“Building Robots to Do the Jobs Humans Shouldn’t Have to Do” — Inside Leo Ma’s $10M Mission to Transform Labor

Under the Arizona sun, Leo Ma stood on a solar farm, watching workers labor across blistering, hazardous terrain to secure solar panels. For Ma, these scenes of human toil in unforgiving conditions were a clear signal that innovation was overdue. Years of visiting factories, mines, and drilling sites had convinced him of one thing: many of the world’s most demanding jobs shouldn’t require human hands at all. It was this belief that led Ma to found RoboForce in 2023, a Milpitas-based robotics startup on a mission to address labor shortages and industrial challenges with the power of advanced AI robotics. This week, RoboForce announced a $10 million early-stage funding round, with backing from Nobel Laureate Myron Scholes, prominent venture capitalist Gary Rieschel, and Carnegie Mello