Minerva Humanoids unveils Roger for hazardous industrial work

Minerva Humanoids has emerged from stealth with Roger, a semi-autonomous humanoid designed for hazardous industrial and public-safety work. The company disclosed approximately $10 million in pre-seed funding led by General Catalyst, with Long Journey Ventures and Credo Ventures as co-leads. That backing predates the October 6 launch: Forbes Hungary reported roughly HUF3 billion in financing in September.

Roger is being developed for oil and gas facilities, emergency response, industrial inspection and remote operations. Minerva says the robot is designed to weigh under 100 kg when outfitted, navigate stairs and wet surfaces and fit into a passenger seat for transport. Modular payloads are planned for different operating environments.

The platform combines operator control through a VR interface with onboard autonomy for balance, navigation and fall recovery. Minerva plans to introduce greater autonomy progressively as it develops the robot’s control and intelligence stack. First paid pilots are planned for autumn 2026.

Minerva says it progressed from concept to a walking prototype in five months. Initial hardware is being manufactured and assembled in Germany, while much of its software and AI development takes place in the United States. Longer-term production is planned across both countries, with the company aiming to build a Western-focused supply base and reduce reliance on single-source Chinese components.

The company was founded by Sándor Felber and Maurice Rahme. Felber previously worked on actuator control for Tesla Optimus and later humanoid control research at MIT CSAIL. Rahme was a technical lead on Boston Dynamics’ Stretch manipulation program.

Alongside General Catalyst, Long Journey and Credo Ventures, Minerva’s investors include MVP Ventures, Kaya VC, Compound, Runway, Tiny Ventures, Walter Ventures, Chaotica, Babylon, Firedrop and Embassy Ventures.

Minerva has also established a two-year research partnership with MBZUAI, initially focused on humanoids for safety-critical energy environments. The programme covers multimodal perception, computer vision, reinforcement learning and simulation for robotic interventions.

Filings associated with the Roger brand identify further intended applications including search and rescue, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear monitoring, explosive-ordnance disposal, casualty evacuation and logistics. Those filings describe potential uses rather than demonstrated capabilities or confirmed deployments.