivity, improve safety, and create more sustainable labor models worldwide.”
1X looks beyond home applications
One key aspect of the partnership is the target applications for 1X Technologies’ NEO humanoid. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said it has designed NEO to operate safely around people.
Until now, 1X has focused on marketing NEO as a helper for common household tasks. Founded in 2014, it said the robot is currently available for pre-orders and will ship to its first consumer homes in 2026.
Looking forward, the company said it will focus on facility operations, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, and healthcare.
1X joins commercial humanoid race
With the additional focus, 1X will be competing with other humanoid developers like Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, and Agility Robotics, which are all aiming to deploy such robots in commercial settings. If 1X is successful, it will be following in the footsteps of Figure and Agility.
Agility Robotics this week announced its latest Digit deployment. Mercado Libre, a leading commerce and fintech ecosystem in Latin America, is integrating Digit into a facility in San Antonio, Texas. The companies didn’t provide many details about what the robot will do at the facility.
Digit was first deployed with GXO in June 2024. This is widely considered to be the first deployment of a humanoid at a commercial customer site. Figure has also deployed its robots with a paying customer since December 2024.
EQT to provide portfolio companies early access
Through this collaboration, EQT’s portfolio companies will gain early access to 1X’s commercial production capacity and integration expertise. It asserted that this will give early adopters a “first-mover advantage” in addressing structural workforce transformation.
The partnership will focus on high-impact use cases for robots working closely with humans, such as industrial software, logistics, facility operations, warehousing, manufacturing, and healthcare.
“Humanoid robotics is moving from fiction to real-world deployment, and 1X is uniquely positioned to lead the next wave of mass-market robotic adoption,” said Ted Persson, lead partner in EQT Ventures, which first invested in 1X in 2023.
“This isn’t about replacing people; it’s about giving them superpowers,” he added. “By making 1X’s technology available to our portfolio companies, we help them tackle labor shortages, improve safety, and unlock new levels of productivity in the industries that keep the world running.”
EQT had €267 billion ($313.4 billion U.S.) in assets under management as of Sept. 30. The platform spans private capital and real assets and includes about 300 portfolio companies with roughly 700,000 employees. The Pittsburgh-based firm also owns more than 2,000 real estate assets across the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific, including 1,800 logistics tenants and 20,000 living tenants.
EQT’s infrastructure portfolio supports 330 million passengers each year, serves 40 million users of social infrastructure services, operates more than 70 data centers, and includes over 145 clinics.
EQT Ventures is an early-stage lead investor that has has raised over €2.6 billion ($3.1 billion) across its funds and partnered with more than 140 founding teams across Europe and the U.S. Its team provides more than capital, offering deep operational expertise, strategic guidance, and access to EQT’s global platform to accelerate growth.
