Formic Raises $50M Series B Led by Mercato Partners to Scale Robot-as-a-Service Platform

Formic Secures $50M Series B

Formic, a Chicago-based robotics company building the commercialization platform for physical AI, has raised a $50 million Series B round. Mercato Partners led the round, with participation from Lightscape Partners, Citi, and Light Ray Ventures.

What Formic Does

Formic operates a Robot-as-a-Service model that bundles robotic equipment, deployment software, field operations, maintenance, financing, and performance monitoring into a single recurring monthly payment. The structure lets manufacturers automate tasks such as palletizing, case packing, and machine tending without upfront capital investment.

The company's fleet operates across more than 100 facilities in over 30 US states. Formic is expanding from task-specific automation into general-purpose robotics, targeting industries including food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, aerospace, defense, and energy.

Why It Matters for Acquirers

The Series B gives Formic fresh capital to scale its deployment footprint and broaden its robotics capabilities. For strategic buyers, the company offers a recurring-revenue model in industrial automation, a multi-state operational footprint, and a software-plus-field-operations stack that spans deployment through maintenance and financing.

Round Details

• Company: Formic
• Round: Series B
• Amount: $50,000,000 USD
• Lead investor: Mercato Partners
• Additional investors: Lightscape Partners, Citi, Light Ray Ventures
• Date: October 22, 2026
• Headquarters: Chicago

The Takeaway

Formic's raise signals continued investor appetite for robotics-as-a-service models that lower the capital barrier to factory automation. The company's shift toward general-purpose robotics across food and beverage, CPG, aerospace, defense, and energy expands its addressable market beyond discrete task automation.