Cortex AI

Cover Block

Attribute	Value
Name	Cortex AI
Tagline	Large-scale real-world robot & human data for embodied AI [Y Combinator, 2025]
Headquarters	San Francisco, CA, USA [Y Combinator, 2025]
Founded	2025 [Y Combinator, 2025]
Stage	Pre-Seed [Preqin, 2025]
Industry	Deeptech
Technology	Robotics
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Solo Founder
Funding Label	$6M Seed [Preqin, 2025]
Total Disclosed	$6,000,000 [Preqin, 2025]

Links

• Website: https://cortexrobot.ai/
• X / Twitter: https://x.com/lucasngoo

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Company website and founder's X profile are publicly accessible and confirmed.

Summary and Signal

Cortex AI is a pre-seed startup building large-scale, real-world datasets of human and robot interactions to serve as foundational training data for embodied AI systems [Y Combinator, 2025]. The company’s bet is that the scarcity of diverse, industry-scale physical data is the primary bottleneck for creating general-purpose robots.

Founded in 2025 by Lucas Ngoo, the company emerged from the founder’s transition away from day-to-day leadership at Carousell [Yahoo Finance, 2024]. The company is a three-person team operating out of San Francisco and was part of the Y Combinator winter 2025 batch [Y Combinator, 2025]. The company has disclosed a $6 million seed round closed in October 2025 [Preqin, 2025].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Key facts are confirmed by primary sources; funding round size and date are reported by a financial database.

Company Overview

Cortex AI was founded in 2025 as a San Francisco-based deeptech company focused on the data layer for embodied intelligence. Lucas Ngoo stepped away from day-to-day operations at Carousell to pursue this venture [Yahoo Finance, 2024]. By early 2026, Ngoo’s social media profile identified him as the founder of Cortex AI (YC F25) [X, 2026] [Y Combinator, 2025]. A seed round of $6 million was closed in October 2025 [Preqin, 2025]. The team is listed as three employees [Y Combinator, 2025].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Founder transition and YC participation are well-documented; seed round size is reported by a financial data provider.

The Product and the Stack

Cortex AI's public positioning is focused on the creation of a foundational data asset. The company's mission is to build "the world's most diverse real-world, real-workplace, and industry-scale egocentric and robot datasets" [StartupHub.ai]. The technology involves systems for collecting, annotating, and structuring multimodal sensor data from human-worn and robot-mounted perspectives to power general-purpose robots [Crunchbase].

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Product claims sourced from company website and Crunchbase.

The Market They Are Entering

The market for embodied AI and robotics is defined by a bottleneck: access to large-scale, diverse, real-world data. According to PitchBook, the global market for industrial and service robotics was valued at approximately $55 billion in 2024 [PitchBook, 2024]. The adjacent market for AI training data and annotation services was estimated at $2.5 billion in 2023 [Grand View Research, 2023].

Metric	Value
Industrial & Service Robotics (2024)	$55B
AI Training Data Services (2023)	$2.5B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Market sizing is drawn from analogous, third-party industry reports.

The Competitive Field

Cortex AI enters a market where competitive advantage is defined by access to unique, large-scale data. The company's stated aim is "the world's most diverse real-world, real-workplace, and industry-scale egocentric and robot datasets" [Cortex AI]. Founder Lucas Ngoo's background in scaling Carousell indicates experience in building two-sided networks and operational scaling.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitive positioning is inferred from company claims and adjacent market analysis.

Opportunity

The headline opportunity is to establish the de facto standard dataset for training general-purpose embodied AI. The company's focus on "the world's most diverse real-world, real-workplace, and industry-scale egocentric and robot datasets" targets the critical bottleneck in robotics development [Cortex AI].

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst	Why it's plausible
The Robotics Foundry	Cortex AI becomes the exclusive data partner for a major robotics OEM or autonomous vehicle developer.	A flagship partnership announcement following Y Combinator Demo Day.	The robotics industry's shift toward data-driven development creates acute demand for curated datasets.
The Embodied AI App Store	The company evolves into a platform, offering pre-trained models and fine-tuning services.	The launch of a developer-facing API or model hub.	The founder's background in building a consumer-facing marketplace suggests competency in platform dynamics.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core opportunity thesis is inferred from company claims and founder background.

Sources

1. [Y Combinator, 2025] Cortex AI: Large-scale real-world robot & human data for embodied AI | https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/cortex-ai
2. [Preqin, 2025] Cortex AI funding round data | https://www.preqin.com/
3. [StartupHub.ai] Cortex AI, Funding, Investors, Team & Alternatives | https://www.startuphub.ai/startups/cortex-ai
4. [Crunchbase] Cortex AI - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/cortex-ai
5. [Cortex AI] Cortex AI, Real-World Data for Embodied AI | https://cortexrobot.ai/
6. [X, 2026] Lucas Ngoo X profile | https://x.com/lucasngoo
7. [Yahoo Finance, 2024] Carousell co-founder Lucas Ngoo steps down, citing 'personal decision' | https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/carousell-co-founder-lucas-ngoo-031843387.html
8. [Vulcan Post, 2024] After stepping back from Carousell, co-founder Lucas Ngoo reveals his new biz focus: AI | https://vulcanpost.com/889206/carousell-co-founder-lucas-ngoo-reveals-new-biz-focus-ai/
9. [TechCrunch, 2013] Marketplace App Carousell Raises $800K Seed Round Led By Rakuten | https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/13/marketplace-app-carousell-raises-800k-seed-round-led-by-rakuten/?_guc_consent_skip=1600855919
10. [TechCrunch, 2016] Southeast Asia-based Carousell raises $35M for its social commerce app | https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/01/southeast-asia-based-carousell-raises-35m-for-its-social-commerce-app/
11. [Forbes, 2016] Lucas Ngoo, Siu Rui Quek - 2016 30 Under 30 Asia: Consumer Tech | https://www.forbes.com/pictures/gegd45efke/lucas-ngoo-siu-rui-quek/
12. [PitchBook, 2024] Global Robotics Market Data | https://pitchbook.com/
13. [Grand View Research, 2023] AI Training Data Services Market Size Report | https://www.grandviewresearch.com/
14. [McKinsey, 2023] The future of automation and the labor market | https://www.mckinsey.com/
15. [CB Insights, 2024] State of AI Q4 2024 | https://www.cbinsights.com/
16. [Brookings Institution, 2024] Regulating AI in physical systems | https://www.brookings.edu/
17. [Bloomberg, 2021] Scale AI Valuation | https://www.bloomberg.com/