Sharpa
Sharpa is a Singapore-based AI robotics company building dexterous robotic hands (SharpaWave), full-body humanoid robots (North), and a hierarchical Vision-Tactile-Language-Action AI model (CraftNet) for tactile-driven manipulation, sold to research institutions, OEMs, and industrial partners globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2024
- HeadquartersSingapore, Singapore
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Sharpa does
Sharpa is an AI robotics company founded in 2024 and headquartered in Singapore that develops dexterous manipulation hardware and embodied AI software for real-world deployment. Its core product portfolio centers on tactile-driven manipulation: the SharpaWave is a 22-degree-of-freedom, 1:1 human-scale dexterous robotic hand with a proprietary Dynamic Tactile Array (over 1,000 tactile pixels per fingertip and 0.005N pressure sensitivity), and the North humanoid robot integrates two Wave hands with high-dynamic whole-body control (67 degrees of freedom). On the software layer, CraftNet is a hierarchical Vision-Tactile-Language-Action (VTLA) model composed of three asynchronous neural networks (System 2 reasoning, System 1 motion, System 0 interaction at 100Hz), designed for last-millimeter fine manipulation; Sharpa also co-developed the Tacmap tactile simulation framework with NVIDIA.
Sharpa generates revenue through three streams: hardware sales of SharpaWave hands (priced in the high five figures, with mass production beginning October 2025) and forthcoming North humanoid robots (production release mid-2026); software and AI model licensing through CraftNet and the Sharpa Wave SDK (with System 2 released as open source); and pilot program and deployment services with strategic partners such as JTC, Grab, and A*STAR. The company goes to market via direct enterprise sales, the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T Reference Humanoid Robot distribution channel (Unitree-sourced, late 2026), and Singapore-based strategic partnerships. Customers span research institutions (Ai2, Stanford, ETH Zurich, UC San Diego), leading global technology companies, and industrial/governmental partners (A*STAR, JTC, Grab). Founders are the three co-founders of Hesai Technology (Li Yifan/David Li, Xiang Shaoqing, Sun Kai), and Sharpa has raised approximately $117 million in disclosed venture funding led by Qiming Venture Partners, reaching unicorn valuation.
Sharpa firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sharpa
- Legal name
- SHARPA PTE. LTD.
- Website
- https://sharpa.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2024
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Sharpa is a Singapore-based AI robotics company building dexterous robotic hands (SharpaWave), full-body humanoid robots (North), and a hierarchical Vision-Tactile-Language-Action AI model (CraftNet) for tactile-driven manipulation, sold to research institutions, OEMs, and industrial partners globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sharpa industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Humanoid Robotics
- NAICS
- Other General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing (3339), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)
- SIC
- General Industrial Machinery & Equipment (3560), Electronic Components & Accessories (3670)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Humanoid & General-Purpose Robots (HDAAAIAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Robot Hardware, Actuators & Components (sensors, grippers, motors) (HDAAAIAL), AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)
Keywords
Where Sharpa is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Singapore
- HQ country
- Singapore
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices3 records
Markets served
Sharpa business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Robotic Hardware Sales: Sale of SharpaWave dexterous robotic hands and North humanoid robots to research institutions, technology companies, and industrial partners. Pricing is in the high five figures for the Wave hand. Hardware products are sold directly through sales outreach and are entering mass production.
- Software and AI Model Licensing: CraftNet VTLA model and associated AI software layers are offered as part of the integrated platform. System 2 (Reasoning Brain) is described as open-source. Revenue may be generated through proprietary model licensing, SDK access, and cloud inference services.
- Pilot Program and Deployment Services: Sharpa deploys North robots in pilot programs with partners such as JTC (Punggol Digital District) and Grab (F&B operations), and co-develops AI-enabled robotic capabilities for container handling at ports with A*STAR. These pilot programs may generate service revenue and create pathways to broader commercial deployments.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | SharpaWave high five-figure tier |
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | North humanoid robot production version |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Sharpa product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sharpa builds dexterous robotic hands (SharpaWave), full-body humanoid robots (North), and hierarchical VTLA AI models (CraftNet) for autonomous fine manipulation in real-world environments. The integrated hardware-software platform combines 22-DOF tactile-sensing hands with three-layer neural network AI to enable grasping, in-hand rotation, bimanual operation, and tool use with near-human precision. Products are sold to research institutions, robot OEMs, and industrial customers, with the SharpaWave hand priced in the high five figures and North expected for production release in mid-2026.
Product overview
Sharpa offers a complete platform for dexterous manipulation spanning hardware, simulation, and AI. The core product portfolio includes SharpaWave, a 22-degree-of-freedom dexterous robotic hand with visuo-tactile sensing; North, a 67-degree-of-freedom full-body humanoid robot integrating Wave hands with whole-body control; and CraftNet, a hierarchical VTLA (Vision-Tactile-Language-Action) AI model. Supporting infrastructure includes Tacmap tactile simulation framework for sim-to-real transfer, Sharpa Pilot device management application, and Sharpa Wave SDK for developer integration. The platform is designed for embodied AI research and general-purpose robotic applications across service, industrial, and home environments.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Wave: SharpaWave is a 22 degrees of freedom dexterous robotic hand engineered to match the human hand in size, structure, and tactile sensitivity. Features Dynamic Tactile Array (DTA) technology with over 1,000 tactile pixels per fingertip and 0.005N pressure sensitivity.
- North
- CraftNet
Products and services
- SharpaWave Dexterous Robotic Hand A 22-DOF dexterous robotic hand engineered to match human hand size, structure, and tactile sensitivity, featuring over 1,000 tactile pixels per fingertip, 0.005N pressure sensitivity, 6-dimensional force sensing, and strength exceeding 20N per fingertip at 4 Hz movement speeds. Designed for embodied AI research and integration by robot OEMs.
- North Humanoid Robot A 67-DOF full-body humanoid robot integrating high-dynamic whole-body control with human-level dexterous manipulation skills, designed for autonomous operation in real-world service, industrial, and home environments with demonstrated capabilities including 0.02-second reaction time in ping-pong and multi-step assembly tasks.
- CraftNet VTLA Model An end-to-end hierarchical Vision-Tactile-Language-Action AI model for fine manipulation, consisting of three asynchronous neural networks: System 2 (Reasoning Brain, ~1Hz, VLM-based), System 1 (Motion Brain, ~10Hz), and System 0 (Interaction Brain, ~100Hz) for last-millimeter tactile interaction control and native anthropomorphic manipulation.
- Sharpa Wave SDK Software development kit providing libraries and APIs for integrating Sharpa Wave dexterous hand hardware into custom applications and robotics software stacks, distributed via GitHub and compatible with ROS2 and major simulation platforms.
Quantifiable outcome
- Robot setup time reduced from days to hours using the integrated NVIDIA Isaac GR00T reference design with Sharpa Wave hands.
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Sharpa
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Sharpa technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
AI capability9 records
Feature6 records
Sharpa partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- NVIDIAcoreSharpa is a key partner in NVIDIA's Isaac GR00T Reference Humanoid Robot platform, providing Wave tactile five-finger hands as the dexterous end-effector. The partnership integrates Sharpa Wave with NVIDIA Jetson Thor compute and Isaac GR00T/Isaac Lab simulation frameworks, enabling developers to train tactile-driven manipulation policies. Sharpa is also a member of the NVIDIA Inception program and has co-developed the Tacmap tactile simulation framework with NVIDIA's GEAR Lab.
- Unitree RoboticscoreUnitree provides the H2 Plus humanoid robot chassis for the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T Reference Humanoid Robot platform, with Sharpa Wave hands mounted as the dexterous end-effector. The partnership combines Unitree's humanoid body hardware with Sharpa's tactile manipulation technology and NVIDIA's computing and software stack into a validated reference design.
- A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R)flagshipSharpa is exploring collaboration with A*STAR I2R on the co-development of AI-enabled robotic capabilities for container handling tasks such as twist-lock coning and de-coning, as part of efforts to advance embodied AI solutions for future port operations in Singapore.
- JTC CorporationflagshipSharpa signed a memorandum of understanding with JTC Corporation to deploy North autonomous robots within the Punggol Digital District across various retail and F&B settings, and to open an innovation lab with access to JTC's Open Digital Platform.
- GrabcoreSharpa and Grab are exploring the use of robotics in F&B operations and logistics at Singapore's Punggol Digital District. Grab CEO Anthony Tan and Sharpa Founder David Li participated in a Founders Dialogue discussing how AI robotics can help safeguard Singapore's food culture.
- Hesai GroupcoreHesai Group has a Supply of Products Framework Agreement with Sharpa to provide LiDAR products, robotic actuators, and related manufacturing and integration services from March 25, 2026, to December 31, 2026. The deal formalizes an ongoing supply relationship supporting Sharpa's dexterous hands and embodied intelligence products, with 40-50% cost-plus margins on robotic actuators.
- NVIDIA Inception ProgramminorSharpa joined the NVIDIA Inception program at GTC 2026, gaining access to NVIDIA resources, development platforms, and co-marketing opportunities to support its robotics development.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Sharpa competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Apptronik: Austin-based humanoid robotics company behind the Apollo humanoid. Direct competitor in dexterous humanoid platforms with similar enterprise pilot strategy.
- Figure AI: US-based humanoid robotics company developing the Figure 01/02 general-purpose humanoid. Direct competitor targeting commercial deployment of dexterous manipulation humanoids.
- 1X Technologies: Norway/US humanoid robotics company developing the Neo bipedal humanoid backed by OpenAI. Direct competitor targeting home and commercial service humanoid deployment.
- Shadow Robot Company: UK-based dexterous robotic hand specialist (Shadow Hand) serving research institutions and OEMs. Direct competitor and reference point in the high-DOF dexterous end-effector market Sharpa Wave targets.
- Unitree Robotics: China-based humanoid and quadruped robotics company. Directly competes in humanoid robots (H1, H2, G1) and is simultaneously a distribution partner via the NVIDIA Isaac GR00T reference platform alongside Sharpa Wave.
- Sanctuary AI: Vancouver-based humanoid robotics company building the Phoenix general-purpose robot with Carbon AI for dexterous manipulation. Direct competitor with overlapping manipulation-focused approach.
- Agility Robotics: Oregon-based creator of the Digit humanoid robot, with logistics-focused commercial pilots (Amazon, GXO). Direct competitor in bipedal humanoid commercialization.
Broad incumbents
- Boston Dynamics: Established humanoid and mobile robotics incumbent (Atlas, Spot) now owned by Hyundai. Broad incumbent in humanoid robotics with much longer autonomy track record and Hyundai factory Atlas deployments overlapping Sharpa's industrial ambitions.
- Tesla (Optimus): Tesla's Optimus humanoid program represents a broad, well-capitalized incumbent pursuing in-house dexterous manipulation for factory and home use, overlapping Sharpa's industrial and eventual home market.
Emerging players
- Physical Intelligence: San Francisco-based foundation-model-for-robotics startup (PI0). Emerging player in robot foundation models that could become either a partner or competitor to Sharpa's CraftNet VTLA stack.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Sharpa social profiles
Digital presenceSharpa financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sharpa leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Sharpa funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors9 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sharpa M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sharpa
What does Sharpa do?
Sharpa builds dexterous robotic hands (SharpaWave), full-body humanoid robots (North), and hierarchical VTLA AI models (CraftNet) for autonomous fine manipulation in real-world environments. The integrated hardware-software platform combines 22-DOF tactile-sensing hands with three-layer neural network AI to enable grasping, in-hand rotation, bimanual operation, and tool use with near-human precision. Products are sold to research institutions, robot OEMs, and industrial customers, with the SharpaWave hand priced in the high five figures and North expected for production release in mid-2026.
Is Sharpa a public or private company?
Sharpa is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Sharpa founded?
Sharpa was founded in 2024. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Sharpa based?
Sharpa is headquartered in Singapore, Singapore, in the Asia region.
How does Sharpa make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Robotic Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are software and AI Model Licensing and pilot Program and Deployment Services.
Who are Sharpa's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Apptronik, Figure AI, 1X Technologies, Shadow Robot Company, Unitree Robotics, Sanctuary AI and Agility Robotics. Broad incumbents are Boston Dynamics and Tesla (Optimus). Physical Intelligence is listed as an emerging player.
Does Sharpa have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sharpa.
What industry is Sharpa in?
Sharpa's product category is Humanoid Robotics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAIAJ, Humanoid & General-Purpose Robots, with a secondary code of HDAAAIAL, Robot Hardware, Actuators & Components (sensors, grippers, motors). Its NAICS code is 3339 and its SIC code is 3560.