On June 22, Bear Robotics, a US-based commercial delivery robot company, announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Kinisi Robotics, a UK-based embodied AI startup. The transaction is expected to close within the coming days, after which Kinisi Robotics will become part of Bear Robotics.
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, Bear Robotics is backed by LG Electronics and focuses on the R&D and deployment of commercial service robots—specifically products for smart delivery and floor cleaning. The company has established a unified cloud orchestration stack, a mature manufacturing supply chain, and a global commercialization network. It has successfully deployed products in markets including the US, Japan, and South Korea, delivering over 16,000 commercial service robots worldwide. While it possesses robust cloud orchestration platforms, an enterprise customer base, and supply chain capabilities, its robots were previously limited to navigation and delivery, lacking object manipulation capabilities.
Kinisi Robotics was founded in 2024 by Brennand Pierce—a former co-founder of Bear Robotics—with headquarters in New York, US and Bristol, UK. The company focuses on humanoid robots and physical AI manipulation technologies. Its core product is the KR1 wheeled humanoid robot, designed for item picking, placement, sorting, and transport tasks across industrial, logistics, and hospitality sectors. Kinisi Robotics possesses proprietary robotic arms, end-effectors, and low-cost demonstration data collection equipment. It operates a European engineering center in Bristol, with technical expertise centered on robot manipulation, VLA models, and RFM.
The acquisition is driven by complementarity: Bear Robotics provides an established commercial network, data, and supply chain, while Kinisi Robotics fills the gap in critical manipulation capabilities—such as grasping, carrying, and handling objects. This transforms the platform from a “mobile robot” into a “physical AI system capable of executing tasks.”
Prior to the deal’s completion, the two companies will continue to operate independently, with existing customer relationships, pilot projects, and partnerships remaining unchanged. Following the transaction, the Kinisi Robotics team and the Bristol engineering center will be integrated into Bear Robotics. Brennan Pierce, the Founder, will rejoin the Bear Robotics leadership team as Chief Robotics Officer, continuing to lead the Kinisi engineering team in advancing the KR1 platform, while the Bristol office will remain operational as a strategic engineering hub for Bear Robotics. Leveraging this integrated platform, Bear Robotics aims to expand the operational scope of its robots, automating manual labor across a full range of scenarios—including transport, cleaning, picking, and sorting—and ushering in a new chapter in the development of physical AI robotics.
