Persona AI is founded by Nic Radford (ex-NASA Johnson Space Center, Toyota Research Institute) and Jerry Pratt (ex-Florida Human & Machine Cognition Institute) targeting the most demanding physical environments: shipbuilding, energy infrastructure, and construction. A strategic investment from POSCO Group (South Korea's largest steelmaker) provides both capital and a direct deployment pathway into heavy industrial facilities. The $27M oversubscribed pre-seed signals investor interest in purpose-built, heavy-duty industrial humanoids as a distinct market from factory automation.