Mecka AI buys viral app Thirdspace to scale egocentric robotics data capture

Toronto and New York City-based Mecka AI, a startup focused on supplying the necessary training data for deploying robots in real environments, has completed its second acquisition by purchasing Ottawa’s Thirdspace. The deal is strategically significant because it addresses one of the most critical bottlenecks facing frontier robotics: scaling high-volume, egocentric video capture.

Thirdspace, a social mobile app described as a mix between BeReal, Instagram, and Snapchat, provides Mecka with exactly the mechanism needed for this consumer-scale data collection. The acquisition is effectively an acquihire; Thirdspace founders Cedric Osagie and Eshan Betrabet have joined Mecka to lead its efforts across all things mobile capture, bringing their proven playbook for organic growth.

Mecka’s recent $60 million USD Series B funding round from investors including Sequoia Capital, Nvidia, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Samsung provides the capital runway necessary to execute this aggressive consumer-facing strategy. The company is betting that applying traditional consumer product viral formats, like those used by Thirdspace, will allow it to reach its data targets faster than conventional enterprise sales models.

This move underscores a fundamental shift in robotics infrastructure development: achieving real-world operational capability depends not just on advanced sensors and computer vision, but on mastering the complex mechanics of mass user engagement.