(Bloomberg) -- Humanoid robot-making startup Sanctuary AI has struck a deal with a major auto-parts manufacturer for deployment in its factories and additional equity.

Sanctuary signed the strategic partnership with car-parts maker Magna International Inc., which supplies 58 automakers including BYD Co., Ferrari NV and Volkswagen AG. It didn’t disclose the amount of equity involved, which is a follow on from a previous investment.

Sanctuary’s robot Phoenix is meant to be adaptable, rather than specialized for any particular task, thanks in part to dexterous, human-like hands. 

Magna, based in Aurora, Ontario, is a big buyer of industrial robots. It will test Sanctuary’s machines in its facilities, hone the technology and examine how to use its own industrial heft to find ways to mass produce the company’s robots.

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Sanctuary’s co-founder Geordie Rose is a serial entrepreneur who previously started D-Wave Quantum Inc. and another robotics company, Kindred Systems Inc., which was acquired by British supermarket Ocado Group Plc. His co-founder at Sanctuary and Kindred, Suzanne Gildert, who also worked at D-Wave, left Sanctuary this week.

Sanctuary raised C$75.5 million ($55.6 million) in a Series A funding round in March 2022, followed by C$30 million from the Canadian government’s Strategic Innovation Fund in November 2022. Last month, global consultancy Accenture Plc’s venture arm also made a strategic investment in the startup, and in January chip developer giant Nvidia Corp. outlined its work with robot-makers including Sanctuary and Boston Dynamics Inc.

In recent months, androids have become a fiercely competitive space. In January, Norway-based 1X Technologies AS raised $100 million, and in March, Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, OpenAI and Microsoft Corp. invested $675 million in Figure AI Inc.

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