Illinois-Based Formic Raises $50M in Series B and Debt Financing

Formic, a Chicago, IL-based provider of a commercialization platform for physical AI, has raised $50 million in a Series B and Debt financing.

The Series B round was led by Mercato Partners, with participation from Light Ray Ventures, Lightscape Partners, Citi, and other new and existing investors. S2G Investments provided the debt financing.

The company will use the funds to expand its AI and robotics capabilities, move from task-specific automation towards general-purpose robotics, and enter new applications such as metal fabrication. It also plans to deepen its work across aerospace, space, defence, medical, energy, and other areas of the US industrial sector.

What is Formic?

Formic provides a robotics platform that helps manufacturers automate production without a large upfront equipment investment. Its Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) model combines robotic equipment, deployment software, maintenance, field operations, financing and performance monitoring under one recurring monthly payment.

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The company manages deployment and ongoing operations, taking responsibility for keeping robots productive after installation.

Formic initially focused on automating specific manufacturing tasks, including palletising, case packing, machine tending, and kitting. It is now expanding into general-purpose robotics that can support a wider range of tasks across industries.

How Much Funding Has Formic Raised?

Formic has raised $50 million through its latest Series B and debt financing.

The Series B round was led by Mercato Partners, while S2G Investments provided the debt financing. The company has not disclosed its total funding raised to date or details of previous funding rounds in the information provided.

Who Invested in Formic’s Series B and Debt Financing?

The Series B round was led by Mercato Partners.

Other participating investors include:

• Light Ray Ventures
• Lightscape Partners
• Citi
• Other new and existing investors

S2G Investments provided the debt financing.

Why the Funding Matters

Formic plans to use the capital to strengthen its AI and robotics technology and accelerate its transition towards general-purpose robotics.

The funding will also support expansion into metal fabrication and help the company serve manufacturers across aerospace, space, defence, medical, energy, and other industrial sectors.

Its business model is designed to make automation more accessible to manufacturers by removing the need for upfront capital investment. Formic manages equipment, deployment, maintenance, and performance monitoring through a single service.

Who founded Formic?

Formic was founded in 2020 by Saman Farid and Misa. The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

It helps manufacturers deploy and operate robots through a service-based model that combines hardware, software, financing, and ongoing operational support.

“The robotics industry has made extraordinary progress in what robots can do. But building a capable robot and making it productive in a real factory are two very different challenges,” said Saman Farid, founder and CEO of Formic.

“As robots get smarter, the bottleneck moves from the lab to the loading dock: deploying, servicing and financing robots in real plants,” said Ryan Sanders, Managing Director at Mercato Partners, who joins Formic’s Board of Directors.

Market and Business Growth

Formic operates hundreds of robots across more than 100 facilities in over 30 US states. The company reports 99.6% fleet uptime and a 97% customer renewal rate.

Its robots support applications such as palletising, case packing, machine tending, kitting, and assist work. Customers operate across food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, chemicals, aerospace, defence, and packaging.

Formic also reports that it now deploys robots into production about three times faster than a year ago.

What Happens Next?

Formic plans to expand its robotics platform across more industries and manufacturing tasks while developing its general-purpose robotics capabilities.

The company will continue using data from its existing fleet to improve robotic performance and support future deployments. It also aims to expand into sectors such as metal fabrication, aerospace, space, defence, medical and energy.

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