Norwegian robotics company 1X announced on Thursday a strategic agreement with investor EQT, under which it will mass-deploy up to 10,000 Neo humanoid robots to more than 300 of EQT's portfolio companies between 2026 and 2030. The initial applications will focus on manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics. This means that Neo, once marketed as the "first consumer-grade home robot," has now shifted its first foothold from the kitchen to the production line.
According to the transaction arrangement, 1X will sign individual contracts with each interested company, with varying prices and terms. Although the company did not disclose the exact price, an insider revealed that the average unit price for industrial orders is lower than the $20,000 pre-sale price of the consumer version, and includes a service package. EQT Ventures, the lead investor in 1X's Series B round, used its portfolio company network to "open the floodgates" for Neo, helping 1X quickly reduce R&D costs while allowing its portfolio companies to lock in automation benefits in advance.
Neo was originally designed for home use: folding clothes, making coffee, and playing with children — but progress in the consumer market has not met expectations. A source said that three months after launching pre-orders, Neo's actual order volume "far exceeded internal targets," but the market still has concerns about privacy and security: 1X allows remote operators to access the home environment through the robot's camera, a feature that has sparked controversy among European and American users; plus, large humanoid devices pose potential collision risks to pets and children, leading several institutions to push back their estimates for household adoption to 5–10 years later.
"First, make reliability work in the warehouse, then talk about the living room," wrote 1X CEO Bernt Børnich in an internal email. EQT's portfolio companies provided an immediate B2B testing ground: global sorting centers, Nordic cold chain warehouses, and German-French automotive parts factories are all willing to serve as Neo's "real-world sandbox." Compared to the home environment, industrial settings have higher standardization and better safety barriers, making them easier to collect data on gait, grasping, and navigation, paving the way for future algorithm improvements.
