BROOKLYN, N.Y., — September 28, 2026 — Destro AI, the company building the shared intelligence layer for warehouse robotics, today announced it has raised $8 million in seed funding co-led by Base10 Partners and Bonfire Ventures, with participation from CoFound Partners. The funding will accelerate deployment of Destro’s platform across enterprise warehouses and expand the company’s engineering and research teams.

As an industry, warehouse robotics has never moved faster. Hardware has become dramatically more capable and more widely available, but the landscape surrounding it has also become more complex. Recent regulatory developments have reinforced the need for automation strategies that can remain flexible as available hardware, regulations, supply chains, and operational requirements continue to evolve.

For warehouse operators, the challenge is no longer finding a capable robot. It’s building an automation strategy that is not dependent on a single manufacturer or platform. According to Destro, the industry needs a shared robot-agnostic intelligence layer that enables robots, people, and enterprise systems to work together as a single coordinated operation.

“Everyone is building capable robots,” said Manthan Pawar, Founder and CEO of Destro AI. “We believe the next breakthrough won’t come from another robot. It will come from the intelligence layer that enables any robot to work together. Customers aren’t buying robots; they’re investing in throughput, reliability, and business outcomes. That’s what we’re building.”

Rather than developing another robot platform, Destro built two complementary AI systems: MothershipOS and Vision OS.

• MothershipOS is the shared mind outside the robot body, intelligently deciding which robot should perform which task, where, when, and how, to optimize complex warehouse workflows.

• VisionOS is Destro’s on-robot intelligence platform that enables complex mobile manipulation using AI models trained from human demonstrations, allowing robots to better perceive, grasp, and interact with real-world environments.

Together, the two systems enable warehouses to automate workflows that have historically resisted robotics while giving customers the flexibility to deploy and evolve automation across different hardware platforms as their operations change.

This approach has already generated commercial traction. Less than a year after founding the company, Destro is live in production with leading global third-party logistics providers, supporting complex warehouse operations. Destro has generated commercial revenue while winning head-to-head evaluations against unicorn competitors by focusing on production-ready deployments instead of demo environments.

“Destro’s human-robot collaboration platform gives us a new level of intelligence and control across these workflows, helping our teams operate more efficiently while continuing to meet the high service expectations of our customers,” said Rick Brunelle, Director of Automation, Yusen Logistics (Americas), Inc.

Destro will use the funding to expand enterprise deployments, accelerate development of MothershipOS and VisionOS, and grow its engineering organization. Consistent with the company’s philosophy, engineers and AI researchers work directly alongside warehouse operators on live production floors rather than developing systems exclusively in laboratory environments.

"We met Manthan when Destro had two pilots running. A few months later, they're live in production with some of the largest logistics operators in the country and winning head-to-head against companies with far more funding and far more hype,” said Adeyemi Ajao, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Base10 Partners. “This means the robots stay on, the warehouse keeps using them, and that's the hardest part of this industry to get right. Manthan and his team understood that most buyers aren’t actually looking for a robot, they're buying a warehouse that runs better tomorrow than it did today."

Jennifer Richard, Principal at Bonfire Ventures, added, “We invested in Destro because we believe the next wave of AI will be physical. The winners won't simply be the companies building robots. They'll be the companies that make robots useful inside real-world operations. We've spent enough time around warehouses and logistics networks to know that operational complexity is where good ideas go to die. The gap between a successful demo and a successful deployment is enormous. Destro understands that gap.”

To get in touch with the Destro team, reach out to info@destroai.com. For career opportunities, visit Destro’s career page.

About Destro AI

Destro AI builds the intelligence layer for autonomous warehouse robotics, starting with MothershipOS, a shared brain that coordinates multi-robot workflows and VisionOS, an operating system for robot intelligence trained on human demonstration data. Rather than tying customers to a single robotics platform, Destro enables robots, people, and enterprise systems to operate through a shared intelligence layer that optimizes warehouse workflows regardless of hardware. Founded by a team with backgrounds at HAI Robotics, Dexterity, and Matic, Destro works with enterprise logistics operators including Yusen Logistics and is backed by Base10 Partners, Bonfire Ventures, and Cofound Partners. The company is based in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more at destroai.com.

About Base10 Partners

Founded by Adeyemi Ajao and TJ Nahigian, Base10 is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund investing in founders who believe purpose is key to profits and companies that are automating sectors of the Real Economy, including transportation, retail, logistics, and construction. Through its program, The Advancement Initiative, Base10 aims to donate 50% of profits to underfunded colleges and universities to support financial aid and other key initiatives. Portfolio companies include HappyRobot, Notion, Figma, Nubank, Stripe, Motive, Chili Piper, and Popmenu.

About Bonfire Ventures

Bonfire Ventures is a leading seed-stage venture capital firm backing AI-native B2B technology companies. With more than $1B in assets under management and deep experience helping founders navigate major technology shifts, Bonfire leads seed rounds and partners closely with a small number of companies each year, supporting founders from the earliest stages through scale. The firm's focused model gives founders access to senior, hands-on partners who bring pattern recognition, operating experience, and trusted support when the path forward is not obvious.

Media Contact

Marie Hynes
Head of Marketing
marie@destroai.com

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