Sanctuary AI

General-purpose humanoid robots — Phoenix powered by the Carbon cognitive system

Robotics 📍 Vancouver, Canada Founded 2018

Current Valuation

Private

PRIVATE

Sanctuary AI is a Vancouver-based humanoid robotics company building Phoenix — a general-purpose bipedal robot powered by its proprietary Carbon cognitive AI system. The company was founded in 2018 by Geordie Rose (CEO, also founder of D-Wave Systems), Suzanne Gildert, Olivia Norton, and Ajay Agrawal. Phoenix is targeted at labor-shortage industrial and retail tasks; the 7th-gen platform completed 110 retail-related tasks during a 2024 pilot at a Mark's store in British Columbia. Total funding to date is ~C$148.6M, including a C$30M Strategic Innovation Fund contribution from the Government of Canada. The 2025 BDC + InBC strategic round expands Phoenix's commercial deployments.

Company Profile

CEO

Geordie Rose

Founded

2018

Vancouver, Canada

Employees

~110

Total Raised

$110M

Growth

~C$148.6M total raised including C$30M Strategic Innovation Fund grant; smaller than US humanoid peers' single rounds

IPO Status

private

Founders & Key People

Geordie RoseSuzanne GildertOlivia NortonAjay Agrawal

Investors

BDC Capital · InBC Investment Corp · Accenture · Bell · Export Development Canada · Evok Innovations · Magna International · SE Health · Verizon Ventures · Workday Ventures · Government of Canada (Strategic Innovation Fund)

Products

Phoenix (7th-gen general-purpose humanoid robot)
Carbon (proprietary AI cognitive system)

Competitors

Figure AI · 1X Technologies · Apptronik · Agility Robotics · Tesla Optimus

RoboticsHumanoidCanadaAI