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Nanoparticle fluorescent tracers for reservoir characterization in geothermal and oilfield applications.", "one_liner": "Nanoparticle tracers for reservoir characterization during hydraulic…", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Energy", "launched_at": 1461817211, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Nanosensors" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2016", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Energy" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gtrack-technologies", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2016/gtrack-technologies.json", "year_founded": 2015, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c829f7c14250a37c4d9ade594c3ff633807302dd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 38792, "full_name": "Teddy Guenin", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tguenin", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/52ee9dea6e61c5fa1874e3a2b93242873e9f45d1.jpg" }, { "user_id": 109306, "full_name": "Ashwin Amurthur", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwinamurthur", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1a3b5cf69b04ba66f2c6e6d7377446badec65cb3.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 1352, "name": "Proxy", "slug": "proxy", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/190493234a6fff12dbec698756a71b558faa2267.png", "website": "https://proxy.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "We're building a mobile and wearable digital wallet that makes interacting with payments, identity, and authentication seamless, fun, and empowering.\r\n\r\nAcquired by OURA in 2023", "one_liner": "Smart ring digital wallet", "team_size": 20, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Consumer Electronics", "launched_at": 1465054211, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Consumer", "Identity" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": true, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2016", "status": "Acquired", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Consumer Electronics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/proxy", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2016/proxy.json", "year_founded": 2016, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/proxy-technologies/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/proxy", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/martians", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/190493234a6fff12dbec698756a71b558faa2267.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 14422, "full_name": "Denis Mars", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "3x Founder, 3x Exits. \nInvesting in AI-native startups.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/denismars", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/denismars", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a439e40036b01deaf0b6ebd6b5ecfabad749eff8.jpg" }, { "user_id": 26556, "full_name": "Simon Ratner", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "YC Badge: 0xe4bad42969186ecba2eb7e70ef0ba8b8b7f7a82f", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonratner", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/simonratner", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/25a5bb90ef9dc4e3094f48060ac256464e885053.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "ŌURA ring make to buy Digital Identity Startup Proxy", "url": "https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-09/oura-ring-maker-to-buy-digital-identification-startup-proxy", "date": "May 09, 2023" }, { "title": "Oura Acquires Proxy to Expand Into Payments and Authentication", "url": "https://pymnts.com/news/biometrics/2023/oura-acquires-proxy-to-expand-into-payments-and-authentication/", "date": "May 09, 2023" }, { "title": "Biometric Digital Identity: Proxy Acquires Smart Ring Startup Motiv For ‘Man-Machine Symbiosis’", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2020/04/27/biometric-digital-identity-proxy-acquires-smart-ring-startup-motiv-for-man-machine-symbiosis/?sh=5fcba7fd4f03", "date": "Jul 01, 2021" }, { "title": "Proxy Is Digitizing Your Presence", "url": "https://blog.ycombinator.com/proxy/", "date": "Jul 01, 2021" }, { "title": "New app will help employers verify workers' coronavirus vaccine status - Axios", "url": "https://www.axios.com/employers-coronavirus-vaccines-technology-employees-322eb204-2b7f-4083-b104-fa15773840d0.html", "date": "Jun 24, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 1448, "name": "Sinovia Technologies", "slug": "sinovia-technologies", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9b9d956105c787223d1de3aadf905fe682588855.png", "website": "http://www.sinoviatech.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; San Carlos, CA, USA", "long_description": "We use the printing methods used for newspapers, packaging, posters, and other graphic media to make beautiful, emissive electronic displays with high-end OLED technology aimed at low-cost applications. Our displays are paper-thin, flexible, and can be easily custom printed in a variety of shapes and sizes, allowing hardware designers to use displays and indicators on curved surfaces and in new ways.", "one_liner": "Flexible printed OLED displays.", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1478062833, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "IoT" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2017", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/sinovia-technologies", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2017/sinovia-technologies.json", "year_founded": 2010, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sinovia", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9b9d956105c787223d1de3aadf905fe682588855.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 168305, "full_name": "George Burkhard", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-burkhard-a396022?trk=hp-identity-name", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/aa6de5e8eb1094721bea0a1736b2624e039537ea.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 65527, "title": "Sinovia Technologies: ✨ Flexible Printed OLEDs", "tagline": "OLED indicator displays for smart products, custom printed like newspapers.", "body": "Hi All! We are Whitney and George, and at [Sinovia Technologies](https://www.sinoviatech.com/) we make OLED displays for smart products using roll-to-roll printing.\n\n### **🚧 The problem: smart products need to communicate data to their users, but there hasn’t been innovation in low cost displays in 50 years.**\n\nIoT products are built around the data that they collect, the functions they perform, and the data that they communicate back to their users. They are constrained by space, power, and cost, and these factors determine whether a product can include an indicator or display for user communication. The primary indicator options right now are based on LED and LCD technologies, which are bulky, power-hungry, and can only convey limited types of information.\n\n### ✨ **The solution: printed OLED**\n\nOLED is the highest-quality display tech on the market, but until now it has been relegated to high-end phones and TVs because of cost. Sinovia's proprietary materials allow us to make printed OLEDs using the same old-school tools used to make labels, packaging, and newspapers. We make really nice displays very quickly and very cheaply. They are perfect for products that have space and power constraints, as they are as **thin as a human hair, consume less power, and are flexible**. And because we are using the same printing tech used to print newspapers, we can **easily customize the display** to fit the product in the same way new newspapers are printed every day. **We envision a world in which any product can have effective visual communication on any surface.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=65527&key=user_uploads/168283/8dd81ba8-06b4-4142-b408-d72a9724ac91)\n\nWe have been working on this for a long time – we started back in 2009 during our PhD programs at Stanford. We are now in the demo and customer collaboration stage, moving toward mass production next year.\n\n### **Our Asks**\n\n**Are you building hardware?**\n\n_We’d love to talk with you about how we might be able to collaborate!_\n\n**Know anybody else building hardware? Are you friends with product designers or contract manufacturers?**\n\n_We love intros to makers and builders!_\n\n📩 **Get in touch!** [founders@sinoviatech.com](mailto:founders@sinoviatech.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/H2t-sinovia-technologies-flexible-printed-oleds", "votes": 15, "created_at": "2022-08-22T06:24:20.888Z" } ] }, { "id": 1621, "name": "Advano", "slug": "advano", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4c9f0cc21efb3dce2d12550da90985af17c152cc.png", "website": "http://www.advano.io", "all_locations": "New Orleans, LA, USA", "long_description": "Combining nanotechnology with fundamental chemical engineering principles to accelerate the renewable energy revolution.\r\n\r\n", "one_liner": "Advano is a battery technology company that improve the longevity of…", "team_size": 25, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Climate", "launched_at": 1493398658, "tags": [ "Energy Storage", "Hard Tech", "Climate" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2017", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Climate" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/advano", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2017/advano.json", "year_founded": 2017, "city": "New Orleans", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/advano/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/advanotech", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/advano", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4c9f0cc21efb3dce2d12550da90985af17c152cc.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 195452, "full_name": "Shiva Adireddy", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Over the last 12 years, Dr. Adireddy has compiled an impressive track record in energy & materials entrepreneurship, manufacturing diverse classes of materials to solve problems in the fields of renewable energy and clean technology. His expertise in both the technical and business aspects of nanotechnology is testified to by his authorship of articles in 10 issued US patents and over 40 peer-reviewed publications.", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiva-adireddy-5aab1850", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/22325c15df94a08d1b528ce0e2154caf2cfa3149.jpg" }, { "user_id": 76409, "full_name": "Alexander Girau", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "CEO and Co-founder of Group1\nFounding CEO of Advano.\n", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergirau", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/AlexanderGirau", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/becc32a0df28fc78c84b56bfc3ddebff74826d8b.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 1651, "name": "Airthium", "slug": "airthium", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/47e0ce3ee1f7f3701c2f7f883ff961f703c2fc5e.png", "website": "http://www.airthium.com", "all_locations": "Paris, Île-de-France, France", "long_description": "We build engines that have the potential to slash 33% or worldwide CO2 emissions - cost-effectively.\r\n\r\nFirst, we help food and mining companies cut both their heat costs *and* CO2 emissions by replacing gas-fired steam boilers with our proprietary high temperature heat pumps. Our heat pumps make up to 3x more heat with the same amount of electricity, even at up to 1000°F.\r\n\r\nOnce the heat pump market is mature, we will address the seasonal energy storage market. Our storage units are based on the exact same proprietary engine we use for our heat pumps. They work with solar and wind, and replace lithium-ion batteries, fossil-fired power plants, CO2 capture and storage, and fuel procurement, with a cheaper, sustainable and more reliable alternative, which can be sited anywhere.\r\n\r\nThe first opportunity is a high-margin market worth 3% of worldwide CO2. The second is a much bigger market worth 30% of worldwide CO2. By the time all cars become electric, it will be even more.\r\n\r\nOur key is we are building the first Stirling engine to reach 86% of the Carnot efficiency, compared to 64% for the state of the art. 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This is still my current position.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreiklochko/?locale=en_US", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/472948d08e8ae7a3524a70ed6c8bf6698671164c.jpg" }, { "user_id": 191231, "full_name": "Franck Lahaye", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Cofounder at Airthium.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/francklahaye", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2409919dfac561c1d7f29e05beef8565132ce4a6.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Y-Combinator Backed Airthium's Breakthrough Engine Aims to Replace Fossil Fuels and Decarbonize Industrial Heat and Power Generation", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/news/y-combinator-backed-airthiums-breakthrough-201942587.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEVTITX-wtgL9T6MoT-NG6RL2m4IQgZOqDAlNw6CSHyWw9-KUGkA1mo0iiQx2fUSwyNxwS6q4PWtH7cnD2PzEX5TwPKJg_CxyhbSm2SsDYubzk0tXqCWWIfqn_2Jo_NU-aYwrrWu0MzHSiiQB35m_Osk8LEa1Gw3ylTFtVGFh-AW", "date": "May 09, 2023" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 1739, "name": "Observant AI", "slug": "observant-ai", "former_names": [ "Buglife", "Observant" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2e800cad3bc0abdaeb2231fae95e02400fb25188.png", "website": "https://www.observantai.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Observant AI is an iPhone-based driver monitoring system for commercial fleets. It uses machine learning + iPhone's depth sensors to detect unsafe driver behavior, prevent accidents, and save lives.", "one_liner": "iPhone-based driver monitoring for commercial fleets.", "team_size": 5, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Operations", "launched_at": 1509562882, "tags": [ "Autonomous Trucking", "Hard Tech", "Machine Learning", "SaaS" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2018", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Operations" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/observant-ai", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2018/observant-ai.json", "year_founded": 2019, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/observantai", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/observantai", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/observant-ai", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2e800cad3bc0abdaeb2231fae95e02400fb25188.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 197879, "full_name": "Daniel DeCovnick", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO at Observant", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-decovnick-37aa362/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/icodestuff", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/55299d8810e34f5f5f2929d17c33de2e3c94d7de.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 1753, "name": "SRTX", "slug": "srtx", "former_names": [ "Sheerly Genius", "Sheertex", "SRTX", "SRTX (Sheertex)" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b8f27e765f9d63d4654849ec852c4f841e0eadcf.png", "website": "https://www.srtxlabs.com/", "all_locations": "Toronto, ON, Canada; Montreal, QC, Canada", "long_description": "SRTX builds new materials and software to enable better textiles. SRTX is best known for its first technology, Sheertex, a knit made from one of the world's strongest polymers which has disrupted hosiery through impossibly strong pantyhose. 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She is the Founder of Oomira, building the memory infrastructure layer for AI. Previously, she founded and scaled SRTX, makers of Sheertex ‘unbreakable’ tights, raising nearly $300M and securing global retail partnerships.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinehomuth/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/532132bcf63073e4692348093fc4de8cab02f9ce.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Katherine Homuth: The Visionary Behind SRTX’s Revolutionary Sheertex Tights And Innovations", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelachan/2024/01/30/katherine-homuth-the-visionary-behind-srtxs-revolutionary-sheertex-tights-and-innovations/?sh=30f1d6bfe5b5", "date": "Jan 31, 2024" }, { "title": "How the Startup Behind Sheertex Tights Got Into YC and Raised VC Money", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/srtx-hosiery-startup-sheertex-tights-ycombinator-venture-capital-funding-2022-10", "date": "Oct 26, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 1873, "name": "Warpdrive by Synthetic Minds", "slug": "synthetic-minds", "former_names": [ "XXV Inc.", "Synthetic Minds" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a8bc972f9200404d5b7bdf30cf4fd37ff60f4653.png", "website": "http://warpdrive.co", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Remote", "long_description": "What if you could turn your screen recording into an unattended automation, or on-screen guides for your coworkers? That is exactly what we allow you to do. We take the recording, run a compiler to analyze it, synthesize a program from that analysis, and create an automation or guide within seconds.", "one_liner": "From screen recordings to desktop automations using program synthesis", "team_size": 7, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Productivity", "launched_at": 1513364572, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotic Process Automation" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2018", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "B2B", "Productivity" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/synthetic-minds", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2018/synthetic-minds.json", "year_founded": 2018, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/_syntheticminds", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/synthetic-minds", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a8bc972f9200404d5b7bdf30cf4fd37ff60f4653.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 64430, "full_name": "Saurabh Srivastava", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Work on building code capabilities for Nemotron at NVIDIA. 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Graphics researcher. OSS advocate. C++, GPU, UI, WebKit expert.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjeansimmons/", "x_url": "https://www.twitter.com/adamjsimmons", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8974f34f311b48265397cc0484b55957b054f2e4.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 12012, "name": "Atomic Alchemy", "slug": "atomic-alchemy", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f78037132844f2c28f0e50e7d2c311cbf1101d6a.png", "website": "https://atomicalchemy.us", "all_locations": "Idaho Falls, ID, USA", "long_description": "Atomic Alchemy is building a bank of reactors to produce the nuclear material that goes into nuclear medicine. Radiopharmaceuticals are vitally important in biological tracers, diagnostic imaging, and cancer treatments.\r\n\r\nCurrently, the world's supply of Molybdenum-99, the cornerstone of 80% of all nuclear medicine procedures, is sourced from just six government-run, scientific research reactors abroad. Five of these reactors are 45-65 years old and are quickly coming to the end of their operational life. This has cultivated a fragile and lengthy supply chain, at odds with the nature of radioactive material.\r\n\r\nThis issue and its implications do not just effect molybdenum, but any other reactor-based isotope. Many promising cancer therapies are stuck in clinical trials, unable to secure enough material in a timely manner. Research doesn’t even happen because of the difficulty of sourcing any new isotopes.\r\n\r\nIt doesn't have to be this way. Atomic Alchemy is working to solve this by building the world's first scalable radioisotope production facility. This facility will contain the world’s first privately-owned nuclear reactors dedicated to radioisotope production.", "one_liner": "We produce cancer-curing materials used in nuclear medicine.", "team_size": 8, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1541478882, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Small Modular Reactors", "Medical Devices" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2019", "status": "Acquired", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-alchemy", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2019/atomic-alchemy.json", "year_founded": 2018, "city": "Idaho Falls", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/atomic-alchemy-inc/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/isotopefactory", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/AtomicAlchemyInc/", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/atomic-alchemy", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f78037132844f2c28f0e50e7d2c311cbf1101d6a.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 247802, "full_name": "Thomas Eiden", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Former reactor engineer/core designer at the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory. Performed next-generation nuclear fuels research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 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Volta is transforming the way biological research and analyses are performed, allowing scientists to focus on what they do best -- pushing the boundaries of biology.\r\n\r\nAs a collective of scientists and builders working at the intersection of engineering and biology, we imagine a world where extracting vital information from biological samples is as simple as pressing a button. That's our vision, and we're turning it into reality.\r\n\r\nOur HQ is in Boston’s Seaport, where we develop and manufacture our technology. We believe in cross-functional collaboration and continuous learning – whether your interest is in biology, MechEng, CompEng, or simply joining a fast-growing startup striving to make the world a better place, we'd love to welcome you to our team. Check out some of our blog posts to learn more about work life at Volta. ", "one_liner": "Unlocking the utility of genomics for the world.", "team_size": 50, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Industrial Bio", "launched_at": 1607278601, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Genomics", "Biotechnology" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2019", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Industrial Bio" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": [ { "question": "Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.\n", "answer": "We build Integrated circuits for biology workflows" }, { "question": "What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.\n", "answer": "A high throughput automation system for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) sample preparation using digital microfluidic chip technology." } ], "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "In 2018, Volta Labs was born in the halls of MIT with a clear mission: to unlock the utility of genomics for the world.\\\\Previously nestled in the vibrant hub of Kendall Square, known as \"the most innovative square mile on the planet,\" we quickly became immersed in the dynamic biotech culture. After numerous conversations with other scientists and hours of research, we discovered that trailblazing biologists were being held back by the constraints of existing automation tools, particularly in the realm of DNA sequencing. While DNA readout technologies surged ahead, the upstream steps of sample preparation (sample prep) lagged behind.\\\\During Founder Udayan Umapathi’s graduate stint at the MIT Media Lab, what began as a humble printed circuit board to manipulate colorful droplets soon evolved into a solutionfor the notorious \"sample prep bottleneck.\" Propelled into action, we secured funding from top-tier VCs and got to work." }, { "question": "What's the history of your company from getting started until the present day? What were the big inflection points?", "answer": "Since the company was funded coming our YC in Winter 2019, our focus has been laser-sharp in the lab, where we've been busy inventing and constructing groundbreaking fluidic and sample manipulation technologies. We embrace an anti-disciplinary approach, tackling the toughest challenges by seamlessly integrating instrumentation, fluidics, software, biology, and chemistry. While we're currently channelling our energies into sequencing sample prep, our grand vision extends beyond – envisioning a future where a single universal machine automates the lion's share of biological workflows in genomics, proteomics, and synthetic biology.\\\\At Volta, we're not just shaping the future of genomics; we're engineering it. Join us in harnessing the power of biology and technology to change the world." }, { "question": "What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?", "answer": "We are in the midst of a genomic revolution. From 1999 to 2000, the Human Genome Project generated the first “draft” human genome, which cost \\~$300 million across 20 labs worldwide. It took another three years, and hundreds of millions of dollars, to produce a human genome that was \\~90% complete, as complete as the technologies for sequencing DNA allowed at the time. In 2023, a scientist can sequence a genome at a bench for hundreds of dollars in a day. The adoption of sequencing technologies across new applications only continues to accelerate as it becomes easier, faster, and cheaper. \\\\Despite these advancements, preparing samples for sequencing remains a significant bottleneck. We believe that disruptive innovations are needed in sample prep to unlock the true utility of genomics. With the new reality of the $200 genome (sequencing cost alone), sample prep is becoming a more significant burden on labs than ever before. " } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/volta-labs-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2019/volta-labs-inc.json", "year_founded": 2018, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/volta-labs-inc", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/voltalabsinc", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/volta-labs-a9c8", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/373e91d473569c304899f7cec638ddc0b46d10d6.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/b174dc71f1ac1b5b04ae4d55f5100d5bef2f19b8.png", "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/7bb2e9324a7753b95d0c687a8a5d98b14165bf0a.png" ], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 11802, "full_name": "Udayan Umapathi", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "As the founder and CEO of Volta Labs, Inc., I have over five years of experience in creating and scaling a company that is transforming the field of sequencing sample prep. With a background in entrepreneurship, engineering, design and biology, I have a unique perspective and skill set that enables me to bridge the gap between different disciplines and domains.\n\nAt Volta Labs, we are building a disruptive product that streamlines the entire process of preparing samples for any sequencing technol", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "http://linkedin.com/in/udayanu/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/uday1489", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e36948027c0c8b60f053b0afec83af2bc19a7b3f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Volta Labs Launches Electrowetting-Based Automated NGS Sample Prep Platform | GenomeWeb", "url": "https://www.genomeweb.com/sequencing/volta-labs-launches-electrowetting-based-automated-ngs-sample-prep-platform", "date": "Feb 07, 2024" }, { "title": "Volta Labs and Integrated DNA Technologies Partner to Advance Target Enrichment Workflows", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/volta-labs-and-integrated-dna-technologies-partner-to-advance-target-enrichment-workflows-302052365.html?tc=eml_cleartime", "date": "Feb 06, 2024" }, { "title": "Volta Labs and Watchmaker Genomics Partner to Simplify and Optimize NGS Library Prep", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/volta-labs-and-watchmaker-genomics-partner-to-simplify-and-optimize-ngs-library-prep-302052367.html?tc=eml_cleartime", "date": "Feb 05, 2024" }, { "title": "Volta Labs Launches Callisto to Revolutionize Genomics and Sample Prep", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/volta-labs-launches-callisto-to-revolutionize-genomics-and-sample-prep-302049915.html", "date": "Feb 01, 2024" }, { "title": "Volta Labs grabs $20 million to address a growing genomics bottleneck – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/18/volta-labs-grabs-20-million-to-address-a-growing-genomics-bottleneck/", "date": "Mar 18, 2022" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 78341, "title": "Volta Labs - A genomics applications company revolutionizing sample prep", "tagline": "Unlocking the utility of genomics for the world", "body": "**_tl;dr_** - Volta Labs introduces Callisto, a groundbreaking genomics sample preparation system. With its push-button simplicity, Callisto transforms sample prep unlike anything else in the past 15 years, offering a revolutionary and hands-free experience. Checkout the [**_product here._**](https://www.voltalabs.com/product)\n\n[Volta Labs](https://www.voltalabs.com/product) is a group of antidisciplinary scientists and builders working at the intersection of engineering and biology. With the release of Callisto, we brought to life a sequencer agnostic platform that spans from the raw biological sample to sequenceable molecules. We have done this by reinventing the full stack — hardware, software, chemistry, and biology. At Volta, we’re not just shaping the future of genomics, we are engineering it.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78341&key=user_uploads/11802/3c27fa33-e647-497c-997f-4c09284f47b6)\n\n\\\n[🤔](https://emojipedia.org/thinking-face) **The Problem** \n\nGenomic sequencing has made remarkable strides since its inception in 1990, with continuous advancements in both sequencing and data analysis over the past three decades. However, the process of preparing samples for sequencing has seen limited innovation during this time. Despite the tremendous progress in sequencing technologies, the sample preparation phase remains a bottleneck, often taking multiple days and requiring skilled lab technicians and expensive instruments.\n\n**✅ The Solution - The CallistoTM Sample Prep System**\n\nAt Volta, we aim to reduce time and complexity with the introduction of our flagship product, Callisto – a benchtop instrument with many pre-optimized applications that reduces operational requirements and costs in the laboratory and clinic that were previously cost-prohibitive. This innovation addresses the longstanding challenges that have hindered efficiency and accessibility in genomics, making it a game-changer for the industry.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78341&key=user_uploads/11802/ae8be7a4-5028-465f-a3f4-ea4d05dabc30)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78341&key=user_uploads/11802/da90f1f1-fd22-49a5-b025-5814ed501736)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=78341&key=user_uploads/11802/c2fd28d3-6988-410b-a677-d20a6f0c1eae)\n\n**✨ Benefits**\n\nCallisto is set to revolutionize laboratories, seamlessly combining efficient nucleic acid extraction with push-button library creation. Explore some of the many advantages that Callisto introduces to the field of genomics sequencing:\n\n* Can be operated without specialized training and takes minutes to set up\n* Sequencer agnostic\n* All-in-one, benchtop solution that allows users to press start and walk away\n* Speeds up and simplifies both short- and long-read sequencing preparations\n* Out of the box, pre-optimized applications\n\n\n\n🤝 **Our Ask**\n\n* **Connect us with companies and individuals in life sciences and beyond.** Feel free to connect on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/udayanu) or [send me an email directly](mailto:hello@voltalabs.co)\n* Volta is growing fast and looking for talented engineers as we ramp up production - software, mechanical and electrical. **Our immediate need is for a Software Engineering Lead, Electrical Lead and a Head of Manufacturing.**  [Apply here](https://www.voltalabs.com/careers) or [send me an email](https://hello@voltalabs.co) directly if you want to refer a friend.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/KNZ-volta-labs-a-genomics-applications-company-revolutionizing-sample-prep", "votes": 4, "created_at": "2024-02-12T03:20:46.409Z" } ] }, { "id": 12553, "name": "Well Principled", "slug": "well-principled", "former_names": [ "Well Principled", "BODYSIM by Well Principled" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6c59ac5aca8c4a74c69ab15c408544b91f24e98e.png", "website": "https://wellprincipled.com", "all_locations": "St. Louis, MO, USA", "long_description": "We aren’t building AI to replace \"knowledge work” that requires neither, but to bolster the working human intellect which has never failed to discover new paths to prosperity.\r\n\r\nFor all their success, mainstream approaches to AI have fundamental limitations preventing them from solving critical classes of problems. We are building a new AI architecture from first principles to break from these limitations.\r\n\r\nThe status quo has ossified around the supervised, brute-force pretraining paradigm. These systems do not, and cannot, handle the essential skills of continual learning, goal discovery, novel planning, and the creation of new knowledge.\r\n\r\nThese limitations are not trivial. Our national prosperity depends directly on overcoming these limitations, because the essential skills underlie the skilled trades. From electricians to machinists to nurses, apprentice tradespeople in all of these fields learn “skilled improvisation” where every solution is novel, and even the goal must be discovered. Prosperity demands the precise capabilities where status quo AI is structurally weak.\r\n\r\nWorse, these limitations will not be overcome with more compute or training data. They are inescapable consequences of the underlying technologies of supervised learning, neural networks, transformers, backprop, and gradient descent. Progress requires independence from them.\r\n\r\nWe are building a new AI architecture by reverse-engineering the system that got us this far: the human brain. By triangulating between neuroscience, cognitive science, and the evolutionary elaboration of brains, we have identified the brain’s algorithms to (a) continually learn a causal world model (b) select goals to both achieve and learn to achieve more (c) plan to reach novel goals, and (d) creatively produce new knowledge.\r\n\r\n\r\nJoin us in building intelligence with ingenuity to bolster the skilled trades.\r\n\r\n", "one_liner": "The neural engine for autonomous robots", "team_size": 3, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1556081533, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Neurotechnology", "Robotics", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2019", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": true, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/well-principled", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2019/well-principled.json", "year_founded": 2018, "city": "St. Louis", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/well-principled", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/WellPrincipled", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/well-principled", "github_url": "https://github.com/wellprincipled", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6c59ac5aca8c4a74c69ab15c408544b91f24e98e.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/video_event/45/1566241198616-71hnc3yy20s-e44047fd543930de13cd42793c010be6/9c5803bb1c409138256027580ef7c991.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAQC4NIECABPQ2AHNW%2F20261020%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T022643Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=dbc2c54bb5f28caeb41240d2b9c97286f72aeafa80af24a39d2b5728d1cf412d", "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/f3e9f53254f6f411d6c324fc428104be8af65d13.png" ], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 337500, "full_name": "Ryan Richt", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Ryan has galvanized teams with bold vision and disruptive, patented innovations since 2003. Ryan transformed distributed analytics across an academic lab, his first bootstrap startup and computational biology and cloud teams at Monsanto. He grew VC-backed CiBO from 7 to 70 engineers and data scientists. Ryan holds an MBA and BA prob/stats from Olin and WashU.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-richt/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e251b1296e81516f1167cf3a6363f07ff33fedc3.jpg" }, { "user_id": 338275, "full_name": "Christopher Shafer", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Chronically the first customer-facing engineer, Chris has delighted customers with deep-data applications from corn germplasm catalogs to global satellite data and environment simulations. Marshalling his broad expertise from cloud architecture to data visualization, Chris delivers outcomes customers love and leads solutions teams to productize them.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-shafer/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7c828b926156cb2ee1bccbd77869529553cbf3f0.jpg" }, { "user_id": 338266, "full_name": "Joseph Wingbermuehle", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Joe has spent 15 years building foundational platforms, from middleware at AT&T, to startups across FPGA-accelerated high-frequency trading, accelerated ETL, machine learning based network security (acquired by Cisco) and hybrid AI/physical models of global-scale crop simulation. Joe holds a BS in Applied Math and a PhD in Computer Science from WashU.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/joewing", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/bc10e36863ae342f0586145c2ce2fcc5c7fcd6e0.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83050, "title": "BODYSIM: Gain muscle and shed fat with a digital twin of your body", "tagline": "Your body's app-based simulation that recommends nutrition and exercise to meet your goals.", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83050&key=user_uploads/337500/1b2cc420-a97a-4df4-9066-c1974aff8915)\n\nWe're excited to announce a complete overhaul of BODYSIM from a tracking and modeling tool for your metabolism into an end-to-end fitness forecasting system. After launching our initial beta last fall, we discovered something crucial: our users didn't just need another tracking tool with cool graphs, they needed a complete solution that bridges the gap between goals and real results.\n\n# The Challenge of Getting Results is Still Valid\n\nIf you've ever tried to build muscle and lose fat, you know the frustration:\n\n* Conflicting advice from countless \"experts\" and unreliable information\n* Scattered data across different apps and devices, each telling a different story\n* The exhausting task of turning abstract targets into actual meals and workouts\n\n# The (new) BODYSIM Solution: Building Your Digital Twin\n\nAt BODYSIM's core is our advanced \"digital twin\" technology, combining sensor fusion with the science of metabolism and physiology to help you understand your true potential, using:\n\n* DEXA scans\n* BIA weigh-ins\n* 3D body scans\n* Fitness tracker data\n* Resistance training\n* Macro-tracking\n* Blood panel biomarkers\n\nThis comprehensive data integration unlocks hidden insights about your metabolism, including your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), hormone balance, and body composition changes.\n\n# What's New: Tools are Not Enough - Get Our Users Outcomes\n\n### 1. Prescriptive Meal Plans: Chef-Created Meal Plans & Virtual Meal Kits\n\n* Library of high-protein, low-fat recipes with step-by-step instructions to make eating for transformation easy\n* Customizable weekly meal plans based on your preferences and goals\n* Direct integration with Walmart and Amazon delivery: order your entire meal plan with a few clicks\n* Simplified food logging with grouping, automated recipe creation, and easy to repeat meals\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83050&key=user_uploads/337500/2ce2e1ea-b35c-40b9-9cf4-26d0cf6b18cb)\n\n### 2. Prescriptive Workouts: Comprehensive Workout System\n\n* 2,200+ exercises with detailed videos and instructions\n* Intelligent weekly split recommendations\n* Progressive overload tracking to optimize muscle gain\n* 3D scan integration to track individual muscle group progress\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83050&key=user_uploads/337500/68860789-4915-47c8-a893-f0df1991b813)\n\n### 3. Fitness Forecasting: Advanced Integration Features\n\n* Scenario planning to understand how to achieve goals faster\n* Muscle group modeling that maps exercises to specific body measurements\n* Blood marker sub-models that connect nutrition choices to health outcomes with quantitative recommendations to make a change\n* Overtraining Syndrome (OTS) risk monitoring\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83050&key=user_uploads/337500/5c951bcb-3162-4b27-9bba-e1d9521fed0b)\n\n---\n\n---\n\n# Why Trust Us\n\nThis is what we do; our core tech distills messy academic literature into simulations. We've deployed science-based models of consumer behavior and battery electrochemistry to enterprise. We built BODYSIM to guide our own fitness journeys. It worked. I put on 45 lbs of muscle, and my co-founder put on 25 lbs of muscle while losing 50 lbs of fat.\n\nAnd it worked in our alpha test (ages 29-69, 50% female). 8 alpha testers lost an average of 12.6 pounds in 3 months, and 4 alpha testers with a maintain goal changed <1.4 pounds in 3 months.\n\nWe then had some beta amazing beta tester results: one lost 40 lbs, another gained 12 lbs of muscle, a female user gained 8 lbs muscle, a co-founder gained 10 lbs of muscle, and more.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83050&key=user_uploads/337500/04e38715-bc9f-4c3d-ab07-adacd8f1ee9f)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83050&key=user_uploads/337500/cc37c2ce-b3d5-40b2-a5ac-455b0dc85f93)\n\n# The Complete Package\n\nYour BODYSIM subscription includes:\n\n* Quarterly DEXA scans\n* Withings Body Scan scale\n* Monthly at-home blood tests\n* Escali food scale for precise tracking\n* Daily body composition updates\n* Live signals like Resistance Training Intensity to adaptively steer to your goals\n* Personalized exercise and nutrition recommendations\n\n# Join Us\n\nJoin us in revolutionizing how people transform their bodies. With BODYSIM, you're not just getting another fitness app - you're getting a science-based, personalized system that guides you from where you are to where you want to be.\n\nReady to transform your body with confidence? Visit [bodysim.com](http://bodysim.com) today.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LbW-bodysim-gain-muscle-and-shed-fat-with-a-digital-twin-of-your-body", "votes": 24, "created_at": "2024-08-14T20:27:45.090Z" } ] }, { "id": 12622, "name": "Yummy Future", "slug": "yummy-future", "former_names": [ "Yummy Future", "Yummy Future Inc." ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b16e65239377a055987a5fda8f301c3a3cd7876f.png", "website": "https://yummy-future.com", "all_locations": "Champaign, IL, USA", "long_description": "We amplify worker produtivity by10X. Restaurants and food retail businesses require high volume and consistency, yet many business owners struggle to achieve this. Employees also dislike working in repetitive and labor-intensive environments, where even a slight mistake can lead to customer complaints. This results in high turnover rates in the restaurant industry.\r\n\r\nOur goal is to let robots and machines handle the boring, laborious tasks so that humans can focus on engaging with customers and collecting product feedback.", "one_liner": "We build robotic workforces for the food & beverage industry.", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1556675968, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2019", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": true, "demo_day_video_public": true, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yummy-future", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2019/yummy-future.json", "year_founded": 2018, "city": "Champaign", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/yummy-future-inc", "x_url": "", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/yummyfuturerobot/", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/yummy-future", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b16e65239377a055987a5fda8f301c3a3cd7876f.png", "app_video_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/bf-public_profile/12694/app_video.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQC4NIECADIQ5IO3P%2F20261020%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T022644Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHEaCXVzLXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIFn9f1Q%2Fd5qbfh%2BaAtaVplCeCsQqcNPXsuJRFd%2FhEVNTAiEA32K96AnrgcbRhcV%2FG1nfonPcgv%2Bc%2FqKyXAbZewGS7bkq5QMIORAAGgwwMDYyMDE4MTEwNzIiDMTF%2FTN3Ytu8H%2BXUvCrCA1e4pUvTMyQiKt1%2BeAxWJxztB3upc48xMnu8txnu6hPBB6tBT9FH%2B7KdYRpxGBnJZBkdyCmlLAJ0CXfeAAY8fyQvYDNR%2FVSROes19%2BTTnJYT9S2wCgfQCuJ0YeiFCQLChHcol7BkRYnmMNIO%2FgE29LCyEStkWRZG8WbRZY81Ca7Az%2BTBv1lMtscc5ZPC81SmhdJekCuCDpwEsSL%2FPrlMBHsQmNQ7fWZt%2FC%2F6PL9LagGFJrFwULDIrlKTRuT7%2BbaJ%2FIK4VXnF4lb94Qy6zViEkIrDXoC%2FMM8rlq8sDNGiqbGMj1TovkZ6kZSW5ZjdiSSC7qHt0t2cywP9UEqQdXuMhdWAft9xeQK1LvDjPhtv9kR6uvifQIRrMHKq%2FiRb1XsAikH6XANMUVzUJ8Ir1HZqBuS%2FEy88qF7mCLBci5FVyousO1F9Ut3gwITW0JcFOcCCd2Dsg1N%2BDATCZBDU6xN0%2FDdz8wDqBNzjAjrGbBiYgMnIOv9uk%2BsyK8iYnCmea%2FXfGo%2BiY5SuTsG%2BV8C5dxRg3phnYkIMAxeZqL7TD1qmmPu6uv9YVQKa%2BslxeaqycA%2Ba%2BafPdlHmaggog8yCaUbjFRWrhTDn%2FdrWBjqlAYDHbtBAFbJaQyRK%2Frvi4i%2BaROKi9FWEPA6onBTAu32RxbMsFc29ZArKwaNqujD8g1G3rzBr%2FC5GV%2FAXG6jj7cVGairxEVEvGC1yDegS%2FCv86Hpqs%2FT9xUImWeQ4KeT62C7Nuyj3iLifpzmHqORhRhY63cnr0feNsvCU3m42qSPRPsvIPk8NOVUKFKdgs6fuRI%2B7pHVoEPDzz%2Bdxlt1USe8vCNP5vQ%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=01be14057ee0ded3b6ac3e637faf394fc9e4b6ba634705861a1cf7d3cae60375", "dday_video_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/video_event/45/1566252272200-cmyzzr3imzw-f1c51ca09c87077380702957be7c4114/566bd3ebf9b19599a73b0740386c0683.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAQC4NIECABPQ2AHNW%2F20261020%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T022644Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=0ac8a1af05e5f9b2b002296cf956642a55ca768a7340103b3dcce4f21a64eeac", "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 310507, "full_name": "Jack Cui", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Any questions for robotics? Happy to help.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/guangzhe-cui-5b8651b5/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e191eb10434c9fb6cadeeef46061350b47350197.jpg" }, { "user_id": 321241, "full_name": "Garrett Yan", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-yueming-yan-b036b470/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/85d860e5809e09c1d164a6983ffc5aec0b72bcd3.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 54252, "title": "Robotics Engineer (CS&ECE)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yummy-future/jobs/DVpzEkU-robotics-engineer-cs-ece", "location": "Champaign, IL", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 60742, "title": "ECE / Robotics Engineer (Full-Time) – Yummy Future", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yummy-future/jobs/I7pFdm6-ece-robotics-engineer-full-time-yummy-future", "location": "Champaign, IL", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Backend", "salary_range": "$1", "equity_range": "0.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "C", "C++", "Python", "Linux" ] }, { "id": 60930, "title": "Mechanical / Robotics Engineer (Full-Time) – Yummy Future", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yummy-future/jobs/ebWpqJv-mechanical-robotics-engineer-full-time-yummy-future", "location": "Champaign, IL", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$1", "equity_range": "0.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 63700, "title": "Full-time Barista at Yummy Future Coffee on the UIUC campus", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yummy-future/jobs/iY2RxjJ-full-time-barista-at-yummy-future-coffee-on-the-uiuc-campus", "location": "Champaign, IL, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$18 - $20 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 79183, "title": "Coffee Shop Manager - on University Ave in Palo Alto", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yummy-future/jobs/ml5CQna-coffee-shop-manager-on-university-ave-in-palo-alto", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$26 - $32 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 79184, "title": "Barista - on University Ave in Palo Alto", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yummy-future/jobs/lN5QDXj-barista-on-university-ave-in-palo-alto", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$20 - $22 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Yummy Future robotic coffee shop's drinks and food - Smile Politely — Champaign-Urbana's Culture Magazine", "url": "https://www.smilepolitely.com/food-drink/yummy-future-robotic-coffee-shops-drinks-and-food/", "date": "Nov 05, 2024" }, { "title": "Robot coffee stand serves drinks with a twist", "url": "https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/robot-coffee-stand-serves-drinks-with-a-twist/", "date": "Apr 22, 2019" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 86631, "title": "Yummy Future - Robot workforce for the Food & Beverage industry", "tagline": "Advance the Food & Beverage industry and tackle inflation with robots.", "body": "# **TL;DR**\n\nYummy Future creates a cutting-edge **robot workforce** designed specifically for the food and beverage industry to tackle inflation. Our technology reduces the burden on human workers, allowing them to focus on building closer connections with customers.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86631&key=user_uploads/310507/94f263ae-be8f-49a6-b20a-3d3a8fc988b9)\n\n## **The Problem: Restaurant Price Inflation**\n\nAccording to Finance Buzz, restaurant prices increased by an average of 60% between 2014 and 2024—nearly double the national inflation rate. To make matters worse, service quality has declined. CNBC reports that 25.9% of Starbucks customers experienced longer wait times, reflecting a broader trend of labor shortages in the industry.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86631&key=user_uploads/310507/7b2798ce-cc88-4789-98cf-124637dd96cc)\n\nWhy is the labor shortage happening?\n\nMany workers view server or barista roles as unsustainable long-term careers, especially on minimum wage, leading to **high turnover rates**, such as **130.7%** in 2020. This forces businesses to incur additional expenses for hiring, training, and maintaining staff while overburdening existing employees to stay profitable.\n\n# **Our solution**\n\nWe're here to change the game—making businesses profitable while ensuring workers find satisfaction and sustainability in their roles.\n\n[YC launch Video](https://youtu.be/3cQhbJTUL10)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86631&key=user_uploads/310507/ec24464e-a9a9-4eda-b0ce-52e69a6884d4)\n\nOur system is a high-throughput, modular, and reconfigurable solution, designed to serve as a flexible multi-category food and beverage assembly line. By automating routine and production-heavy tasks, it reduces the burden on human workers, allowing them to focus on building closer connections with customers—answering questions, addressing their needs, and fostering meaningful interactions.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86631&key=user_uploads/310507/10db4630-8784-4114-a96f-85cf52a555f3)\n\n# **Our ask**\n\nWe’d love to hear from you:\n\n* **Support Our Crowdfunding Campaign:** \n* **Franchising Interests:** Let’s explore how we can grow together.\n* **Partnership Opportunities:** If you have an existing brand and want to integrate our solution, let’s collaborate!\n* **Join the Waitlist for Coffee Shop in a Box:** Email us at [business@yummy-future.com](mailto:business@yummy-future.com)\n\nWe look forward to connecting and working together!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86631&key=user_uploads/310507/a9c1edd9-fbb1-46d2-9f04-5d274611c758)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MXH-yummy-future-robot-workforce-for-the-food-beverage-industry", "votes": 10, "created_at": "2025-01-07T01:36:29.570Z" } ] }, { "id": 12666, "name": "spotLESS Materials", "slug": "spotless-materials", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f4bcbe21be5fc35568846a259c348e3973168839.png", "website": "https://www.industry.spotlessmaterials.com", "all_locations": "State College, PA, USA", "long_description": "Surface fouling is a costly challenge across industries, impacting medical consumables, diagnostic devices, and automotive components. 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We've shown that it works in the operating room and is as accurate as the best tools doctors have today, at a fraction of the cost. We're a team of health tech scientists with multiple past startups and exits, and we've built products that have scaled to over 2M users.", "one_liner": "A small sticker that monitors blood pressure continuously", "team_size": 9, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Medical Devices", "launched_at": 1597939819, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Nanosensors", "Health Tech", "Medical Devices", "Digital Health" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2020", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Medical Devices" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vena-vitals", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2020/vena-vitals.json", "year_founded": 2019, "city": "Irvine", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/vena-vitals", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d5e63e35879195913f15231bf23b59e4850803e2.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 472902, "full_name": "Ray Liu", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "- Two health tech exits (to Cigna & Vizient)\n- 15+ years leadership at GE Healthcare, Siemens, & startups (Ediom, Socialwellth)\n- Built multiple products/services from ground zero, some with 2M+ users\n- Set up quality system for factory in China that passed FDA inspection \n- MBA, Harvard Business School\n- MS Electrical Engineering, University of California at Berkeley \n- BS Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayliu/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f3e05b58b2316da94b5bb888ca74e77e3c10ac9b.jpg" }, { "user_id": 491064, "full_name": "Michelle Khine", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Serial Entrepreneur", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-khine-a7111315/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e8d71c149514027f92005a2e24336211dfc69f4c.jpg" }, { "user_id": 472936, "full_name": "Josh Kim", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "PhD - Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Irvine\nMS - Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Irvine\nBS - Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshkim599/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1328932dd6ce247eeb64f13e993a164bac288aa6.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 53885, "title": "R&D Algorithm Engineer – Health Technologies", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vena-vitals/jobs/RvD50Nt-r-d-algorithm-engineer-health-technologies", "location": "Irvine, CA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Data science", "salary_range": "$75K - $125K", "equity_range": "0.09% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "C", "C++", "D", "MATLAB", "Python", "TensorFlow", "Deep Learning", "Data Modeling", "Data Analytics", "Machine learning" ] }, { "id": 60986, "title": "Electrical Engineer ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vena-vitals/jobs/mHg6rfQ-electrical-engineer", "location": "Irvine, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$70K - $150K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "Assembly", "C", "C++", "CAD Design", "Prototyping" ] }, { "id": 80286, "title": "R&D Process & Manufacturing Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vena-vitals/jobs/qRFk4gc-r-d-process-manufacturing-manager", "location": "Las Vegas, NV, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Engineering manager", "salary_range": "$60K - $120K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "MATLAB", "Chemistry", "Material science", "Wet lab" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 22319, "name": "SiPhox Health", "slug": "siphox-health", "former_names": [ "SiPhox Inc.", "SiPhox" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1f28b560503f712b4a2ddebceba1e2c0d68d36c2.png", "website": "https://www.siphoxhealth.com", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "We are developing a new paradigm for consumer health tech wearables by replacing a 100lb optical instrument with an area of silicon smaller than a postage stamp.", "one_liner": "At-Home health monitoring with silicon photonic chips for data centers", "team_size": 63, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Consumer Health and Wellness", "launched_at": 1599762606, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Biometrics", "Nanosensors", "Health Tech", "Health & Wellness" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2020", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Consumer Health and Wellness" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2020/siphox-health.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/siphox-inc", "x_url": "https://x.com/siphoxhealth", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/siphox", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1f28b560503f712b4a2ddebceba1e2c0d68d36c2.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 520037, "full_name": "Michael Dubrovsky", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm a serial entrepreneur interested in challenging myself and changing the world with nanotechnology. \n\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dubrovsky/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/MikeDubrovsky", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a47345422c196ac4b189f2685f9e4ec6d5a883dd.jpg" }, { "user_id": 496434, "full_name": "Diedrik Vermeulen", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Diedrik is one of the founders of SiPhox and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Diedrik brings to SiPhox extensive expertise and experience in the development of optical systems on a chip. Prior to joining SiPhox, Diedrik was the director of engineering at Analog Photonics and a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Diedrik has 28 patents and 108 publications and is recognized as the world expert in optical fiber, free-space and chip-to-chip coupling.\n\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/diedrik-vermeulen-a32361a/", "x_url": null, "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c35f9ceddd80e7657d2e139ca9c373d1ae39cf76.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 91395, "title": "Technical Product Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/YC0wnPa-technical-product-manager", "location": "Boston, MA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Product", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$100K - $150K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "Python", "React", "React Native", "Figma", "Prompt Engineering" ] }, { "id": 100104, "title": "Wartime Operations and Product Lead ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/MidPrDz-wartime-operations-and-product-lead", "location": "Boston, MA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$160K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 100105, "title": "Full-Stack Software Development Lead", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/JJWtH1J-full-stack-software-development-lead", "location": "Remote", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Engineering manager", "salary_range": "$80K - $120K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 104395, "title": "Product Manager, Mail-In Blood Testing", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/kVeUyK3-product-manager-mail-in-blood-testing", "location": "Boston, MA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Product", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$140K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 109475, "title": "Head of Consumer Experience; Home blood testing", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/N05WFT7-head-of-consumer-experience-home-blood-testing", "location": "Boston, MA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Product", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$130K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 111653, "title": "Senior Mechanical Design Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/5QdtcSb-senior-mechanical-design-engineer", "location": "Burlington, MA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$100K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "CAD Design" ] }, { "id": 111719, "title": "System Integration & Test Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/cKtyUtt-system-integration-test-engineer", "location": "Burlington, MA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$70K - $120K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117042, "title": "Customer Support Lead", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/M5tpvKo-customer-support-lead", "location": "Burlington, MA, US / Remote", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Support", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$70K - $90K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117102, "title": "Senior Customer Support Specialist and Trainer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/vXAeAvZ-senior-customer-support-specialist-and-trainer", "location": "Burlington, MA / Remote", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Support", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$55K - $70K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117132, "title": "Manager, Clinical & Product Operations", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/siphox-health/jobs/0IOwcU4-manager-clinical-product-operations", "location": "Burlington, MA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$80K - $110K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Bringing lab testing to the home | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology", "url": "https://news.mit.edu/2024/siphox-brings-lab-testing-home-1114", "date": "Nov 13, 2024" }, { "title": "Intel Capital, Khosla lead $27M investment into SiPhox Health’s at-home blood-testing tech | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/19/intel-khosla-27m-siphox-health-at-home-blood-test-healthcare/", "date": "Jul 19, 2023" }, { "title": "At-home Blood Testing Just Got A Whole Lot Better", "url": "https://neo.life/2022/12/at-home-blood-testing-just-got-a-whole-lot-better/", "date": "Dec 20, 2022" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 102471, "title": "💉 🩸SiPhox Health GLP Monitoring", "tagline": "At-Home Blood Testing Built for GLP Therapy", "body": "**TL;DR: We've launched the SiPhox Health GLP Monitoring Panel: at-home blood testing and body composition tracking built specifically for people on GLP-based therapy (Ozempic, Zepbound, Retatrutide, etc.).**\n\n✅ 40+ lab markers covering metabolism, lipids, liver, kidney, thyroid, hormones, and nutrition\n\n✅ Painless upper arm patch at-home collection — no lab visits, no appointments, no finger pricks\n\n✅ In-app body-composition scanner to track fat loss vs. muscle preservation\n\n✅ GLP Tolerance Score — built from your labs, body comp, and symptom check-ins\n\n✅ Symptom check-ins for fatigue, brain fog, hair shedding, GI issues, and muscle loss\n\n✅ Wearable integration — Apple Health, Oura, Whoop, Dexcom, Libre, etc.\n\n✅ Upload third-party labs (Quest, Labcorp, etc.) for a complete picture in one dashboard\n\n✅ $199 — HSA/FSA eligible\n\n🔗 **Start monitoring:** \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=102471&key=user_uploads/520037/2235ba82-46fe-42ad-a38b-c5fb7f65c2cd)\n\n### 🔨 Why We Built This\n\n# We're Getting Into the GLP Game — But Not With a Me-Too Product\n\n30 million Americans are currently on GLP drugs. That number is going up. Access is getting easier, prices are falling, and the longevity research on low-dose GLP therapy is compelling enough that it's not hard to imagine most adults cycling on and off these medications eventually, not just for weight loss, but for metabolic health and lifespan.\n\nThere are plenty of places to buy Ozempic, but the monitoring and optimization infrastructure is not there yet. The biology of GLP therapy is more complicated than the weight loss headline suggests:\n\n🚫 **Muscle loss is hidden by the scale.** Fast weight loss often means lean mass loss, not just fat. Standard weight tracking can't tell the difference.\n\n🚫 **Side effects are downstream signals.** Fatigue, brain fog, hair shedding, and constipation aren't random — they're often markers of caloric under-fueling, nutrient depletion, or dehydration pressure that bloodwork would catch early.\n\n🚫 **Prescribers don't monitor the full picture.** Most GLP patients get minimal follow-up labs, if any. HbA1c, ApoB, ferritin, B12, testosterone, thyroid — none of these are standard-of-care during treatment.\n\n🚫 **Weight alone is a bad success metric.** Losing 24 lbs while losing 6 lbs of muscle and depleting your ferritin is not the same as losing 24 lbs of fat.\n\n# The Solution: A Monitoring Loop Built for GLP Therapy\n\nWe've served 50,000+ users with at-home blood testing. GLP users are a distinct population with distinct needs, so we built a product specifically for them. The SiPhox GLP Monitoring Panel connects labs, body composition, and symptom tracking into one continuous loop so you can see what the drug is actually doing to your biology and course-correct before small problems become bigger ones.\n\n---\n\n### 💡 What You Get\n\n**✅ 40+ Lab Markers — GLP-Specific Panel**\n\nNot a generic wellness panel. Built around the markers that matter when appetite, weight, hydration, and body composition are actively changing:\n\n* **Metabolism:** HbA1c, eAG, C-Peptide\n* **Lipids & heart:** ApoB, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides, hsCRP\n* **Liver:** ALT, AST, ALP, bilirubin, albumin\n* **Kidney & hydration:** BUN, creatinine, eGFR, BUN:Cr ratio\n* **Thyroid:** TSH, Free T4\n* **Hormones:** Testosterone (total + free + %), SHBG, cortisol\n* **Nutrition:** Vitamin D, B12, folate, ferritin, iron studies (Iron, UIBC, TIBC, Iron Saturation), total protein\n\n**✅ Painless At-Home Collection**\n\nCollected via our Easydraw arm patch, no venous draw, no finger prick, no lab visit. Mail it back, and the results appear in your dashboard.\n\n**✅ Body-Composition Scanning**\n\nIn-app scanner tracks fat loss vs. lean mass preservation between tests.\n\n**✅ GLP Tolerance Score**\n\nA composite score built from labs, body comp, and symptom check-ins. Tracks how well your body is handling therapy at each stage: baseline → titration → maintenance.\n\n**✅ Symptom & Side-Effect Tracking**\n\nTrack fatigue, brain fog, hair shedding, GI issues, and muscle soreness between tests. Connects subjective experience to objective lab data.\n\n**✅ Detailed Analysis & Personalized Insights**\n\nInterpret what's moving in the right direction, what deserves a conversation with your prescriber, and what to adjust in diet, training, or supplementation built around your specific results.\n\n🔗 **Start monitoring:** \n\n---\n\n---\n\n### 📈 Why Now?\n\nGLP drugs are the fastest-growing drug class in history. Next-gen peptides like retatrutide, orforglipron, cagrilintide are coming. The longevity use case is expanding the addressable population well beyond obesity treatment. And monitoring has not kept pace with any of it.\n\nMost patients are flying blind. Prescribers don't have the bandwidth for individualized follow-up. Labs are ordered inconsistently, if at all. No one is connecting weight, body composition, symptoms, and biomarkers in a single continuous view.\n\n\\_____________________________________________________________________\\_\n\n### 🏢 For Businesses: White-Label the GLP Monitoring\n\nRunning a GLP prescribing platform, a metabolic health clinic, a wellness app, or a supplement brand with a GLP-adjacent audience? You can white-label or co-brand the entire monitoring program.\n\n**What the partner program gives you:**\n\n✅ White-label or co-branded kit and dashboard under your brand\n\n✅ Full panel access + API integration for embedding results in your own product\n\n✅ Partner dashboard to track your clients' health journeys and customize next steps with real biomarker data\n\n✅ Pre/post protocol testing to prove efficacy and reduce churn\n\n✅ CLIA/CAP-accredited lab processing — same quality as traditional venous draws\n\n✅ Account management, biomarker interpretation training, and marketing support\n\nPatients are 3x more likely to stay engaged with a health program backed by real biomarker data.\n\n🔗 **Partner inquiry:** [siphoxhealth.com/partner](https://siphoxhealth.com/partner)\n\n\\_____________________________________________________________________\\_\n\n---\n\n### 🤝 For Health Coaches: Refer and Earn\n\nIf you work with people on GLP therapy as a health coach, personal trainer, or content creator, our affiliate program is built for you.\n\nNo cost to join. No hidden fees. Your referrals get a better monitoring product and better outcomes; you get a meaningful revenue stream.\n\n🔗 **Join the affiliate program:** [siphoxhealth.com/affiliate-program](https://siphoxhealth.com/affiliate-program)\n\n---\n\n\\_____________________________________________________________________\\_\n\n### About SiPhox Health\n\nSiPhox Health, backed by Khosla Ventures, Intel Capital, and Y Combinator, is a full-stack home blood testing company founded at MIT. We've tested 1M+ biomarkers across 50,000+ users. Our long-term mission is SiPhox Home — a silicon photonic chip that delivers instant blood test results from home. The GLP Monitoring Panel runs on our existing CLIA/CAP-accredited lab infrastructure and Easydraw arm collection patch.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Qel-siphox-health-glp-monitoring", "votes": 31, "created_at": "2026-06-03T00:19:59.999Z" }, { "id": 93544, "title": "SiPhox Health🩸Painless, At-Home Thyroid Testing", "tagline": "Test a comprehensive, lab-grade thyroid panel in minutes painlessly from home", "body": "### TL;DR\n\n**SiPhox Health is launching a first-of-its-kind at-home thyroid test.** Affordable, painless, comprehensive, and clinical-grade. Test as often as needed for $79/month—no lab visits required, results in minutes.\n\n**Join the waitlist here:** https://siphoxhealth.com/thyroid-waitlist\n\n## SiPhox Home: The Future of At-Home Thyroid Testing\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=93544&key=user_uploads/520037/72114357-e921-4bf9-98a6-2f5ec4cc6dde)\n\n### About SiPhox\n\nWe are a **YC, Khosla Ventures, and Intel Capital-backed** startup empowering everyday people to test their blood biomarkers painlessly at home and live healthier, longer.\n\nSiPhox is the **highest-rated self-testing company** on the market. We have delivered **300k+ biomarker test results** to date with our innovative mail-in tests via the SiPhox DTC wellness testing service and enterprise white-label platform.\n\n### What’s New\n\nWe're launching a **waitlist** for our **comprehensive, clinical-grade at-home thyroid testing** platform. For **$79/month**, users can test TSH, Free T4, Free T3, TPOAb, TGAb, and TG\n\n**No needles, no labs**— just use our painless Easydraw arm collector patch, collect a small blood sample, and place it into the device.\n\n---\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=93544&key=user_uploads/520037/117e1cb8-f4af-48ec-b22f-e5f50b1c1216)\n\n### Why It Matters\n\n**The numbers:** \\~20M Americans are living with hypothyroidism, and more with subclinical hypothyroidism. 1M+ have had their thyroid removed (\\~40-50k new thyroid cancer cases each year).\n\n**Completely at-home:** no more travel, scheduling, or needle draws. Just a quick 5-10 minute sample collection vs. 2‑hour lab appointments.\n\n**Robust panel, affordable pricing**: deeper insight at a lower cost relative to traditional labs (\\~$150/test).\n\n**Seamless doctor integration**: sync results with your doctor easily, and manage across devices via our dashboard.\n\n**Telehealth support if you need it:** work with a SiPhox-affiliated telehealth support team to optimize your thyroid health.\n\n**All-in-one health dashboard:** track your results in a modern dashboard where you can connect your wearable devices, upload past test results from any lab, and chat with an in-context health coaching AI.\n\n**High accuracy, future-ready tech**: SiPhox leverages silicon photonics, the tech that powers datacenter optical communication chips, to miniaturize a lab-grade blood testing instrument and cut the cost 300x without compromising on performance.\n\n**See our R&D facility here:**\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvNqRBW-MKI&ab_channel=SiPhoxInternal\n\n### How to get access\n\n**Join the waitlist here:** https://siphoxhealth.com/thyroid-waitlist\n\nPartner with us: https://siphoxhealth.com/partner\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n### What’s Next\n\nAfter we receive FDA clearance for thyroid testing, we’ll be focusing on launching sex hormone panels, an advanced cardiac and inflammation panel (ApoB, hsCRP, etc.), and more. These will all be compatible with the same device.\n\nThe SiPhox Home can measure up to 20 proteins and hormones in a single cartridge.\n\n\\_________________________________________________________________\\_\n\n**_Fine print:_**\n\n\\-_The SiPhox Home device is currently only available for investigational use. Joining the waitlist ensures you are first in line to access the device once we receive our FDA clearance (expected 2026)_\n\n\\-_The SiPhox Home will only be available with a doctor’s prescription, either through SiPhox telehealth or through your preferred provider._\n\n---\n\n### ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/OKm-siphox-health-painless-at-home-thyroid-testing", "votes": 39, "created_at": "2025-09-03T15:44:08.993Z" }, { "id": 90232, "title": "Sai: Cursor for Lab Test Results", "tagline": "Your free lab test and health optimization copilot ", "body": "**TLDR:**\n\n1. SiPhox, already the best option for home blood testing, is launching Sai, an AI lab test analyzer that lives directly in the SiPhox dashboard, just like the Cursor chat lives inside the IDE.\n2. You can use it with your SiPhox results or upload your own PDFs/screenshots of lab tests, they will be automatically parsed and added to the dashboard for discussion with Sai.\n3. Link here to try for free: https://siphoxhealth.com/try-sai\n\n> “AI will cure all diseases in the next 10 years.” – Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind (CBS 60 Minutes)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90232&key=user_uploads/520037/884209a7-485e-4a4f-8533-9904a6d38f8f)\n\nBig claim. Maybe _too_ big.\n\nSomething more practical: AI + friction-free diagnostics can wipe out **a significant portion of preventable disease** if we give people the right tools.\n\nThat’s exactly what we’re shipping an early version of **today**.\n\n---\n\n### **What’s new**\n\n# 1. **Cursor-style Copilot for Your Labs (Beta)**\n\nUpload any lab report—PDF, photo, whatever—and **Sai**, our GPT-powered assistant, appears as a cursor-style sidebar in your dashboard.\n\nAsk it anything:\n\n* “Why is my ApoB high if my LDL looks fine?”\n* “Show me habits that would drop my Trig/HDL under 2.”\n* “Review my last several years of test data to see if I might be developing perimenopause.”\n* “Generate a doctor-ready summary of my results.”\n\nOr **highlight any section** in your dashboard and click _Ask Sai_\n\nhttps://youtu.be/B7PZ3QvIEuI\n\n# 2. **Zero-friction At-Home Blood Testing**\n\n* Upper-arm collector (comfortable, collects the sample painlessly in a few minutes)\n* Industry-leading, up to **50 biomarkers** in a single kit\n* Overnight return shipping to lab for fast results.\n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90232&key=user_uploads/520037/c7d623a3-5648-489a-a0db-2d8b4b0e55d1)\n\n\n# 3. **Integrated Expert Review**\n\nEvery report is reviewed by health experts. Insights come from a proprietary database developed by SiPhox experts and clinical advisors based on years of longitudinal testing by thousands of users. You still get human nuance + the flexibility of discussing your results with Sai.\n\n# 4. **Free Biological-Age & Heart-Age Scores**\n\nBecause a comprehensive dashboard is nice, but **north-star metrics** make it easier to take action and track progress. We built these scores using proprietary models based on public datasets and years of SiPhox user data.\n\n# 5. **Open Uploads**\n\nNot ready to buy a kit? Start by dumping old Quest/Labcorp PDFs into the dashboard for **free**. We’ve had this feature available for a few months now, and uploads are growing exponentially.\n\n---\n\n### **One More Thing 🫀**\n\n# **Heart & Metabolic Program** (launched quietly six months ago, now public)\n\n* **Most complete at-home panel** for cardiometabolic risk (advanced lipids + insulin resistance markers).\n* **Phenotype scoring** that fuses glucose-metabolism and lipid data\n* American Heart Association risk score and SiPhox **Heart-Age** score so you (and your doctor) can see your heart health status at a glance.\n* Access to titrated **lipid-lowering medications** when needed via telemedicine\n* Full Sai access, of course.\n\n---\n\n### **Why We’re Doing This**\n\n* **Doctors are time-constrained**. They glance at your test results and say “looks normal” even though “normal” ranges are based on lack of active disease, not disease prevention\n* **Patients are guessing**. Reddit threads and WebMD are too generic\n* **AI is finally good enough** to translate raw biomarker data into clear, day-to-day actions.\n* **Existing doctor-AI tools** are focused on symptom analysis and diagnosis, not on labs and long-term disease prevention\n* **60% of Americans have a chronic disease.** We want to help these people manage or even reverse their conditions and help the other 40% stay healthy long into old age.\n\n### **“There’s a new AI agent/chatbot launching every day. Why does the world need another one?”**\n\n1. It’s 100% true that anyone can upload their lab results to ChatGPT or another LLM interface and have a passable conversation about them. Based on our real-world experience with the SiPhox user-base, having a single health dashboard where all of your health data lives makes all the difference. **It’s the same reason Cursor is more useful for coding than ChatGPT…** the assistant in the IDE and has all the necessary context to collaborate with the user. This is something we wanted to experiment with (and we are looking to get as much feedback as possible on the UI).\n2. ChatGPT and other chatbots do great on generic medical exams but just like a typical primary care physician, they are less trained to handle health optimization and advanced bloodwork. Selecting “deep research” gives better results, but the output still requires an expert to confirm.\n3. SiPhox customized Sai using years of experience repeatedly testing, and coaching tens of thousands of users. This kind of dataset of frequent, comprehensive testing and coaching doesn’t exist publicly (or privately, as far as we know) for LLMs to train on.\n4. We are not an AI company building in a vacuum; we are a hardware and clinical product company building, integrating AI to serve the needs of active users who partner with us every day to improve their health.\n\n**Transparently, we are not convinced that this form factor (a chatbot)** is the final iteration, but given the state of AI today (latency vs. accuracy and intelligence tradeoffs), this is where we are starting.\n\n---\n\n### [TALK TO SAI](https://siphoxhealth.com/try-sai)\n\n1. **Don’t forget to upload past labs** → your data and trends are analyzed and displayed in a clear dashboard with the Sai sidebar\\_: [https://siphoxhealth.com/try-sai](https://siphoxhealth.com/try-sai%5C)\n2. **Sign up for a home blood test kit subscription** → 20 % off for the YC community with code [LAUNCHYC20](https://siphoxhealth.com/?discount=LAUNCHYC20)\n3. Are you a business, healthtech startup, clinic, physician or coach? You can utilize all of these features in SiPhox Enterprise, co-branded or white-labeled: https://siphoxhealth.com/partner\n\n---\n\nTen years to cure all diseases is optimistic, but giving everyone a personal lab analyst today is how we start making progress.\n\nSee you in the dashboard,\n\nThe SiPhox Health team\n\n\\_________________________________________________________________\\_\n\n### **How is my data handled?**\n\nSiPhox does not sell or share your personal data. SiPhox maintains compliance with industry grade security and best data privacy standards.\n\n\\_________________________________________________________________\\_\n\n### **The disclaimer:**\n\nSai is an AI-powered assistant (Beta) developed by SiPhox to provide general informational and educational responses based on its training data. Like other AI models (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini), Sai may occasionally generate incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate information. We are actively working to improve its performance and reliability.\n\nSai does **not** provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and it is **not** a substitute for professional medical guidance. The use of Sai does **not** create a doctor-patient relationship. Any health-related content generated by Sai should not be acted upon without first consulting a qualified healthcare provider.\n\nSiPhox disclaims any liability for decisions made based on information provided by Sai. By using Sai, you acknowledge and agree to these limitations and to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/NTM-sai-cursor-for-lab-test-results", "votes": 36, "created_at": "2025-05-09T15:22:45.474Z" }, { "id": 87455, "title": "🩸 SiPhox Health Ultimate Program – Comprehensive & Painless At-Home Blood Testing", "tagline": "Track 100+ blood biomarkers from home", "body": "### **TL;DR: We’ve launched the SiPhox Health Ultimate Program, a next-generation at-home blood testing and health tracking platform.**\n\n✅ 50+ biomarkers tracked painlessly from home\n\n✅ No venous draws, fingerpricks, traveling, appointments, or waiting rooms. Collect from home with the painless Easydraw arm collector device\n\n✅ 100+ total biomarkers when paired with yearly primary care lab result\n\n✅ Upload all your past lab tests (any lab) to track everything in one dashboard\n\n✅ AI-powered body fat % estimation using your phone camera (validated against DEXA scan)\n\n✅ Seamless integration with wearables & glucose monitors\n\n✅ Expert-driven, actionable, personalized insights\n\n✅ $498/year – less than $42/month for full health tracking — 50+ biomarker home tests twice per year\n\n🔗 **Try it now:** [siphoxhealth.com/ultimate-program](https://siphoxhealth.com/ultimate-program?utm_source=yc&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=ultimate-launch)\n\n---\n\n### **🔨 Why We Built This**\n\n# **The Problem: Blood Testing Is Stuck in the Past**\n\nWe live in a world where wearables track heart rate, sleep, and glucose 24/7, yet blood testing—the most critical health data source—is still:\n\n🚫 **Infrequent** – Most people only test once per year at a doctor's visit.\n\n🚫 **Incomplete** – Many key biomarkers are not tested until symptoms appear.\n\n🚫 **Inconvenient** – Booking an appointment, traveling to a lab, and waiting weeks for results is a hassle.\n\n🚫 **Painful** – Finger pricks and venous blood draws deter regular tracking.\n\n🚫 **Fragmented** – No easy way to combine biomarker data with wearables or look at trends in past blood test data.\n\nMeanwhile, people want more and better **insights into their health**, whether for **longevity, athletic performance, metabolic health, hormonal balance, chronic disease prevention, or chronic disease management.**\n\n# **The Solution: Convenient Biomarker Tracking + Personalized Health Insights**\n\n🔬 We spent the last **2.5 years** **experimenting** with at-home blood test kit offerings to solve this problem and **tested tens of thousands of people**.\n\nWith the **SiPhox Health Ultimate Program**, we brought blood biomarker tracking, painless home sample collection, advanced biomarkers, personalized insights, body composition, and wearable integration into one seamless platform—so you can take control of your health without paperwork, clinics, finger pricks, or expensive lab tests.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/8ea35ddb-b0ed-49ad-8fe6-1a39abf649eb)\n\n### **💡 What did we learn since our last launch**\n\nWe launched our service in beta September of 2022 🚀\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/18182bcb-e16e-4037-8d76-d14d009e28a0)\n\nWe’ve since served **10s of thousands** of users. Here are our **learnings**:\n\n1. More biomarkers = Better insights\n * Larger panels are more likely to uncover issues before they become serious\n * Users can handle (and often crave) more health data as long as it’s placed in proper context and made easy to understand\n * Biomarkers like ApoB, Ferritin, C-Peptide, Testosterone and others that are normally not tested without symptoms can often reveal early warning signs that can be reversed with low-effort interventions\n2. Finger pricks don't work for everybody. Some people don’t mind them at all but they deter many from maintaining regular testing.\n3. Comprehensive home blood testing can make a big difference in people’s lives. A few examples below in the words of our users:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/b9dce2a7-78a1-46d5-ba3e-13ed5594e215)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/07fcc565-3131-435d-b56b-ded73ebbdab4)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/d9745e3b-0cbf-4868-bd20-5aeb61d19065)\n\n\n\n### **💡 What You Get**\n\n✅ **At-Home Blood Testing – No Finger Pricks Required**\n\nWe've launched **Easydraw**, a **painless upper-arm blood collection patch** that allows you to test **50+ biomarkers** from home.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/b03d31fb-e658-4d1c-ae36-4316da2d42b0)\n\n✅ **100+ Biomarkers with Your Annual Primary Care Lab Results**\n\nEasily **upload previous blood test results** from any lab (e.g., Quest, Labcorp) to **build the most complete biomarker dataset possible.** A typical annual wellness blood test contains a Complete Blood Count, Complete Metabolic Panel, and a Urine test. Add these to the SiPhox panel for a more complete picture of your health.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/78cf4613-c1de-434f-b38b-a62eadd72733)\n\n✅ **AI-Powered Body Fat % Estimation**\n\nUsing just your phone camera, our app **analyzes body composition with AI**—giving you an accurate **body fat % estimate validated against Dexascan**.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/36289b67-aab1-4b69-946d-b515743689c8)\n\n✅ **Wearable Integration + Continuous Health Tracking**\n\nSyncs seamlessly with **Apple Health, Oura, Whoop, Abbot Libre, Dexcom, and more** to combine biomarker testing with **sleep, activity, HRV, and glucose data.**\n\n✅ **Expert-driven, actionable, personalized insights and action plans**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87455&key=user_uploads/520037/b26827e0-45ee-41ac-a694-a9f24fd42df5)\n\n**✅ Scientists**\n\nOur team is made up of experts, Ph.D.s, MDs, and engineers, who are passionate about blood testing and health optimization. SiPhox is the only direct-to-consumer (DTC) home blood testing company developing its own hardware.\n\n**✅ More value for your money**\n\nWe avoid costly partnerships with celebrities and focus on shipping new features as our main driver of growth.\n\n### **📈 Why Now?**\n\n---\n\n6 out of 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease. Getting and staying healthy is more of a priority than ever before. Wearables, CGMs, and health tracking are becoming mainstream, but **blood testing is stuck in the past**—it’s inconvenient, painful, and limited to annual checkups.\n\nSiPhox Health bridges the gap, combining **at-home biomarker testing** with a **seamless, full-featured health dashboard.**\n\n---\n\n🩸 **Sign up today:** [siphoxhealth.com/ultimate-program](https://siphoxhealth.com/ultimate-program?utm_source=yc&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=ultimate-launch)\n\n---\n\n### 🔗 **About SiPhox Health**\n\n---\n\nSiPhox Health, backed by Khosla Ventures, Intel Capital, and Y Combinator, is a full-stack home blood testing company currently offering consumers and businesses mail-in test kits to conveniently measure a broad range of biomarkers. Founded at MIT, our mission is to commercialize SiPhox Home—a silicon photonic chip-based device that delivers instant blood test results at home, making biomarker testing easier, smarter, and more accessible than ever.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MkZ-siphox-health-ultimate-program-comprehensive-painless-at-home-blood-testing", "votes": 39, "created_at": "2025-02-05T22:23:17.832Z" }, { "id": 83565, "title": "🩸SiPhox Health BiomarkerAI: Transform your PDF blood test results into simple, actionable insights", "tagline": "Upload your recent blood test results for free and receive a clear, easy-to-understand analysis of your health data.", "body": "## **TL; DR:**\n\nTrying to understand your blood test results shouldn't be a confusing or frustrating experience. At SiPhox Health, we simplify your lab results, offering clear insights into your health, actionable steps to improve it, and affordable at-home tests to track your progress. Say goodbye to cluttered, overwhelming reports, and hello to a healthier, more informed you.\n\n**🔗Link to try it out:** \n\n## **🚨 The Problem**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83565&key=user_uploads/520037/b16be89b-06df-4b1c-8919-382ec764ecf1)\n\n**60% of American adults** are living with at least one chronic illness, and **40%** are living with two or more. Regular blood tests are vital for identifying and managing these conditions, but the traditional reports often add to the confusion.\n\nInstead of offering clarity, you're met with pages of numbers, confusing medical jargon, and reference ranges that merely tell you if you’re “in” or “out”. If you're lucky enough to discuss the results with your doctor, you might gain some clarity and a prescription, but you’re unlikely to fully understand the status of your body, and feel like you have a clear plan to improve your health.\n\nWhat's more, as long as your results aren't drastically abnormal, you might not receive any feedback from your doctor at all. This can lead to the neglect of critical signals—issues that may only become apparent when they escalate, often surfacing only a year later in your next annual blood test.\n\n## 💡 **The SiPhox Solution**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83565&key=user_uploads/520037/a84c1e65-96d2-494d-aab4-d8d097d3908f)\n\nCheck out a demo of the dashboard here: \n\nWe’ve developed a platform that turns your blood test results into actionable insights, empowering you to understand your body, make informed changes to improve your health and track your progress over time.\n\n1. Understand your body\n * Simple explanations for each test, and insights to help you understand what your result for that test means.\n2. Make changes.\n * Personalized diet, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations based on your blood test results and health goals. Our bodies are unique, complex systems, for which general recommendations will not suffice. Your action plan will be made custom for you.\n3. Track progress.\n * How do you know if the changes have been effective? Take another blood test with a SiPhox at-home testing kit. SiPhox offers the most comprehensive and inexpensive at-home blood test kit on the market.\n * Visualize how your biomarkers are trending on simple, intuitive graphs.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83565&key=user_uploads/520037/a67fa2bf-4ccc-453f-8ede-b5db1b40f41e)\n\n## **How did we develop our algorithms:**\n\nWe run a mail-in blood testing subscription service ([$165 for quarterly testing](https://siphoxhealth.com)) that enables users to test 17 key blood biomarkers from home with a painless self-collected sample. We trained an AI algorithm on the massive amount of biomarker data we’ve collected over the years, coupled with all the insights our clinical team delivered to our subscribers.\n\n## **How it works:**\n\n1. **Upload Your Results:** You can upload blood test results from any doctor or provider by either uploading a file or manually entering them.\n2. **Help us understand your goals:** Take a short questionnaire to help us understand your current lifestyle and what your health goals are. For example, you’re currently fairly sedentary and would like to boost your energy and mood.\n3. **Receive your Insights:** We use a combination of AI and our experts to generate personalized, actionable insights for you. Within two days of submitting your report, you’ll be able to view these insights in your dashboard.\n4. **Take another blood test:** After implementing your health protocols, take another blood test to see how your biomarkers have adapted. Then, you can view the state of each biomarker with intuitive graphs and scores.\n5. **For bonus points:** Connect your wearable device to combine sleep, activity, and heart rate data with your blood biomarkers in the same dashboard.\n\n\n\n## **⚡️ Real Results, Real Impact:**\n\nWith hundreds of thousands of blood biomarker results delivered, SiPhox is already transforming how people understand, track, and improve their health. Whether it's identifying nutritional gaps or optimizing fitness, our users are making data-driven decisions that lead to tangible improvements in their well-being.\n\nJoin a growing community of health-seekers by uploading your blood test results today.\n\n## 🤝 **Quick ask**\n\n* [Click here to try it out!](https://siphoxhealth.com/understand-your-test-results)\n* If you find the product helpful, share it with your friends, family, and social media followers.\n* We welcome feedback on SiPhox’s product and encourage you to suggest new features.\n\n**Talk to us** - Interested in working, learning more, or collaborating? Email [team@siphoxhealth.com](mailto:team@siphoxhealth.com) or visit our [partner](https://my.siphoxhealth.com/pages/partner) and [career](https://my.siphoxhealth.com/pages/careers) pages.\n\n## 🦊**About SiPhox**\n\n[SiPhox](https://www.siphoxhealth.com/) Health, Inc. is a venture-backed startup in Greater Boston that integrates microfluidics, biochemistry, and Silicon Photonics to miniaturize proteomics. It was founded in February 2020. We are building lab-quality blood testing and advanced primary care for the home to help prevent and manage chronic disease.\n\nThe SiPhox team has extensive experience translating cutting-edge optical chip technology into mass-produced products used worldwide. It is bringing the same proven approach to the next frontier for integrated photonics. This new frontier is biology.\n\nSiPhox has [raised](https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/19/intel-khosla-27m-siphox-health-at-home-blood-test-healthcare/?guccounter=1) $29M to date and is backed by Y Combinator, Intel Capital, Metaplanet, and Khosla Ventures.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83565&key=user_uploads/520037/83d647ea-a0c1-491c-bd8c-7d9dcb635796)\n\n## **📝Disclaimer:**\n\nThis free service is meant for informational and educational purposes only. The reference ranges and insights presented in the SiPhox Health dashboard are meant to improve readability and provide context; however, you should consult with your physician for a more formal interpretation of your results. No communication from SiPhox Health is meant to be or should be taken as medical advice. SiPhox Health is a wellness-only service and is not designed to diagnose, prevent, or treat any disease. If you are concerned about any of the data in your dashboard, please consult your physician immediately.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ljp-siphox-health-biomarkerai-transform-your-pdf-blood-test-results-into-simple-actionable-insights", "votes": 32, "created_at": "2024-08-28T23:32:55.194Z" }, { "id": 66235, "title": "SiPhox Health - Convenient at-home health tracking", "tagline": "At-home health testing is too expensive and slow. We’re fixing that.", "body": "SiPhox is building at-home blood testing hardware using silicon photonic chips. Our hardware product is currently in development and we plan to start beta testing it in users’ homes in 2023. ([Watch Lab Tour](https://youtu.be/u6oF_lyUsII)).\n\n**The average American lifespan has plateaued over the last 2 decades:**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=66235&key=user_uploads/520037/ae9a0197-58ee-4f23-884b-e894463751d3)\n\nWe believe that every human is unique. Biomarker tracking is required to know whether a particular lifestyle or health intervention is working. At scale, we envision that frequent population biomarker tracking will enable humans to live longer and healthier lives.\n\n**To enable this future, our team is working to decrease the cost of at-home testing by 10x and make results available immediately.**\n\n**SiPhox just launched Quantify, an at-home test kit service that enables users to track 17 health tests ($95/test)** 🩸 **+ sleep, activity, and heart rate data from your wearable device ⌚ in a single dashboard.** [JOIN QUANTIFY (10% off)](https://getquantify.io/pages/tier-page?utm_source=YC-launch&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=YC-launch&utm_id=YC-launch)\n\n### About Quantify\n\n* Quantify was created to empower individuals to take control of their health journey.\n* Quantify is a simple, convenient, low-cost, and comprehensive way to track your health and minimize chronic disease risk.\n* We measure inflammation, metabolic fitness, hormonal + nutritional balance, and cardiovascular health. These are shown in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand wellness dashboard ([sample dashboard](https://app.getquantify.io/reports/d3e8b07917dba)) with personalized insights so you can track and improve over time.\n* For now, all the tests are done via **mail-in,** **self-collected samples** at a **gold standard CLIA-certified lab**, SiPhox hardware will be phased in next year.\n* **Over the last 3 months, our alpha users discovered and improved things like low Vit. D, high inflammation (hsCRP), low Testosterone, High ApoB/LDL cholesterol, high fasting Insulin, poor sleep, and more.**\n* We want this sort of tracking to be broadly accessible to those that can’t afford concierge medicine. **At $95/kit for the monthly membership (before discount) we set the lowest price on the market (compare to $250 for Insidetracker InnerAge 2.0).**\n* Use this link for a 10% discount on your first 3 test kits: [JOIN QUANTIFY](https://getquantify.io/pages/tier-page?utm_source=YC-launch&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=YC-launch&utm_id=YC-launch)\n\n# \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=66235&key=user_uploads/520037/03fb9c15-7e73-4c12-afb5-acc75306264b)\n\n# **How it works** ⚙️\n\n1. Subscribe to Quantify\n2. (optional) Connect your wearable devices (8sleep, Fitbit, Whoop, Oura, etc.)\n3. Receive an at-home collection kit to self-collect a blood sample (see picture above)\n4. Join our weekly webinar for a guided self-collection if you have never done it before. You will be a pro in 10 minutes 🙂\n5. Mail in your sample (USPS pickup) and view the results in your intuitive wellness dashboard ([sample dashboard](https://app.getquantify.io/reports/d3e8b07917dba))\n6. Receive customized insights based on your blood biomarker and wearable data\n7. Do your own experiments (diet, supplements, exercise, biohacking, etc.)\n8. Test again and track your results over time\n9. Compare your scores against Quantify user averages\n\n**Get in touch** ✉️\n\n1. Feel free to contact us at [hello@getquantify.io](mailto:hello@getquantify.io) with any questions or suggestions about the service\n2. If you are interested in integrating Quantify into your product offering, please get in touch via [info@siphox.com](mailto:info@siphox.com)\n\n### Use this link for a 10% discount on your first 3 test kits: [JOIN QUANTIFY](https://getquantify.io/pages/tier-page?utm_source=YC-launch&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=YC-launch&utm_id=YC-launch)\n\n### ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/HEJ-siphox-health-convenient-at-home-health-tracking", "votes": 61, "created_at": "2022-09-22T16:18:57.138Z" } ] }, { "id": 22627, "name": "Atomic Industries", "slug": "atomic-industries", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ad99a50e946cb78af9f253ab66655f1d1e1b158c.png", "website": "http://atomic.industries", "all_locations": "Cleveland, OH, USA", "long_description": "Atomic is a vertically integrated plastics supplier. To offer parts better, cheaper, and faster than anyone on Earth, we became the best mold makers using AI. Our software helps us design and build the best possible mold for each unique geometry, with the goal of moving into production more rapidly than existing supply chains.", "one_liner": "Software orchestrated mass production of plastics", "team_size": 60, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1649630827, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Manufacturing", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/atomic-industries.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Cleveland", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/atomicindustries", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/atomic_inc", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ad99a50e946cb78af9f253ab66655f1d1e1b158c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1631, "full_name": "Aaron Slodov", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/abslodov", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/aphysicist", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fcbeec608a70e4d3eee68a6eae1bf21a33d2230c.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 51833, "title": "General Engineering Applicant", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/sF4kWiZ-general-engineering-applicant", "location": "Detroit, MI, US / Cleveland, OH, US / Los Angeles, CA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$95K - $225K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Python", "Deep Learning", "Reinforcement learning (RL)", "CUDA", "Machine learning" ] }, { "id": 83480, "title": "Computational Geometer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/kWGsO9w-computational-geometer", "location": "Detroit", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83481, "title": "Purchasing & Finance Coordinator", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/n6uYSMe-purchasing-finance-coordinator", "location": "Detroit", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Sales", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83486, "title": "General Applicant", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/IFuEO0T-general-applicant", "location": "Detroit", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83487, "title": "Manufacturing Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/pbkQwrq-manufacturing-engineer", "location": "Detroit", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83488, "title": "Simulation Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/j1Kbugr-simulation-engineer", "location": "Detroit", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83489, "title": "Senior Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/jjEnHsC-senior-software-engineer", "location": "Detroit", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83490, "title": "Infrastructure Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/ayGa7kZ-infrastructure-engineer", "location": "Remote / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83492, "title": "Accounting Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomic-industries/jobs/mkOsOnN-accounting-manager", "location": "Detroit", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Sales", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Atomic Industries closes $17M seed to exascale America’s industrial base | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/04/atomic-industries-closes-17m-seed-to-exascale-americas-industrial-base/", "date": "Dec 04, 2023" }, { "title": "Tool and Die Software: Our Investment in Atomic Industries | by Toyota Ventures | Toyota Ventures | Medium", "url": "https://medium.com/toyota-ventures/tool-and-die-software-our-investment-in-atomic-industries-16f0127c58a2", "date": "Apr 05, 2022" }, { "title": "Atomic Industries wants to change how your plastics are made | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/05/atomic-industries-pre-seed-funding/", "date": "Apr 05, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 22630, "name": "Alba Orbital", "slug": "alba-orbital", "former_names": [ "Alba Orbital Ltd" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9ce29daf410b8ce0c1856dfe42a8b720ac831064.png", "website": "https://www.albaorbital.com", "all_locations": "Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom", "long_description": "Alba Orbital is building the world's largest earth observation constellation, imaging everywhere on earth, every 15 minutes. We can see events within minutes such as wildfires in real time and have signed >$85m of LOIs, with both government and commercial customers paying pre-orders for imagery. To date we have launched 62 satellites into orbit (more than any all other yc companies combined), with more launching in 2026 onwards. We have launched a number of technology demonstration imaging satellites called Unicorns, which are the world's most advanced satellite under 1kg ever flown in orbit.", "one_liner": "We make satellites to image everywhere on Earth, every 15 minutes", "team_size": 10, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1614654529, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Satellites" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/alba-orbital", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/alba-orbital.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "Glasgow", "country": "GB", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/alba-orbital/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/albaorbital", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/albaorbital/", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/alba-orbital", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9ce29daf410b8ce0c1856dfe42a8b720ac831064.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Soon 100 PocketQube satellites will be on-orbit for the PocketQube Community – SatNews", "url": "https://news.satnews.com/2025/11/02/soon-100-pocketqube-satellites-will-be-on-orbit-for-the-pocketqube-community/", "date": "Nov 19, 2025" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 22640, "name": "Albedo", "slug": "albedo", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3429747f66833536a5f2b50b1cbea5ad275f53c8.png", "website": "https://albedo.com", "all_locations": "Denver, CO, USA", "long_description": "Albedo builds and operates satellites in Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO) — a new orbital layer much closer to Earth than traditional satellites in LEO. Flying lower unlocks sharper imagery, faster communications, and real-time maneuverability with smaller, more efficient hardware.\r\n\r\nVLEO is naturally self-cleaning and resilient, offering a sustainable alternative to crowded low Earth orbit - providing diversification and redundancy for critical systems that we rely on in higher orbits. \r\n\r\nWith the only flight proven VLEO system on the market, Albedo is creating a new orbital infrastructure designed for speed, precision, and resilience.", "one_liner": "Full-stack VLEO satellite missions", "team_size": 55, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1611609475, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Satellites", "Climate", "Aerospace" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/albedo", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/albedo.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "Denver", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/albedo-space", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/albedo", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/albedo", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3429747f66833536a5f2b50b1cbea5ad275f53c8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 571988, "full_name": "Topher Haddad", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Previous to being CEO of Albedo, Topher was a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin working on top secret remote sensing satellites. Topher led teams involved in the optical design and imaging architecture across multiple $B+ government programs. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UT Austin and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/topher-haddad-a9a460a4/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/topherhaddad", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/399395f24102ae8d314afeaf8a0330c5b983d5c8.jpg" }, { "user_id": 578941, "full_name": "AyJay Lasater", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "CTO at Albedo. Previous to Albedo, AyJay was a System Architect at Lockheed Martin, developing satellite constellations, satellite designs from concept to launch and in-orbit ops, and iterated on various in-depth performance analysis. AyJat worked with high performing small sats and exquisite large $B+ satellites for the government. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and M.S. in Mechatronics from DU", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/aj-lasater/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/b7bc7c791d570d7fa5d8302fb967156cdf42d8d3.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 93942, "title": "Director of Hardware", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/albedo/jobs/TOtlu2u-director-of-hardware", "location": "Broomfield, CO", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$205K - $237K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "11+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 93943, "title": "Director of Software", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/albedo/jobs/Jf8Jr49-director-of-software", "location": "Broomfield, CO", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$200K - $219K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "11+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 93945, "title": "Lead Recruiter", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/albedo/jobs/dJsRVu8-lead-recruiter", "location": "Broomfield, CO", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Recruiting & HR", "role_type": "Recruiter", "salary_range": "$164K - $188K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "11+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Albedo to loft Clarity to very low orbit in early 2025 - SpaceNews", "url": "https://spacenews.com/albedo-to-loft-clarity-to-very-low-orbit-in-early-2025/", "date": "Jun 12, 2024" }, { "title": "Albedo closes $35M at boosted valuation to build satellites that orbit very, very close to Earth | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/23/albedo-closes-35m-at-boosted-valuation-to-build-satellites-that-orbit-very-very-close-to-earth/", "date": "Jan 23, 2024" }, { "title": "A Q+A with Albedo's Topher Haddad - Payload", "url": "https://payloadspace.com/a-qa-with-albedos-topher-haddad/", "date": "Sep 08, 2022" }, { "title": "Albedo wins license to sell 10-centimeter imagery - SpaceNews", "url": "https://spacenews.com/albedo-wins-license-to-sell-10-centimeter-imagery/", "date": "Dec 14, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 22708, "name": "Flux Auto", "slug": "flux-auto", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1782782e9f339f3d5ae2b7213cb07b675c29d2f7.png", "website": "https://fluxauto.ai", "all_locations": "Bengaluru, KA, India", "long_description": "Flux is building physical AI to automate material movement in warehouses and factories on legacy vehicle fleets. Using Flux's solutions customers can reduce their dependency on human drivers, while also increasing productivity and reducing operating costs. \r\n\r\nFlux is currently deploying with customers like Walmart, Daimler, Bajaj, Cummins, Mahindra Logistics across warehouses, fulfillment centers and factories.", "one_liner": "Physical AI for Warehouses and Factories", "team_size": 56, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1647888445, "tags": [ "Autonomous Trucking", "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "India", "South Asia", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/flux-auto", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/flux-auto.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "Bengaluru", "country": "IN", "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/company/fluxauto", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1782782e9f339f3d5ae2b7213cb07b675c29d2f7.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2137, "full_name": "Pranav Manpuria", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder and CEO at Flux Auto, building physical AI for warehouses and factories.\n\nI pursued a business administration degree from Illinois Tech, Chicago, before moving back to India to explore my entrepreneurial interests. Flux Auto is the only autonomous vehicle company to successfully run vehicles in real time road and traffic scenarios in India. I previously built a payment startup in India, and am a deep tech, racing and football enthusiast. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/pranavmanpuria/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f5ed53b9fc80e143f80ddae42ef04cd6deb1ebb8.jpg" }, { "user_id": 603423, "full_name": "Abhishek Gupta", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "COO at Flux Auto, building autonomous driving technology for trucks.\n\nI handle all the day to day operations to ensure everyone in our team has the right direction and all the resources they need. I also plan and oversee our testing activities. \n\nPreviously built a drone platform with custom cameras and data processing systems for farmers to better understand crop health.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishek-gupta2494/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8cce421d14af38f3f7a2c1bc1427da7dc7db49a2.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "B’luru startup eyes US market with self-drive truck kits - Times of India", "url": "https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/bluru-startup-eyes-us-market-with-self-drive-truck-kits/articleshow/60077696.cms", "date": "Dec 02, 2022" }, { "title": "flux auto: Beating Google, Tesla, this startup's self-driving truck is all set to hit Indian roads - The Economic Times", "url": "https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/features/beating-google-tesla-this-startups-self-driving-truck-is-all-set-to-hit-indian-roads-flux-a/articleshow/62333560.cms", "date": "Dec 02, 2022" }, { "title": "Nine Startups With Promise - Forbes India", "url": "https://www.forbesindia.com/article/9th-anniversary-special/nine-startups-with-promise/50217/1", "date": "Dec 02, 2022" }, { "title": "Top Indian Self-Driving Startups To Watch Out For In 2021", "url": "https://analyticsindiamag.com/top-indian-self-driving-startups-to-watch-out-for-in-2021/", "date": "May 27, 2021" }, { "title": "How a bootstrapped team of engineers in Bengaluru is building India’s answer to Tesla's Autopilot", "url": "https://yourstory.com/2017/12/bootstrapped-bengaluru-flux-auto-tesla-autopilot/amp", "date": "Dec 12, 2017" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 22870, "name": "Care Weather", "slug": "care-weather", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6bd70155aa26748f0d48ecc4507276f1f296e759.png", "website": "https://www.careweather.com", "all_locations": "Orem, UT, USA", "long_description": "Care Weather collects the highest-accuracy global weather data to help governments and shipping companies adapt to extreme weather. The data is collected by Care Weather’s unique flat-panel radar satellite, which is 1000X more cost effective because it’s vertically integrated, gets more solar power, and sails on top of the atmosphere for a closer view of the surface. Our team includes CEO Patrick Walton (NASA Earth science fellow) and CTO Alex Laraway (mach 4 rockets). In the last 4 months, we built and launched the smallest radar satellite ever. We have $35M worth of LOIs, including one from the Air Force and others from cargo shippers. Care Weather is backed by Boost VC, Kickstart Seed Fund, Y Combinator, and more.", "one_liner": "The highest-accuracy global weather data from low-cost flat satellites", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1692679539, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Space Exploration", "Satellites", "Weather", "Agriculture" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/care-weather", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/care-weather.json", "year_founded": 2019, "city": "Orem", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/careweather/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/CareWeather", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/careweather", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/care-weather", "github_url": "https://github.com/careweather", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6bd70155aa26748f0d48ecc4507276f1f296e759.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 349337, "full_name": "Patrick Walton", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder, CEO, and project engineer at Care Weather. As project engineer, he funded, architected, licensed, and operates the company's five satellites on orbit. He has an M.S. and B.S in electrical and mechanical engineering from BYU. As an undergrad, he started BYU's nationally-recognized rocketry club and won $1M from NASA to lead a team of 20 in launching BYU’s first two satellites.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "http://linkedin.com/in/mpatrickwalton", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/mpatrickwalton", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6b962ec93a7e9abecbabe4a774212b4ea13e09c6.jpg" }, { "user_id": 378778, "full_name": "Alex Laraway", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Alex is a full-stack aerospace engineer. He single-handedly designed and built multiple record-breaking satellites that are on orbit now. Alex got his B.S. in manufacturing from BYU. His space experience goes back to age 10 machining high-altitude rockets on a lathe in his garage and flying them at Mach 4 to the edge of space. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-laraway-8ba461169/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ed7677fc465451b242ff816051231980ca11208a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "YC’s latest Demo Day shows fascinating wagers on healthcare, chip design, AI and more | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/04/ycs-latest-demo-day-shows-fascinating-wagers-on-healthcare-chip-design-ai-and-more/", "date": "Apr 04, 2024" }, { "title": "Utah Company Improving Ocean Weather Forecasting Through Its Satellites - Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity", "url": "https://business.utah.gov/innovation-center/utah-company-improving-ocean-weather-forecasting-through-its-satellites/", "date": "Sep 25, 2023" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 79524, "title": "Care Weather 🌎 🛰️ Highest-accuracy global weather data from low-cost satellites", "tagline": "We help weather-sensitive organizations adapt to increasingly extreme weather.", "body": "Hi everyone! We’re [Alex](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-laraway-8ba461169/) and [Patrick](http://linkedin.com/in/mpatrickwalton) from [Care Weather](https://www.careweather.com/). We’re leveraging SpaceX rideshare and 5G electronics to make a swarm of low-cost satellites that get 17X more accurate global weather data.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79524&key=user_uploads/349337/502dc652-58a2-489c-928c-3cedb21358be)\n\n_(Left) Alex with with a flight-ready satellite. (Right) Patrick testing the latest satellite._\n\n### [🌪️](https://emojipedia.org/tornado) **Problem**\n\nWeather is quietly [costing billions](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/) across the economy. For example:\n\n* ✈️ A recent supertyphoon damaged $200M of Air Force planes in Guam ([JTWC](https://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/products/atcr/2018atcr.pdf)).\n* 🚢 Ocean cargo ships reroute around so many unpredicted cyclones that they lose $60M of voyage time per ship per year.\n\nIt may seem like your weather app has tons of data to prevent this, but weather apps pretend predicted data is real. Those predictions are based on limited, inaccurate measurements from aging government satellites. Other solutions (weather stations, balloons, drones) aren’t scalable.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79524&key=user_uploads/349337/5ce389df-7421-4592-aa8c-dc75b9ba0e7b)\n\n### **🌎 🛰️ Solution**\n\nAfter studying with a NASA expert, we invented a modernized radar satellite, called [Veery](https://careweather.com/tech). We can mass produce Veery at low cost and get orders of magnitude more truth data. Veery’s flat form factor gives it way more solar power and lets it sail on top of the atmosphere for a closer view of the surface. Veery will map ocean surface vector winds, soil moisture, and sea ice globally, every hour, with 100 m - 6 km resolution.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79524&key=user_uploads/349337/fe836808-1163-4870-b7d1-7849bbbadb47)\n\n### **🚀 Traction**\n\nIn the last four months, we built and launched the smallest radar satellite in history! And we did it with pre-seed funding and a team of two. In the same timeframe, we received $50M worth of LOIs from the Air Force, the National Weather Service, and several maritime companies.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79524&key=user_uploads/349337/563a1d03-1716-4c5d-a467-4ad4ff993d97)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=79524&key=user_uploads/349337/20167ab2-c237-4521-995e-2b2b114502c8)\n\n### **Asks**\n\nHelp us build a disaster-free future!\n\n* Follow us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/CareWeather) and [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/careweather/).\n* If you work with weather data or in a weather-sensitive business, [sign up for our waitlist](https://careweather.com/waitlist)! We’ll have pilot data this Fall.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Kge-care-weather-highest-accuracy-global-weather-data-from-low-cost-satellites", "votes": 15, "created_at": "2024-03-20T14:47:16.636Z" } ] }, { "id": 22875, "name": "Roin Technologies", "slug": "roin-technologies", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/afbc32810da2502f7867b684a41c0f373e5c9854.png", "website": "https://rointech.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We build automated robots for concrete floor construction. 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Remote", "long_description": "Greywing is a platform for ship operators to automate their business, through actionable intelligence, better data and communication.\r\n\r\nGreywing today serves three product lines to customers:\r\n\r\n*Flotilla* is a monitoring tool for vessels, enabling vessel managers to identify fleet-level patterns and optimizations and to identify risk and liability vectors in advance.\r\n\r\n*CRY4* is an operational tool for individual vessels that allows crew managers, security officers and masters to gather intelligence about a vessels current or proposed route, making decisions about the safest and the cheapest ports of call that a vessel can be directed to.\r\n\r\n*Landfall* is a crew management and analysis system to provide risk reporting and detailed editing capabilities about the crew on-board a vessel.\r\n\r\n*Semaphore* is a port-agent communications tool meant to simplify the process of interfacing with large numbers of port agents while planning a port call.", "one_liner": "The Operating System for Maritime", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Supply Chain and Logistics", "launched_at": 1614501483, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "SaaS", "Maritime" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Supply Chain and Logistics" ], "regions": [ "Singapore", "Southeast Asia", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/greywing", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/greywing.json", "year_founded": 2019, "city": "Singapore", "country": "SG", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/greywing", "x_url": "https://mobile.twitter.com/greywing_ltd", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/greywing-28da", "github_url": "https://github.com/Greywing-Maritime", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c83d7cd944c66a4565ddeaebe43111f7196d0a98.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Greywing’s new SeaGPT solves email overwhelm for maritime crew managers | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/24/greywing-seagpt/", "date": "Apr 24, 2023" }, { "title": "Maritime intelligence platform Greywing raises seed funding from investors like Flexport – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/06/maritime-intelligence-platform-greywing-raises-seed-funding-from-investors-like-flexport/", "date": "Oct 06, 2021" }, { "title": "Greywing launches Crew Change to help shipping companies navigate COVID-19 regulations – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2021/07/27/greywing-launches-crew-change-to-help-shipping-companies-navigate-covid-19-regulations/", "date": "Jul 27, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 22905, "name": "Remora", "slug": "remora", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/22b6829346a08e83b56852b94f5e8748a17be818.png", "website": "https://www.remoracarbon.com", "all_locations": "Detroit, MI, USA", "long_description": "We’re building modular carbon capture systems, turning exhaust into beverage-grade CO₂ sold to breweries and greenhouses. We deploy in regions facing severe CO₂ shortages, where prices are highest, allowing us to generate high margins without relying on tax credits or carbon credits.\r\n\r\nWe’ve raised over $115 million in funding from top investors including Lowercarbon Capital, Union Square Ventures, First Round Capital, Y Combinator, and Valor Equity Partners.", "one_liner": "Modular carbon capture", "team_size": 45, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Climate", "launched_at": 1614308544, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Climate", "ClimateTech" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Climate" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/remora", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/remora.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "Detroit", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/remoracarbon/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/remoracarbon", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/remora-f760", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/22b6829346a08e83b56852b94f5e8748a17be818.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/7e17030f7e2828dbc3d9371d99fd3f849a062762.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Gustaf Alstromer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/gustaf-alstromer" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 437575, "full_name": "Paul Gross", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Before Remora, I ran large-scale randomized experiments that uncovered new ways to increase political participation and bipartisanship. I first experienced the joys of carbon-neutral transportation during a solo bicycle trip across the US before college.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulagross/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e26b9497680e3562f5b1725b26cd1e84bba7c3da.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Carbon-Capture Startup Remora Sets Sights on Freight Rail", "url": "https://www.wsj.com/articles/carbon-capture-startup-remora-sets-sights-on-freight-rail-3d550192?st=y4CRPu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink", "date": "Apr 28, 2025" }, { "title": "Remora is ready to roll with carbon capture for trucks | Greenbiz", "url": "https://www.greenbiz.com/article/remora-ready-roll-carbon-capture-trucks", "date": "Jan 07, 2022" }, { "title": "This device captures the carbon from trucks as they drive", "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/90618799/this-new-device-captures-the-carbon-from-trucks-as-they-drive", "date": "Jan 07, 2022" }, { "title": "Heavy-Duty Truck Operators to Test Startup’s Onboard Carbon-Capture System - WSJ", "url": "https://www.wsj.com/articles/heavy-duty-truck-operators-to-test-startups-onboard-carbon-capture-system-11628503200", "date": "Aug 10, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 22934, "name": "Auricle", "slug": "auricle", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3befcbf94e33a69c5d761a78d1ff81c267da6aff.png", "website": "https://auricle.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA; Oakland, CA, USA", "long_description": "Auricle is a medical device company building a breakthrough neurostimulation implant to restore hearing in millions of patients who no longer benefit from hearing aids, get less than 60% on a word recognition test, but aren't prepared to make the jump to a cochlear implant. \r\n\r\nOur approach preserves remaining natural hearing through a reversible and less invasive surgery, addressing the key concerns that hold most patients back from getting a cochlear implant (currently the only treatment option for these patients).\r\n\r\nThe company spun out of Stanford Biodesign having completed two acute human clinical studies demonstrating the approach will work. The team is now focused on developing their full implant system for their first clinical trial. \r\n\r\nAuricle addresses a currently unserved profile of hearing loss that affects a growing population of 3.5 million patients in the US and represents an immediately accessible $1.2B market opportunity with existing reimbursement.", "one_liner": "Neurostimulation implant to restore hearing & speech understanding", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Medical Devices", "launched_at": 1680287454, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Neurotechnology", "Health Tech", "Medical Devices", "Healthcare" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2021", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Medical Devices" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/auricle", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2021/auricle.json", "year_founded": 2020, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/company/auriclehealth", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/auricleneuro", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/3befcbf94e33a69c5d761a78d1ff81c267da6aff.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/6bc38e9898ae09e2c3b05e814c12b5abf8211660.png" ], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 586540, "full_name": "Francis Wong", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm Francis, a UK-trained surgeon who worked in the National Health Service as a surgeon for 5 years. In 2012 I moved to the Bay Area to get my MBA/MPH at UC Berkeley. I've worked in several product management roles at startups including 23andMe and Castlight Health. I also founded Outcomes, Inc., a digital health startup enabling the routine use of patient-reported outcomes. Prior to Stanford, I worked at Haven in Boston and co-founded Auricle out of the Stanford Biodesign Fellowship.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/loaded", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/packeted", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a4ab023ff6e3e34ae20e78435ce77c1c8187b0f8.jpg" }, { "user_id": 589133, "full_name": "Jay Dhuldhoya", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am a medical device engineer and entrepreneur with a BA from Columbia and an MS from Rice in biomedical engineering. I have led R&D, quality, and manufacturing projects at Element Science, an SF-based Class 3 medical device start-up. I recently completed the Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship where I co-founded Auricle.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaydhuldhoya/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/92bae1341bd83a4509297cd91f514b366eb122d9.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Our favorite startups from YC's Winter 2023 Demo Day — Part 1 | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/05/y-combinator-demo-day-favorites-part-one/", "date": "Apr 05, 2023" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 23597, "name": "Kilobaser", "slug": "kilobaser", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e1ed33a936a43c8aace45a8383365d93d4620730.png", "website": "https://www.kilobaser.com", "all_locations": "Graz, Styria, Austria", "long_description": "We combined microfluidic chip technology and a reagent cartridge to create the first personal DNA synthesizer. Until now most life scientists had to rely on out-sourced DNA synthesis, causing stagnating research. Kilobaser empowers every life scientist to synthesize DNA on their benchtop.", "one_liner": "Desktop DNA Printer. 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That is why I decided to focus my career towards cultivated meat and why I started Micro Meat in 2021 and now Pythag Tech. ", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-sophie-mertgen/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/468327e255464133d0fc65f89e76807c0320b6c4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 751975, "full_name": "Vincent Pribble", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Launched rockets at ULA. Built New Glenn at Blue Origin. Founded through Y Combinator. Now leading rad-hard microelectronics at Mercury Systems. 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Install our JavaScript snippet onto production or staging and dev environments, which records user sessions by collecting clickstream and network data. When you post a pull request, Meticulous selects a subset of sessions which are relevant and simulates these against the frontend of your application. Meticulous takes screenshots at key points and detects any visual differences. It posts those diffs in a comment for you to inspect in a few seconds. \r\n\r\nThis eliminates the setup and maintenance burden of UI testing. 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The record command opens an instrumented browser which records your actions as you interact with your web application. Watch the record command below:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=64757&key=user_uploads/155134/7b3e6754-07fe-424f-9896-1ba0b78f513a)\n\nThe simulate command re-executes the recorded sequence of actions on a URL of your choice, like localhost . A test consists of a recording ID (which identifies the recording to simulate on the new version of code) and a simulation ID. Tests are defined and maintained in a meticulous.json file. Meticulous takes a visual snapshot at the end of each simulation and a test fails if there is a discrepancy between the two snapshots.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=64757&key=user_uploads/155134/cda27a4d-831e-4a25-b884-20583a4832f2)\n\nWatch the test command in action below:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=64757&key=user_uploads/155134/484ba0aa-628b-4885-a341-f55e4a2daf2b)\n\n### What about flows that mutate state?\n\nImagine a test that simulates a user signing up to your application. You can't sign up twice with the same email address. Traditionally you have two options: 1) Write a mock for the network call 2) Introduce a mechanism for resetting state after each test execution. Meticulous solves this problem by providing an option to automatically mock out all network calls, eliminating the need for either of these approaches. This option should be used if you wish to isolate the frontend.\n\n### How can I try this?\n\nSign up [here](https://app.meticulous.ai/) and try out the product (no credit card required), or check out the [docs](https://docs.meticulous.ai) here.\n\nOn a related note, I started offering testing office hours to YC founders. I’d be happy to help you out, even if you’re not a YC founder and it's just to strategize around your testing strategy. Just email [gabe](mailto:gabe@meticulous.ai) with the title ‘Testing office hours request’.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/GqT-meticulous-the-easiest-way-to-write-end-to-end-tests", "votes": 42, "created_at": "2022-07-20T12:56:06.488Z" } ] }, { "id": 24601, "name": "Humane Genomics", "slug": "humane-genomics", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/47e90007a89a7dd904342a1da559cc31eb51d9a3.png", "website": "https://humanegenomics.com", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA; New York, NY, USA", "long_description": "Humane Genomics has developed a platform to engineer cancer killing viruses. We have taken a first principles approach to design and make oncolytic viral therapies. Using a highly lytic RNA virus engineered with \"2 factor authentication\" (using selective infection and selective replication) they have an on-target to off-target kill ratio > 1000. 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Before Seabound, I launched a climate program and built global partnerships at Generation, a non-profit founded by McKinsey & Co. I also helped start a maritime electro-fuel startup (Liquid Wind), climate activist group (Green New Deal London), global university (Minerva University) , and jewelry social enterprise (Seema).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alishafredriksson/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/lishafred", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e183bf8109f5402317f77703df42ba1bf53fbbe6.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Shipping is one of the world’s dirtiest industries – could this invention finally clean up cargo fleets? | Shipping emissions | The Guardian", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/26/global-shipping-emissions-invention-clean-up-cargo-fleets-net-zero", "date": "Jun 25, 2025" }, { "title": "Seabound: Carbon-Capture Startup Tackling Shipping-Industry Emissions", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/y-combinator-backed-startup-seabound-carbon-capture-wave-shipping-2023-8", "date": "Aug 21, 2023" }, { "title": "Carbon capture is headed for the high seas – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/20/carbon-capture-container-ships/", "date": "May 20, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25400, "name": "Industrial Next", "slug": "industrial-next", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f77b3fae4e9032c53ab1dabf92d2dde1c13be9a0.png", "website": "https://www.industrialnext.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We're building the brain for the factory floor, developing AI-driven robotic systems powered by a proprietary foundation model for the difficult, contact-rich manufacturing tasks where conventional automation falls short.\r\n\r\nFounded by veterans of Tesla, Waymo, Ford, and GM who built the systems that brought modern autonomy into manufacturing, IndustrialNext is bringing that same intelligence to the factory floor: autonomous factories that are cost-competitive at any scale, anywhere.\r\n\r\nBacked by Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, Lenovo, AlphaX Partners, and Plug and Play.", "one_liner": "IndustrialNext builds the AI brain for manufacturing –…", "team_size": 9, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1648273643, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Manufacturing", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Growth", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/industrial-next", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/industrial-next.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/industrial-next/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f77b3fae4e9032c53ab1dabf92d2dde1c13be9a0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 823297, "full_name": "Lukas Pankau", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Lukas was the lead electrical architect behind Ford’s Global Fusion and Edge platforms, and Tesla’s Model X, 3, and Y. In his five years at Tesla he transitioned to lead next-generation Autopilot hardware architecture and special projects in the Fremont factory focusing on autonomous manufacturing. After Tesla Lukas spend three years defining Waymo’s next-generation sensor and communications architecture. In his spare time he enjoys cooking and reading terrible fiction novels.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukaspankau/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/38479b451f73743db55a473805b3ee83f21261e3.jpg" }, { "user_id": 848063, "full_name": "Allen Pan", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Telsa autonomous factory lead, GM advanced autonomous control engineer, Neolix chief architect. \nAn Industry veteran in industrial automation, flexible manufacturing, and autonomous driving expert, with more than 10 years of experiances", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-pan/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/27a9040ee1454c91558f35f55e71cd37dc0a3098.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Industrial Next wants factory robots to switch tasks in minutes, not weeks", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/13/industrial-next-wants-factory-robots-to-switch-tasks-in-minutes-not-weeks/", "date": "Oct 13, 2026" }, { "title": "Tesla veterans’ Industrial Next picks up $12M to automate EV production – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/28/tesla-veterans-industrial-next-raises-from-to-ev-auto-factories/", "date": "Jun 28, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25589, "name": "Palitronica Inc", "slug": "palitronica-inc", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f4754ff74fb207d2ef16e60bc4582800b2583251.png", "website": "https://palitronica.com", "all_locations": "Kitchener, ON, Canada; Remote", "long_description": "Palitronica builds and deploys cutting-edge solutions to defend critical physical infrastructure and its supply chain.\r\n\r\nBy using side-channel information from endpoints, Palitronica provides a safe attack detection capability retrofittable to critical systems.", "one_liner": "Detect cyber attacks on critical physical infrastructure", "team_size": 6, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Security", "launched_at": 1639062247, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Security" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Security" ], "regions": [ "Canada", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/palitronica-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/palitronica-inc.json", "year_founded": 2019, "city": "Kitchener", "country": "CA", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/76565236", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/palitronica", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/palitronica", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f4754ff74fb207d2ef16e60bc4582800b2583251.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 857302, "full_name": "Sebastian Fischmeister", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Sebastian Fischmeister is the CEO and co-founder of Palitronica Inc, Professor at the University of Waterloo, and has over 20 years of R&D experience in safety and security of safety-critical embedded systems. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-fischmeister-3a07a86/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/969e2d8d9dd6a38e96f447f47135c6b1df9e3c35.jpg" }, { "user_id": 864134, "full_name": "Carlos Moreno", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am an electronics engineer with a passion for both analog and digital electronics. Originally, my passion for the analog side manifested as an audiophile and enthusiast about all electronics for high-end audio, whereas my passion for the digital side manifested as an embedded systems and later a computer security enthusiast. Fate had it that modern cybersecurity would leverage the analog-domain side of digital electronics — found my real passion in the world of embedded systems security!", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://ca.linkedin.com/in/carlos-moreno-76a0626", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/79d7f7a29f1098e6a94a72c92066853e531b97af.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Palitronica Selected to Advance Aerospace Cyber Mission Assurance", "url": "https://www.palitronica.com/news/palitronica-selected-to-advance-aerospace-cyber-mission-assurance", "date": "Mar 13, 2022" }, { "title": "Newsroom | Palitronica Accepted into Y Combinator", "url": "https://www.palitronica.com/news/palitronica-accepted-into-the-prestigious-y-combinator-accelerator", "date": "Dec 09, 2021" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25650, "name": "NearWave", "slug": "nearwave", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f557afe1950ca98cfc34f200e929dacc1c441796.png", "website": "http://nearwave.co", "all_locations": "Austin, TX, USA; South Bend, IN, USA", "long_description": "NearWave makes a handheld imaging device that helps physicians select the right therapy for their breast cancer patients. This prevents patients from suffering through months of side effects caused by unsuccessful treatments. \r\n\r\n\r\n ", "one_liner": "Helping physicians select the right therapy for breast cancer patients", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Medical Devices", "launched_at": 1646924515, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "SaaS", "Medical Devices", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Medical Devices" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nearwave", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/nearwave.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "Austin", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/nearwave/about/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/NearWave/", "fb_url": "https://www.facebook.com/nearwave/", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f557afe1950ca98cfc34f200e929dacc1c441796.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 749007, "full_name": "Roy Stillwell", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Roy Stillwell is the co-founder, CEO and chief engineer of NearWave, which he co-founded with Professor Thomas O'Sullivan in 2020. He has a PhD in electrical engineering, with a focus in biophotonics research. Originally from Colorado, Roy is a father, husband, technologist, gamer, boarder, and loves to build. \n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/roy-stillwell-12448916/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/stillwell_roy", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fa6d624bf89f9bd5f64732bdf206bc741ce339ef.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 80934, "title": "NearWave - Realtime therapy efficacy for treating breast cancer patients", "tagline": "NearWave makes a new type of handheld imaging tech with AI that helps physicians select the right therapy for their breast cancer patients. ", "body": "**TL;DR We can tell within a week if chemotherapies in breast cancer are working or not, allowing physicians to stop or change therapies very quickly, rather than waiting 3-12 months. This saves patients months of side effects for the 70% of women that do not fully respond to cancer therapies, affecting the 4M women in the world diagnosed with invasive breast cancer each year. This will be the standard of care in the next 5 years.**\n\nHello to all my YC friends, I’m Roy and our team is building [NearWave.](https://nearwave.co/) Both my mother and grandmother are breast cancer survivors, as is my co-founder’s wife.  After going through the (often archaic) treatment process with them, we are on a personal mission to bring treatment relief for unnecessary side effects caused by ineffective and expensive treatments which currently costs the US health system $50B/yr. There is a nice video story [here](https://fightingfor.nd.edu/2023/fighting-for-breast-cancer-patients/).  We already have 4 systems sold to customers ($123k) and just received a letter that the FDA agrees with our regulatory pathway.\n\n**The Problem**\n\nOncologists have the difficult task of assessing the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs and proper dosing, with the majority of breast cancer patients not showing pathologic complete response (pCR). Imagine taking drugs that devastate your immune system, cause hair loss, nausea, later to find the treatment is ineffective. Further, it takes months to tell if a therapy is working. Those months are critical to survival for patients with aggressive disease progression.\n\n**Our Solution**\n\nNearWave's core imaging technology and accompanying prediction models have been shown in multi-center studies to predict pathologic complete response in breast cancer patients in as early as a week\\[[1](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30338678/#:\\~:text=Notably%2C%20logistic%20regression%20based%20on,CI%3A%200.82%20to%201)\\]\\[[2](http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/76/20/5933.short)\\]\\[[3](https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/journal-of-biomedical-optics/volume-29/issue-06/066001/Functional-hemodynamic-imaging-markers-for-the-prediction-of-pathological-outcomes/10.1117/1.JBO.29.6.066001.full#_=_)\\]. If oncologists knew efficacy in a few days, they would make real-time adjustments to therapy, personalizing care for each patient \\[[4](https://www.mendelspod.com/p/precision-oncology-at-the-community-544?utm_source=publication-search)\\].\n\n📸 Device and iPad app showing a tumor simulating phantom scanned with the system.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=80934&key=user_uploads/749007/8f146342-1e4a-4bcb-a40f-639be01f52be)\n\nWhen a therapy is not showing a response, physicians can increase dosage, iterate to other therapies, or move to surgery much sooner, reducing side-effects for patients by as much as 50%, while reducing cost in direct-to-surgery cases. In the future we will expand our indication to cover benign/malignant lesion classification at the ob/gyn bed-side, where ½ the world population undergoes exams, a true **billion user** technology. \n\n**How it works**\n\nThe underlying technology uses [fdNIRS](https://nearwave.co/technology/fdnirs/), a form of near infrared spectroscopy which is deep tissue, non-invasive, does not require injectable contrast, and uses no ionizing radiation.  We measure the molecular absorption and scattering of light of biomarkers (blood, water, lipid) to monitor changes in metabolic and hemodynamic information in tissue \\[[5](https://opg.optica.org/boe/fulltext.cfm?uri=boe-12-11-7261&id=462776)\\]. Metabolic changes are an excellent indicator of therapy response, which our AI models use to categorize and predict the treatment outcomes. \n\n🌈 Here’s how light travels in tissue, and how it works with our system.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=80934&key=user_uploads/749007/6ffa11ac-d114-48d8-a27b-8e50c0c1e2ab)\n\n🤖 Workflow for our AI model therapy response grading. Breast images are from a study patient responding to therapy.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=80934&key=user_uploads/749007/2a7c993c-4938-4648-b042-61af9cdfe9f5)\n\n🤯 Here we visualize a 3d tumor, measured with our system on a physical tumor phantom of actual breast tissue properties.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=80934&key=user_uploads/749007/e47ac6ad-99d0-4b3a-a421-9d535916dc28)\n\n**Asks**\n\nIf you know anyone affected by breast cancer that was a candidate for neoadjuvant chemotherapy, we’d love to talk to them to hear about their experience. Reach out to us [here](https://nearwave.co/company/contact/). \n\nIf you have 10 minutes to chat about what we’re doing, I’d be thrilled to book a time with you [here](https://calendly.com/roy-197/roy-15min?preview_source=et_card&month=2024-05&date=2024-05-20).  \n\nThank you. \n\nRoy & the NearWave Team", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/L3O-nearwave-realtime-therapy-efficacy-for-treating-breast-cancer-patients", "votes": 42, "created_at": "2024-05-17T22:13:40.694Z" } ] }, { "id": 25673, "name": "Enlightra", "slug": "enlightra", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26b9f67c4720bc41433bdf2649784cad9156ee26.png", "website": "https://www.enlightra.com/", "all_locations": "Lausanne, VD, Switzerland; Ecublens, VD, Switzerland", "long_description": "Enlightra develops mass-manufacturable fingertip-size multicolor lasers enabling ultrafast data communication and optical computing while providing up to 10x improvement in energy efficiency and cost reduction.", "one_liner": "Multicolor lasers for ultrafast data transmission", "team_size": 22, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1648628492, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "Switzerland", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/enlightra", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2022/enlightra.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Lausanne", "country": "CH", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26b9f67c4720bc41433bdf2649784cad9156ee26.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 866932, "full_name": "John Jost", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "John has more than 20 years of experience in quantum, atomic, and optical physics and authored more than 70 publications while working with 2 Nobel Prize winners in physics (2012,2005). Dr. Jost has raised more than $2mio in non-dilutive funding for Enlightra", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "http://www.linkedin.com/in/john-jost", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2aee9faa5f40ce7d004f9074810bd110b8dc79d4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 826668, "full_name": "Maxim Karpov", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Entrepreneur with a strong research background, PhD in Physics, and >8 years of experience in photonics and laser technologies. Maxim has co-authored >40 research papers in top peer-reviewed journals including Nature and Science and has received multiple international awards for his research work. He has a successful track record of managing international research projects and fundraising.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/maximkarpov/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/da0e1696be255f77e24fc3ba2f5f17bd010226c7.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 25865, "name": "Andson Biotech", "slug": "andson-biotech", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8495f5832705b897265e143f4ea26b9403783542.png", "website": "http://www.andsonbiotech.com", "all_locations": "Atlanta, GA, USA", "long_description": "Andson Biotech helps pharmaceutical companies measure difficult to detect chemicals that they need to measure while developing and manufacturing drugs like cell-therapies or biologics. Drug companies want to use our technologies to get fast and accurate chemical measurements they do thousands of times per day for drug development and quality control. 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At Andson, Mason is driving the company's mission to develop novel methodologies for advanced biomanufacturing discovery and monitoring. Mason is formally trained as a mechanical engineer with a BS from the University of South Florida ('14) and an MS and PhD from Georgia Tech ('17, '20). 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We have $500M+ in off-take LoI’s and have signed a partnership with a global offshore logistics company which holds a seabed mining exploration permit. We have also built the 1st PoC underwater robotic arm.\r\n\r\nPolymetallic nodules are rocks which are rich in critical battery metals. Specially nickel, cobalt, manganese and copper. 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With a passion for subsea technology, his first company, 2G Robotics (Voyis), developed an underwater laser scanner and imaging product for monitoring in the offshore energy, military and civil infrastructure markets. He led the company to a successful acquisition in January 2020.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-gillham-31b23824/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f0b067c16d517c5d29c62ffc31217576d05d2014.jpg" }, { "user_id": 855438, "full_name": "Renee Grogan", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Renee is a sustainability expert with 16 years' experience in due diligence, pre-feasibility and feasibility, permitting, strategy, risk and community and stakeholder engagement. Her experience includes working in Australasia, the Pacific, the United States, Africa and parts of Europe. Renee has worked predominantly in the extractive resources industry, including consulting to financial institutions, resources companies, government and intergovernmental agencies, NGOs and research institutions.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-grogan-a3646361/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/525e301f4d60cfe064097b877a87d73e28d5b0ce.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "This massive robot is designed to harvest EV metals from the ocean | FastCompany", "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/90822101/massive-robot-ev-metals-ocean-sustainably", "date": "Dec 13, 2022" }, { "title": "Impossible Metals demonstrates its super-careful seabed mining robot", "url": "https://newatlas.com/marine/seabed-mining-robot-impossible-metals/", "date": "Dec 08, 2022" }, { "title": "Roundtable Discussion Plants Flag to Support Responsible Technology for DSM — Impossible Mining", "url": "https://impossiblemining.com/news/5u8j2o1gj2vwtzqpm3kvzzvpb4u08a", "date": "Jul 20, 2022" }, { "title": "Impossible Mining is combing the seafloor for battery metals – TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/21/impossible-mining-is-combing-the-seafloor-for-battery-metals/", "date": "Jun 21, 2022" }, { "title": "Impossible Mining announces its plans to develop the world's first sustainable and responsible deep-sea mining technology — Impossible Mining", "url": "https://impossiblemining.com/news/2021/11/03/impossible-mining-announces-its-plans-to-develop-the-worlds-first-sustainable-and-responsible-deep-sea-mining-technology", "date": "Mar 28, 2022" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 26120, "name": "AirMyne", "slug": "airmyne", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/41288cd5105aae41d1cae37fa2544b168a76b040.png", "website": "http://www.airmyne.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "AirMyne is building machines to capture & remove carbon dioxide from ambient atmospheric air so it can be utilized or sequestered downstream. Our team is based in Berkeley, CA. 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Helped invent, scale, & sell products used in EV, solar, semiconductor, & display manufacturing. Formerly served as Product Manager at Chemetall-BASF & R&D Engineer at Honeywell. Trained at Harvey Mudd College (Chemistry) & Babson College (MBA). ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/markcyffka/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/3be7795a03611ae47eee0aed1acaba1c04205463.jpg" }, { "user_id": 843857, "full_name": "Sudip Mukhopadhyay", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Deep tech innovator helped bringing billions of revenue-Helped developing low global warming refrigerant, 1234yf for cars. Developed products and commercialized in Solar, Semi, Displays and Quantum Dot TV applications. Founding member of Honeywell drone and air taxi greenhouses/startups, Also worked with 100s of startup in deep tech from Finland.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudip/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e4487519e4d7a55918361535eb9beb51868aeda9.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 112657, "title": "Staff/Senior Scientist, R&D", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airmyne/jobs/vyDn45J-staff-senior-scientist-r-d", "location": "Berkeley, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Process engineer", "salary_range": "$130K - $170K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112799, "title": "Research Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airmyne/jobs/um0dqSc-research-engineer", "location": "Berkeley, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Process engineer", "salary_range": "$90K - $140K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112940, "title": "Mechatronics / Automation Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airmyne/jobs/BthUSgs-mechatronics-automation-engineer", "location": "Berkeley, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$90K - $120K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112941, "title": "Mechanical Design Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airmyne/jobs/90orNAL-mechanical-design-engineer", "location": "Berkeley, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$90K - $120K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112942, "title": "Lab Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airmyne/jobs/yo0Ywnm-lab-technician", "location": "Berkeley, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Chemistry", "salary_range": "$65K - $85K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "AirMyne taps geothermal energy to scale direct air carbon capture | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/20/airmyne-seed-round/", "date": "Mar 20, 2024" } ], "launches": [] }, { "id": 27261, "name": "Integrated Reasoning", "slug": "integrated-reasoning", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7abc96adeb32772a65759b3c7fb44df00a0e11db.png", "website": "https://integrated-reasoning.com", "all_locations": "San Diego, CA, USA; Kilauea, HI, USA; Remote", "long_description": "Integrated Reasoning builds efficient computer processors that are tailored to the memory access patterns of Karp's 21 NP-complete problems. We’re making it 100x - 10,000x faster to perform computations like scheduling airline pilots or optimizing packing layouts for shipping containers.", "one_liner": "Faster processors for solving NP-complete problems", "team_size": 1, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1656696534, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "SaaS", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2022", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": true, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": [ { "question": "Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.", "answer": "Insanely fast silicon for NP-complete algorithms." }, { "question": "How long have each of you been working on this? How much of that has been full-time? Please explain.", "answer": "I founded Integrated Reasoning in December of 2021. I started working on the idea full-time as of March 2022." }, { "question": "What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.", "answer": "Integrated Reasoning designs processors that are tailored to the memory access patterns of NP-complete algorithms. Think GPUs but for optimization and constraint satisfaction problems (e.g. the knapsack problem.)\r\n\r\nComputing solutions to many NP-complete problems requires a massive amount of data transfer between the CPU and DRAM. Memory bandwidth is the bottleneck of modern computing, as discussed in \"Hitting the memory wall: Implications of the obvious.\" [1]\r\n\r\nThe memory wall is such a critical problem that it motivated much of the design behind Apple's M1 architecture. See also this excellent 2017 article [2] by Brendan Gregg, who is widely known for his expertise in system performance engineering.\r\n\r\nI believe Integrated Reasoning presents a win-win-win:\r\n- Customers win by spending less money renting servers, less time waiting for computation, and most importantly, can work on something other than wrangling clusters of computers.\r\n- The Earth and its inhabitants win because less energy will be required to search for countless digital needles in enormous digital haystacks (i.e. combinatorial optimization problems.)\r\n- Integrated Reasoning wins because it can make a profit while pricing its products far below the cost of running the equivalent workload on a cluster of servers.\r\n\r\n[1] Wulf, Wm A., and Sally A. McKee. \"Hitting the memory wall: Implications of the obvious.\" ACM SIGARCH computer architecture news 23.1 (1995): 20-24.\r\n[2 ] [https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-05-09/cpu-utilization-is-wrong.html](https://www.brendangregg.com/blog/2017-05-09/cpu-utilization-is-wrong.html)\r\n\r\nNote: Integrated Reasoning does not aim to answer the famous P versus NP question." } ], "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/integrated-reasoning", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2022/integrated-reasoning.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "San Diego", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/integrated-reasoning", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/IntegrateReason", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/integrated-reasoning", "github_url": "https://github.com/integrated-reasoning", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7abc96adeb32772a65759b3c7fb44df00a0e11db.png", "app_video_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/bf-public_profile/27322/app_video.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQC4NIECAPVLLM2EU%2F20261020%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T022709Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHEaCXVzLXdlc3QtMiJGMEQCIERmcK8Cf9%2Btw509DI59PWqE38RRTAlvZa4J3JDwHNfvAiAayM%2BKkNtOvjgd758WgPB4q6%2BUu3dhFEeIBKJdEEYmHirlAwg5EAAaDDAwNjIwMTgxMTA3MiIMT2KDc6%2BsqQRelJt7KsIDHKXozlWP2zRm6TyaI63cZu7UdMNJI84LhfrBVoBzKOZrazhBds2e6DhqALWGgEHuhaH96sBW1vGKF0SZPA8JEf%2FhnbI%2B0LPups6efXBWO1aKfnU6HWjkfPemBseL1V1dBRWh3MHmM%2BS0wsfJmaYaFWTcHaaVraOkFgeuvtIGQt%2FnimlcxYe9MQMOeYiPnm5yfGLPkCnGOvHZGDepzR19xj6ZjRi9QZRcX734o%2BDyXGZIQOACA5etqDAXBP7fbW8udzjKK9cHEGPamT7IlaTLAWBWnDjL2T9zw8ZCXoeolYzeaw3DTEK0tdnm9pXjkPGWxrNUNlecD6CiG7M3gr2Lm8eody0o9pj5Ec9BIcJ09i9djYQp%2F9Qt3RQagWspbZEm0RIM98ukXmmQO%2Br5NwFl2BqP7h04EVZMR4%2FxuoUkyMfNGipkzTdDAKGOV2wo7LqFqinznpZBKbguQ%2Fg6wWy40kCNyoPguBPf8GYzzIvusP5x6bf1QHvMlXyb8ElzS4lScRKm7v5GhARAJq%2BveXuxU3aR2lwL84TF9HIpOZ6loG5wOggyMO5KqHtaunl14wjKV3M6InDmt6%2F5NLTGbL6N0P36MOn92tYGOqYB%2B%2FclWb0gxQJ%2FmXWJ%2FID3oboHUM%2BqcRMUObsJl1yosDN9kekbLFwXPJS0wjujDnQuGXhjbEK0yPyr8Dgq35lBDPMlxWRQ8upAxHpp%2F0cruekkJPyONG5qpVv25DqS52YxtylQ0pbERuY6rX1AFi5Hwd5%2FQJgU8TuncKO5FjbC0OPiim0nrZjMnv3t4R3u06MVK4%2FRj2yhCS4qwhYGeOsJdP79%2BCqZqQ%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=034eda3e32826e85e381696d6cb68fea68805989da40b89647bc9a02d02ce744", "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 330306, "full_name": "David Cox", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder, CEO at Integrated Reasoning", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/d4r5c2/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/davidcox", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/cd472580566e2172c3e543e258e0772eda75237f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 64273, "title": "⚡️ Integrated Reasoning - Fast hardware for optimization problems", "tagline": "Integrated Reasoning builds computer hardware to efficiently solve optimization problems. We’re making it 100x faster and 10x cheaper to solve problems like scheduling airline pilots or packing shipping containers.", "body": "**Problem:**\n\nLogistics is expensive.\n\nImagine you’re a shipping company. Every day, you need to pack 100,000 boxes into shipping containers. How many containers do you need? Which boxes go into which containers? A common solution to this problem is to run [Google’s “OR-Tools” software](https://developers.google.com/optimization) in the cloud. This works, but it’s slow and the costs add up. Integrated Reasoning builds an alternative solution that is faster and cheaper.\n\n**Solution:**\n\n[Integrated Reasoning](http://ir.design/) provides hardware for solving optimization problems that can be quickly deployed in the cloud and scaled as needed. You don’t need any knowledge of hardware or firmware to use our products, and we provide generous support to make sure that the transition is smooth.\n\n**Reach out to us!**\n\nWe’re working on a series of hardware products for optimization. We would love to hear from folks that work on scheduling, routing, packing, networks, or other optimization problems; even if you’re not sure if our hardware could help.\n\nYou can reach out to Brycen and David at [hello@ir.design](mailto:hello@ir.design) or find out more at [ir.design](http://ir.design).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Gif-integrated-reasoning-fast-hardware-for-optimization-problems", "votes": 40, "created_at": "2022-07-01T19:12:26.468Z" } ] }, { "id": 27361, "name": "Polymath Robotics", "slug": "polymath-robotics", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0d6f5a2035d19900b2a4411b03d2c1998b0aaa5e.png", "website": "http://www.polymathrobotics.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Polymath is building a general autonomy stack for cautious vehicles. Our software allows any industrial vehicle - whether it's a tractor in a field or a bulldozer in a mine, drive itself. 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$125K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 94200, "title": "Senior Verification & Validation (V&V) Engineer - San Francisco", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/polymath-robotics/jobs/izf2VxL-senior-verification-validation-v-v-engineer-san-francisco", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$150K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.02% - 0.05%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 112649, "title": "Account Executive", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/polymath-robotics/jobs/8sCtro4-account-executive", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Sales", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$125K - $250K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 113108, "title": "Applications Engineer - San Francisco", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/polymath-robotics/jobs/Ii1hnp1-applications-engineer-san-francisco", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$113K - $150K", "equity_range": "0.03% - 0.06%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 116081, "title": "Autonomous Vehicle Test Specialist – San Francisco", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/polymath-robotics/jobs/KcVZbqK-autonomous-vehicle-test-specialist-san-francisco", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "QA engineer", "salary_range": "$70K - $100K", "equity_range": "0.01% - 0.03%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "The 30 Early-Stage Startups in 2026 Most Likely to Become Tech's Next Unicorns - Business Insider", "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/the-30-early-stage-startups-in-2026-most-likely-to-become-techs-next-unicorns-2026-3#polymath-robotics-21", "date": "Mar 03, 2026" }, { "title": "Case Study: Polymath Robotics and ConGlobal Collaboration", "url": "https://www.polymathrobotics.com/blog/case-study-polymath-and-conglobal", "date": "Feb 12, 2025" }, { "title": "CES 2025: Self-driving cars were everywhere, plus other transportation tech trends | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/12/ces-2025-self-driving-cars-were-everywhere-plus-other-transportation-tech-trends/", "date": "Jan 12, 2025" }, { "title": "Autonomous vehicles are having a moment and other vibes from CES 2025 | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/09/autonomous-vehicles-are-having-a-moment-and-other-vibes-from-ces-2025/", "date": "Jan 09, 2025" }, { "title": "Polymath Robotics to share lessons learned as a SaaS-based startup at RoboBusiness - The Robot Report", "url": "https://www.therobotreport.com/polymath-robotics-to-share-lessons-learned-at-a-saas-based-startup-at-robobusiness/", "date": "Aug 14, 2024" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 65002, "title": "📍 Polymath Robotics: plug & play autonomy for industrial vehicles", "tagline": "Polymath lets you easily add autonomy to any industrial vehicle, and build your own applications via Rest API.", "body": "Hey, we’re Stefan & Ilia, founders of Polymath Robotics.\n\n**Polymath makes autonomy software for industrial vehicles.**\n\nToday we’re excited to introduce **Caladan**: a set of simulated vehicles & environments you can use to build autonomous industrial vehicle applications via Rest API.\n\n### **The problem**\n\nBuilding an autonomous industrial vehicle is a multiyear, multimillion-dollar project. Just getting a vehicle to drive itself reliably takes 6 months of engineering effort at a minimum. Even then, the autonomy itself is often buggy and unreliable, and impossible to transfer across different vehicle types.\n\nAs a result, many autonomy companies run out of steam before they even have a reliably-working product … let alone product-market fit.\n\n### **Our solution: general autonomy software**\n\nPolymath software handles generalized basic autonomy — in other words, **driving around and not hitting stuff** — for any industrial vehicle in a controlled environment. That means autonomous industrial vehicle companies can have an autonomous vehicle on day 1.\n\nSince we’re _just_ working on autonomy, we can focus on making the system **stable and reliable.** No more battling with weird controls issues or buggy obstacle detection.\n\n### Caladan: build on Polymath autonomy in simulation\n\nCaladan makes it easy to build autonomous vehicle behaviors in sim. The tool is a set of simulated vehicles & environments you can use to interact with Polymath autonomy via Rest API.\n\nThat means you can program custom autonomous vehicle behaviors and applications using Python, not ROS. And when you’re ready, whatever you’ve built in Caladan can seamlessly transition to a physical vehicle.\n\n### Product demo / example application\n\nHere’s an example application you could build with Caladan (you can download the example code [here](https://github.com/polymathrobotics/caladan_examples)).\n\n\n\nThe free version of Caladan comes with a simulated farm environment or simulated port environment. You can also reach out to us about a custom environment & vehicle in Caladan.\n\n### **Does Polymath autonomy work for my vehicle/use case?**\n\nPolymath autonomy is limited to industrial vehicles in closed environments, since the system will stop immediately if there’s trouble, and fall back on teleoperation in hazardous situations.\n\n**Use case examples:** ⛏ Mining trucks • 🚜 Agricultural vehicles • 🌲 Logging trucks • ✈️ Ground support equipment at airports • 🚢 Yard trucks\n\n### **Can I try it?**\n\nHeck yeah. You can try Caladan for free by signing up [here](http://polymathrobotics.com/product).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/GuQ-polymath-robotics-plug-play-autonomy-for-industrial-vehicles", "votes": 67, "created_at": "2022-07-29T15:56:38.207Z" } ] }, { "id": 28075, "name": "Stralis Aircraft", "slug": "stralis-aircraft", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e6cd43124bbe625dfa17c771db4a40a68e9ddccb.png", "website": "https://stralis.aero/", "all_locations": "Brisbane, QLD, Australia", "long_description": "Our planes fly 10 times further than battery electric alternatives, with a lower operating cost than fossil fuel powered aircraft. Our first product is a 15 seat aircraft with a range of 800 km that enters service in 2026 with launch customer Skytrans. Our team has over 85 years of aerospace experience and have developed, flight tested and certified aircraft at Google X, magniX, Heart Aerospace, Ampaire, Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Gulfstream. We have $145M in aircraft LOIs from 7 airlines in the US, Europe and Australia.", "one_liner": "Emission free hydrogen electric aircraft", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1673816861, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hydrogen Energy", "Airplanes", "Climate", "Electric Vehicles" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "Australia", "Oceania", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": true, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/stralis-aircraft", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2023/stralis-aircraft.json", "year_founded": 2021, "city": "Brisbane", "country": "AU", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/stralis-aircraft/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e6cd43124bbe625dfa17c771db4a40a68e9ddccb.png", "app_video_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/bf-public_profile/28130/app_video.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQC4NIECAB65C3NVS%2F20261020%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T022712Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHEaCXVzLXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIFHXAPmtyBqrp837x%2BtvevEoxnv8Gx58GX3c9rn9bY6wAiEAnoTYvKXZBY2yYnHaniYwouJlCtk3JKIPv4z%2BTXuT688q5QMIOhAAGgwwMDYyMDE4MTEwNzIiDIHC0yiHW7T%2BEq6IKSrCA0mQmdRF2LeGicURdAqTuXKwIBhPfKv03ZZAZzoNtJAkGM8u7vooAxawOKcZPN9WLpeDtSzEM7TuTjQY%2FSS%2FTfEhzvdl500snpvwMuAUX%2FMnVTcl5kj2%2FIsG28zbyz8SPOC4MFZxDJVLkVzZNyPm3Sqhwd3tVb2eAEA3Snlb4tVJoon4gMiENPudPZx1mYan0pV4y%2BvzIh5fSOXOzeCNtxQsghL2vqdt3ZRX4GhG0IaYmwHZ0vFYWZwGU2xHZTPJkKesM7CU%2BMSvC%2BKk9kh8ZiXfIhNiuw%2FOR852%2Bweym8GCQK6sL6vUztSw7YJM3DE7S54GoLMVqJ3pVZ4nRCueNuUDIk5Xcrm%2BnO1D9PDCkuXHfeKAtd5IND0%2F4wYBviiIjCiK4V7c1Te%2BjLtQeECQN5bdreLVcmD0ZFE7SP6Dvl%2BeNrrSzWJHVFMVrMXuYy1wq%2BUAVorlEk4FscLgq3nyCKv61HriR0E6TvRMW6fk5BtLEXX1pdLG9J0wPrD6BS8%2BV21NXMusbpc083g5foxzAm0jcBk1vdGzWZo%2BGnkPgmkjCbFBu%2FG4dGUQ1bjI0EleTOkMK9Gc9hZuAdBXN6Zq1hmsgjDp%2FdrWBjqlAalkHK0yOWpTa7BiFYcBcyXQM0nL9eNLVPHbhsST5McQGckOmastElrLWzEA65ZsOsnbn5TgNPMQCUiMKSoECCtAW%2FTFKN3Ej8hCo8MYzwczme29nAZKN2BjgGewXyGbJcEZLYeLieG3o0UXlAc8xAQtVo7SKkZsv5jz5027mW394DI93TQNDPVYcRXMMcqk6cNJjjQg29oJFm95qhz2pS7W7NvhVw%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=553355fb713ca16549ce0e0a31e23179552c40a5785766475653adf9ec30bebf", "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/5b163c3c89c8aac69243a5a39d756df25cd2e654.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1205655, "full_name": "Bob Criner", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Bob is Co-Founder & CEO of Stralis Aircraft, where he uses his extensive international aerospace experience to drive company strategy and aircraft product development. He previously supported leading emission free aircraft projects at Heart Aerospace, Ampaire, magniX and Google X, combining a strong passion for sustainability with technical engineering skills. Born in Nashville, TN, he moved to Australia at 10 and studied Aerospace Engineering at UNSW in Sydney.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobcriner/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1c56d64a2549235047fccca6fdd75befe1f3a7c1.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1206742, "full_name": "Stuart Johnstone", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Stuart is co-founder and CTO at Stralis Aircraft and is leading the development of their lightweight hydrogen electric propulsion system. Stuart started his career in engineering working on superconducting magnets for MRI and scientific applications. This multidisciplinary experience along with an MSci in Physics from University of Glasgow gave him the tools to tackle novel and interesting engineering problems that can impact the planet for the better. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartjohnstone1/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/3de3900b4d0f72def84c487a675ceb9515872b0b.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 70037, "title": "Stralis 🛫 - Emission free hydrogen electric aircraft", "tagline": "Our planes fly 10 times further than battery electric alternatives, with a lower operating cost than fossil fuel powered aircraft.", "body": "Hi! We’re [Bob](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobcriner/) & [Stuart](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartjohnstone1/) from [Stralis Aircraft](https://stralis.aero/) in Australia. We make emission free hydrogen electric aircraft to help decarbonise air travel. We have $50M in LOIs for our launch product, a 15 seat aircraft with a range of 800 km that enters service in 2026 [with launch customer Skytrans](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/30/queensland-airline-skytrans-unveils-plans-for-australias-first-hydrogen-fuelled-plane).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70037&key=user_uploads/1205655/4a8710bf-c888-40cf-9f99-5e2f9c82b9ce)\n\n**Ask:** 🙏 Intros to airlines or aircraft operators that might be interested in our products would be greatly appreciated. Contact: [bc@stralis.aero](mailto:bc@stralis.aero)\n\n**Problem - Alternatives Compromise on Range or Cost**\n\nAs other modes of transport decarbonise, aviation’s contribution to global emissions will increase. Based on our first hand experience, we believe other sustainable flight alternatives compromise on:\n\n* Battery Electric - limited range & payload\n* Hybrid Electric - expensive to operate, limited emission reduction\n* Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) - expensive & emits other harmful pollutants (NOx, sulphates, particulates)\n\n**Solution - Hydrogen Electric Propulsion**\n\nWe're convinced hydrogen electric is the cheapest way to rapidly decarbonise 50% of commercial flights.\n\n* How it works - Green hydrogen and air are combined in a fuel cell stack to produce electric power, which is used by an electric motor to turn a propeller. The only thing emitted during this process is water.\n* Our proprietary hydrogen electric propulsion system is 35% lighter than the competition, unlocking useful aircraft ranges at low cost.\n* Our first product is a retrofit of an already certified aircraft, allowing us to get to market quicker and cheaper.\n* We plan to deliver 50,000 of our 48 seat SA-1 aircraft by 2050, generating $850B in revenue.\n\n**Our Backstory**\n\nWe met in 2017 at [magniX](https://www.magnix.aero/), leading teams developing electric aircraft propulsion systems for the world’s first battery powered eBeaver and eCaravan flights. The Stralis team has 85 years of aerospace experience, having developed, flight tested and certified aircraft at GoogleX, [Heart Aerospace (YC W19)](https://heartaerospace.com/), [Ampaire](https://www.ampaire.com/), Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Gulfstream. Now we’re on a mission to make Stralis the world’s leading emission free aircraft company. Spread the good word!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=70037&key=user_uploads/1205655/03a6b905-1ceb-47e8-a006-4f45dcfaec8b)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/IDd-stralis-emission-free-hydrogen-electric-aircraft", "votes": 45, "created_at": "2023-03-08T05:29:54.024Z" } ] }, { "id": 28114, "name": "rex.fit", "slug": "rex-fit", "former_names": [ "Babylon AI", "BabylonAI", "Rex" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c618208d2cb852eeff16409fb7e787701c395b91.png", "website": "https://www.rex.fit", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "The DROP by Rex.Fit is an AI wearable camera that automates nutrition tracking using computer vision. It has garnered more than 93k USD in preorders (~450 units) since its launch last month. The nutrition estimation and recommendation tech behind the DROP is already integrated as an API for fitness chains, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars in yearly revenue for them. The DROP is built by brothers, sports nutritionists and computer vision engineers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich).", "one_liner": "Automating nutrition tracking.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer", "launched_at": 1674733041, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Computer Vision", "Consumer Health Services", "Fitness", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rex-fit", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2023/rex-fit.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/babylonai/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/rexfit_app", "fb_url": "https://www.instagram.com/rexfit.app/", "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/babylonai", "github_url": "https://github.com/thebabylonai", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c618208d2cb852eeff16409fb7e787701c395b91.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1207294, "full_name": "Ahmad Roumie", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "On a mission to fully automate nutrition tracking - Order the DROP on kickstarter. Roboticist and calisthenics athlete. Previously worked on autonomous retail stores using computer vision, also worked on autonomous robots ((legged, UAVs, and crawlers) ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmad-roumie-1a59a417a/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/75d60a8965ff22709d30ee5a749911dd78f6d2d3.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Food tracking just got lazy — in the best way possible — with this wearable | Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/tech/food-tracking-just-got-lazy-best-way-possible-wearable", "date": "Dec 22, 2024" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 86073, "title": "The Drop: Fully Automated Nutrition Tracker", "tagline": "The Drop automatically tracks your calories and macros as you eat.", "body": "# TL;DR\n\nHi there! We’re Rangel and Ahmad and today we’re excited to be launching [the Drop on Kickstarter. The Drop is our wearable AI pendant and app](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rangel/the-drop-fully-automated-nutrition-tracker) that automatically tracks what you eat throughout the day. \n\n[Watch the launch video here!](https://youtu.be/wa0rATqlnQU)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86073&key=user_uploads/635063/1041e0f0-9ce8-42e6-ad9e-885502231d89)\n\n# How it works\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86073&key=user_uploads/635063/356232f6-9e59-4216-afa8-b0f7c808b541)\n\n[The Drop](https://www.getdrop.ai) uses **computer vision and AI** to know when you're eating food. Once the smart AI chip on the device classifies something as food, the LED light turns on and the device starts recording what you're eating. Afterwards, the cropped image of the meal will be sent to the cloud for analysis. The algorithms will then break down your meal into **calories, protein, carbs and fats**, which you could see right away in the app on your phone.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86073&key=user_uploads/635063/3d7365f6-f033-44b4-9867-59268af954c8)\n\n# Why are we building this?\n\nWe launched [Rex Nutribot on WhatsApp](https://www.rex.fit) in December 2023. We made calorie tracking as simple as sending a photo or a text to a friend. More than 20,000 users later, we learned that nutrition tracking is still not a solved problem. Every solution on the market requires **too much input from the user**, and most don't manage to create the habit to track what they eat. \n\nA real solution needs to be as **user-friendly and intuitive** as fitness tracking is. It needs to be a wearable that you can just put on in the morning and forget about. For that reason we developed The Drop: the first fully automated nutrition tracker.\n\nBy fully automating meal tracking we want to **enable everyone to learn what and how much they eat**, understand their eating habits and transform their diet to optimize for health and longevity.\n\n# The team\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86073&key=user_uploads/635063/79e0e320-e8ee-4934-a7e1-0a4e5ebb6627)\n\nOur core team consists of Harvard and ETH Zurich engineers and we are backed by two of the largest and most well-known incubators: [Y Combinator](https://ycombinator.com) and [Entrepreneur First](https://www.joinef.com). Our co-founder and CTO, [Ahmad](https://www.rex.fit/contacts/ahmad), is a computer vision engineer who previously worked in autonomous retail with a Masters in Robotics from ETH Zurich, and our co-founder and CEO, [Rangel](https://www.rex.fit/contacts/rangel), is an AI engineer who graduated with a B.A. in Computer Science from Harvard. We met at Entrepreneur First in Paris in 2022 and have been working together since. \n\n# Get the Drop\n\nYou can find more information and [pre-order the Drop by backing us on Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rangel/the-drop-fully-automated-nutrition-tracker). Pricing starts at **199 USD** and it is available in **3 colors**: carbon black, metallic blue and gold. Early adopters and beta testers will start receiving their devices in the summer. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=86073&key=user_uploads/635063/bc268686-845b-4419-9d5c-ee88333bc390)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MOH-the-drop-fully-automated-nutrition-tracker", "votes": 27, "created_at": "2024-12-05T15:21:06.246Z" }, { "id": 75089, "title": "Rex.fit 🦖: Your personal AI workout and nutrition coach", "tagline": "The AI that helps you get and stay in shape.", "body": "Hi everyone! We're excited to share with you [**Rex.fit**](http://Rex.fit). We merge the addictive nature of gaming with the benefits of physical fitness. And we can't wait for you to try it!\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=75089&key=user_uploads/635063/639f56b0-2380-405b-95ce-fcca5714280b)\n\n## 💪 **What is **[**Rex.fit**](http://Rex.fit)**?**\n\nWe gamify workouts using computer vision and AI to provide immediate feedback on your workouts. By tracking your workout intensity, calorie burn, and repetitions in real-time, we ensure you stay engaged, challenged, and hungry for more. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=75089&key=user_uploads/635063/44015f5d-d594-4346-85db-452f78d8dc49)\n\nWe also offer a nutrition chatbot that simplifies food logging through natural language processing, making it as easy as texting a friend to track your dietary intake.\n\n🎮 **How Does It Work?**\n\n1. Head over to [www.rex.fit](http://www.rex.fit), sign up and choose a workout. The weekly challenge or the fitness test are great places to start.\n2. Make sure your camera is on and stay around 1.5 meters (\\~5 feet) away from your phone or laptop - our AI will track your movements, count your reps and measure your intensity.\n3. You’ll get a final score at the end of each workout based on your performance. Head the leaderboard by beating your own score and that of your friends.\n4. Dive into our variety of gamified workouts. Whether you're into HIIT, or strength training, we have a workout for you! The weekly challenge is a great place to start!\n5. Visualize and track your progress using the profile page:\n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=75089&key=user_uploads/635063/c8de0795-3972-4ccd-8cab-6f18656d3efc)\n\n6. Earn points, beat your high score, challenge friends, and most importantly, get fit while having fun!\n\n## 🍲 **AI-Powered Nutrition Tracking!**\n\nWe understand fitness isn't just about workouts, so we're also introducing a Telegram chatbot you can text to track your meals.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=75089&key=user_uploads/635063/f534de8b-1eaf-45b6-bb41-3b2683873069)\n\n* **Text your daily meals** to the bot, whether they’re home-cooked, take-out, or store-bought.\n* We use LLMs to break meals down into ingredients and then query our DB to estimate calories, protein, carbs, fats, and other micronutrients, giving you a comprehensive view of your diet.\n* Say goodbye to manual logging and inaccurate guesses. Let our AI take care of your nutritional tracking.\n\n🌟 **Why **[**Rex.fit**](http://Rex.fit)**?**\n\n* **Engagement**: Turn workouts into games, making them more engaging and fun.\n* **Accuracy**: Ensure your workouts are effective with real-time feedback.\n* **All-in-one**: Combine workouts and nutrition in one platform.\n* **Community**: Challenge and compete with friends or the [Rex.fit](http://Rex.fit) community.\n\n🙏 **Join Us On This Journey** We're on a mission to make fitness accessible, fun, and effective for everyone. But we need your help. Check out [www.rex.fit](http://www.rex.fit), try our platform, and give us your feedback. If any of you are or know well fitness trainers, dieticians, or other people who would like their content to be on our platform, please reach out to us.\n\n🔗 **Links & Resources**\n\n* 🏋️‍♂️ Gamified Workouts: [www.rex.fit](http://www.rex.fit)\n* 🤖 Telegram Bot: [t.me/rex_nutribot](http://t.me/rex_nutribot) (you need to sign up on Rex first to gain access)\n* 👍🏿 Like and follow us on Instagram: \n* 📞 Chat with us: \n\nCheers to a healthier, more fun fitness journey! 💪🎮\n\n---\n\n_Note: Always remember to prioritize safety. Ensure you're in a suitable environment before starting a workout, and consult with a healthcare professional if you have any medical concerns._", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/JX7-rex-fit-your-personal-ai-workout-and-nutrition-coach", "votes": 169, "created_at": "2023-09-22T18:21:30.459Z" }, { "id": 68843, "title": "Babylog: A lightweight open-source logging library for computer vision", "tagline": "Easily log image and prediction data from edge devices", "body": "Hi everyone,\n\nWe’re excited to launch our new **open-source logging library for ML and computer vision teams**. With Babylog, we aim to empower engineers to **easily log raw image and prediction data from edge devices to the cloud (or on-prem servers).**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=68843&key=user_uploads/635063/04dbb932-16fa-4e04-bc2c-b7a14f273ebf)\n\n## Problem\n\nYou need to know what your models are running on in the real world. Setting up that infrastructure takes away precious time and money. You need a standard for logging your data so that you know how your models perform. **Babylog (bah-bee-log) provides a standard where all device, model, and prediction information are coupled.**\n\n* If you don’t have a data stream from production, you have no idea what your models are seeing and no way to evaluate their performance.\n* If something suddenly changes in the real world and with it the distribution of your inputs, things could go very wrong so you’d likely want to know (i.e. stop signs suddenly turning blue = Tesla becoming a murder machine)\n\n## Our asks\n\n* [**Go check us out on GitHub and don’t forget to star us ⭐.**](https://github.com/thebabylonai/babylog)\n* Check out our [website](https://www.babylonai.dev), and play with our library and mock dashboard.\n* If you’re interested, have feedback or criticism, or think we should talk to someone, please either:\n * schedule a chat with us: \n * shoot us an email at [founders@babylonai.dev](mailto:founders@babylonai.dev)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/HuN-babylog-a-lightweight-open-source-logging-library-for-computer-vision", "votes": 20, "created_at": "2023-01-30T18:19:49.406Z" } ] }, { "id": 28810, "name": "Zelos Cloud", "slug": "zelos-cloud", "former_names": [ "Zelos" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/afc3d576d23341fe3b3be62748770b0756c79dcc.png", "website": "https://zeloscloud.io", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Zelos Cloud is the data platform for mission-critical systems that enables teams to observe, control, and test systems from prototype to production. The platform connects across entire ecosystems, capturing data from many protocols, enabling remote command execution, and facilitating team collaboration through shared workspaces and real-time annotations. By integrating data collection, processing, and visualization into one seamless pipeline, Zelos Cloud eliminates complexity and breaks down silos between engineering, operations, and quality teams.", "one_liner": "The Data Platform for Mission‑Critical Systems", "team_size": 3, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1688766669, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Manufacturing", "Data Visualization" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/zelos-cloud", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2023/zelos-cloud.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/zeloscloud/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/afc3d576d23341fe3b3be62748770b0756c79dcc.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1264582, "full_name": "Michael Jaradah", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder @ Zelos Cloud. Former Tesla Energy Firmware lead. Experienced across domains like embedded, networking, safety systems and validation infrastructure.\n\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljaradah/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/231fc91e47724ca63cb3dd02fa271f6a6ac6cb0d.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1265862, "full_name": "Taylor Keairns", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder @ Zelos Cloud. Former Tesla Energy Firmware/Software lead. Specialized in system programming for embedded Linux and RTOS.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-keairns-872063125/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7c8cf19c0e1882975d641a95311761b2268b2cd5.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 28841, "name": "Baud", "slug": "baud", "former_names": [ "Neuralyze", "Cerelyze", "Zener", "Front", "Zener", "SuperCraft", "Ponder", "SuperCraft", "Baud Labs" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2ea89d0878c367c79b3a58c19eb1323a648e3f38.png", "website": "https://baudlabs.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Novel AI hardware built from first principles to let companies train, fine-tune, and deploy frontier models with orders of magnitude better performance than incumbents", "one_liner": "AI chips for ultra-fast training and inference", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1688534176, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Semiconductors", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/baud", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/baud.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/baud-labs-ai/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2ea89d0878c367c79b3a58c19eb1323a648e3f38.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1348413, "full_name": "Sarang Zambare", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Multi-time founder with 4 patents and 7+ years in deep learning and AI hardware. ML lead for Peloton Guide from concept to 100,000+ devices shipped. Previously founding ML engineer at Peloton and Caper (acquired by Instacart). Also a certified pilot.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/sarang-zambare", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/sarangz11", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d9ae5ac000c0c036f4b5022a8dd94a1b90a9e2a9.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3805085, "full_name": "Eric Taylor", "title": "Founder & Chief Hardware Architect", "founder_bio": "Experienced ASIC Architect with over a decade of industry experience, including four tape-outs, two major IP releases, two patents, and a publication. Prior roles at NVIDIA, Freescale/NXP, Arteris IP, and Enfabrica.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-taylor-995b923b/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/54e1b3deed285b11303c26e69ac744fbf80d5f4c.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 104577, "title": "Baud - AI Chips for Accelerated Training and Inference", "tagline": "Novel AI hardware and developer platform, co-designed from first principles to let businesses create frontier models with orders of magnitude better performance than incumbents", "body": "**TL;DR**\n\nBaud is building a new chip for training and inference of large AI models\n\nWe have developed a new arithmetic representation of neural networks that does not contain multiplications. Our silicon is architected specifically for this representation and doing this lets us train and serve AI faster and more efficiently than incumbents.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=104577&key=user_uploads/1348413/43bfbd38-2274-4963-b225-3714d18f7c65)\n\n\\\n\\\n**Our Team** \n\n* **Sarang Zambare**, multi-time founder with 4 patents and 7+ years in deep learning and AI hardware. ML lead for Peloton Guide from concept to 100,000+ devices shipped and founding engineer at Caper (acquired by Instacart) building edge deep learning models.\n* **Eric Taylor**, ex-NVIDIA chip design veteran with a decade of experience including 4 tape-outs on leading process nodes, two major IP releases, multiple patents and publications, prior roles at NVIDIA, Freescale/NXP, Arteris IP, and Enfabrica.\n\n\\\n\\\n**The Problem**\n\nWe are living in exciting times where humanity has figured out a way to turn sand and sunlight into machines of scientific discovery.\n\nBut creating and serving these machines aka frontier AI models, is extremely capital intensive.\n\nNVIDIA’s publicly documented training recipe of the Nemotron model took **6144 H100 GPUs**, going on for around 3 months, drawing around **4.3 megawatts** of electricity.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=104577&key=user_uploads/1348413/eddfed11-11fd-41b3-bbc2-8bb950078002)\n\nThat's **$44M in rentals or $245M in capex** plus an ungodly number of developer hours standing up distributed training. Models like Claude Opus 4.6 surprised the world, and that's just the beginning. But at these numbers, **only a handful of teams on Earth control the frontier in AI** and have a shot at a new opus-level moment in other domains like robotics, world models, drug discovery, material science, physics, simulation, the list goes on.\\\n\\\nCurrent attempts at solving this such as Cerebras, Groq, Etched, D-Matrix and 50 other chip startups are only attacking the silicon side and leaving the fundamental math side of the problem untouched, because they are focused on inference and hence have to run existing model weights.\n\nWhen we looked deeper, we found that if you let go of the constraint of running existing model weights, a radically different silicon architecture becomes possible, with an order of magnitude better performance.\n\nWe think we're just scratching the surface of what's possible when you co-design the hardware with the model architecture.\n\nAnd that’s what we are betting the farm on.\n\n**Solution**\n\nWe have developed a new way to represent neural network architectures that eliminates multiplications from both the forward and backward passes, and also compresses the weights by more than 10x without any loss in intelligence. The catch is that you need to train the model in this representation, or start with a base model that is also in this representation.\n\nBoth during training and inference, our chip does not need multiplier circuits.\n\nThis makes our individual cores drastically smaller and simpler than say GPU’s tensor cores or the PEs in TPU’s systolic arrays.\n\nWhich means we can pack way more compute and SRAM on the die and move way more weights for the same memory bandwidth.\n\nThis makes our chip faster, less power hungry and simpler to build.\\\n\\\nWe provide a developer platform based on our hardware that makes creation of frontier AI frictionless and economical to serve, so businesses of all sizes can start owning their intelligence.\\\n\\\n**We are live already**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=104577&key=user_uploads/1348413/fb27985c-5941-4f2b-aac1-a81378047b7c)\n\nOur first chip is validated on the Global Foundries 12nm process and on schedule for tape-out by the end of this year.\\\n\\\nOur training and inference service is already live on a cluster of FPGAs running the chip architecture in emulation.\\\n\\\nUsing FPGA emulation, we've developed a compiler and a distributed training stack that converts any PyTorch exportable model to our format with bit exact results in most cases, including popular opensource architectures such as GLM, Qwen, Gemma, DeepSeek, Flux, Wan and others.\\\n\\\nYou can checkout a small demo of our chip running in emulation on a single FPGA here: \n\n**Our partner program**\\\n\\\nBaud is now working with design partners who can test our systems and help smooth out the developer experience, in exchange for reserved capacity on our first cluster for training and inference.\\\n\\\nCapacity is limited. Contact us if you are training something new or are tired of paying through the nose for intelligence that you do not own.\\\n\\\n\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=104577&key=user_uploads/1348413/7e141e34-4913-4656-b502-b1b7201eeb73)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/RCj-baud-ai-chips-for-accelerated-training-and-inference", "votes": 98, "created_at": "2026-07-06T15:52:27.467Z" } ] }, { "id": 29008, "name": "Andromeda Surgical", "slug": "andromeda-surgical", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ad29152e507992c17de56b3d0a62d1fd6769fd3b.png", "website": "http://www.andromedasurgical.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We're building autonomous robots to make surgery safe, easier and more efficient. Robots currently perform about 1/4 of surgeries but only help with the physical aspects. We use AI to make surgery cognitively easier. This has far greater potential to improve outcomes and reduce costs. Founded by 3x founders from medtech and autonomous vehicles, we're on track to be the fastest surgical robot to market of all time. First indication is prostate enucleation.", "one_liner": "Autonomous surgical robots", "team_size": 12, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Medical Devices", "launched_at": 1684515035, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Machine Learning", "Medical Robotics", "Medical Devices", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2023", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Medical Devices" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/andromeda-surgical", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2023/andromeda-surgical.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "http://linkedin.com/company/andromeda-surgical", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/andromedasurg", "fb_url": "http://facebook.com/andromedasurgical", "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ad29152e507992c17de56b3d0a62d1fd6769fd3b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 4171, "full_name": "Nick Damiano", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "First YC medtech founder and only 2x YC medtech founder; \nCo-founder & CEO @ Andromeda Surgical S23;\nFounder & CEO @ Zenflow W15 - treated > 300 patients so far, Class 3 FDA approval, raised > $100M;\nCo-founder & CTO @ Avail MedSystems (f.k.a. Nurep, acq. by Mendaera) - launched in 1000 hospitals, raised $120M;\nVenture Partner @ Pioneer Fund;\nStanford Biodesign Innovation Fellow & Stanford MS/BS;\nGeneralist/SW engineer;\nDad to two daughters;\nSemicolon enthusiast;", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/nickdamiano", "x_url": "https://x.com/nickdamian0", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d66722f33e37245caa7dd8f7da2e5ab43158e9a5.jpg" }, { "user_id": 37368, "full_name": "Kartik Tiwari", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Background in robotics\n3x technical founder, 2x YC founder\nLed the team at Starsky Robotics to become the first in the world to have a driverless truck on a public road", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/profile/public-profile-settings?trk=prof-edit-edit-public_profile", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a6e5d0daa20f47f66ea411a42df32eb0df8fac6a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 62175, "title": "Robotics Controls Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/andromeda-surgical/jobs/EiC4MLO-robotics-controls-engineer", "location": "South San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "C++", "Python" ] }, { "id": 66541, "title": "Senior Software engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/andromeda-surgical/jobs/0NF6Ie3-senior-software-engineer", "location": "South San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Backend", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 80395, "title": "UX Designer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/andromeda-surgical/jobs/dTs6gll-ux-designer", "location": "South San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 83839, "title": "Lead Hardware Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/andromeda-surgical/jobs/93sD4oD-lead-hardware-engineer", "location": "South San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$140K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "Arduino", "Python", "Linux", "CAD Design" ] }, { "id": 108088, "title": "Machine Learning Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/andromeda-surgical/jobs/l9lWEvX-machine-learning-engineer", "location": "South San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "Python", "Torch/PyTorch", "Machine Learning", "Data Modeling" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 74646, "title": "Andromeda Surgical: Autonomous surgical robots 🦾🏥", "tagline": "Autonomous robots that use AI to elevate every surgeon to world expert level and deliver consistently great patient outcomes", "body": "tl;dr: We’re [Andromeda Surgical](https://andromedasurgical.com/) and we’re building autonomous surgical robots. We’re a team of two 3x founders and 2x YC founders from medtech and autonomous vehicles. Our AI-assisted robots will empower every surgeon to operate at world expert level for every procedure, every time, with minimal training. We’re starting with a proven urologic procedure that can treat over half a million patients per year in the US alone.\n\n \n\n**About Us**\n\nHi everyone, we’re Nick and Kartik, the co-founders of Andromeda Surgical. Nick has founded medtech companies collectively worth over $1 billion whose products are used in over 1,000 medical facilities. Kartik led the team that built and launched the world’s first autonomous truck to operate driverless on US highways. We were both YC alums before this batch, Nick with Zenflow (W15) and Kartik with Starsky Robotics (S16). We met through [YC Co-Founder Matching](https://www.ycombinator.com/cofounder-matching) and realized we could apply the same principles underlying self-driving vehicles to fundamentally change how surgery is performed.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=74646&key=user_uploads/4171/baf84b2c-4724-43aa-b88d-fc1980e4a389)\n\n\n**Problem**\n\nHuman mental and physical capabilities limit surgical outcomes. Existing surgical robotics companies focus almost exclusively on solving the physical challenges, making surgical movements more ergonomic and precise. These improvements alone have revolutionized surgery and spawned a large and fast-growing industry, led by [Intuitive Surgical](https://www.intuitive.com/en-us) ($108 billion market cap). Surgeons love to use these products and patients eagerly sign up for robotic procedures.\n\nDespite the proliferation of robotics in surgery, the clinical need to reduce complication rates remains largely unmet. Almost one third of patients undergoing surgery experience complications, and 8% experience major complications \\[1\\]. Many surgeons have told us they blame themselves for sub-optimal outcomes, and this adds significant stress to their lives. As AI becomes more powerful, it offers tremendous potential to improve surgical decision making and reduce complication rates.\n\n**Our Solution**\n\nAndromeda uses AI to augment surgeons’ mental and cognitive faculties. We’re starting with a common prostate procedure that can treat over half a million patients per year and has better outcomes than all alternatives. Its steep learning curve limits the number of urologists who can perform it. The procedure is algorithmically simple, but it’s hard for urologists to know exactly where they are and what they’re seeing, resulting in mistakes and delays. We’ve designed a GPS-like location system to help surgeons accurately orient themselves and perform the best possible action in every moment.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=74646&key=user_uploads/4171/e37dbeac-932f-42bc-b896-954c0c4c0fcb)\n\nAfter launching, we’ll expand into other urologic procedures and then beyond. Whereas most surgical robots focus on multi-port laparoscopic procedures, we’re starting with natural orifice procedures that tend to be less mechanically complex. We’re a hardware-lite company and built our simple yet versatile robot in just three months. The main value we’ll provide is in our software. Our long-term vision is to enhance all surgeons’ abilities with AI, empowering them to perform a broad range of procedures at expert level and deliver consistently optimal outcomes to patients.\n\n**Asks**\n\n·      We’re hiring robotics and HRI/industrial design engineers\n\n·      We’re looking to meet urologists who can partner with us on data collection and future clinical trials\n\nPlease reach out at [info@andromedasurgical.com](mailto:info@andromedasurgical.com) if you’re interested to help us build the future of surgery.\n\n\\[1\\] ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/JPy-andromeda-surgical-autonomous-surgical-robots", "votes": 46, "created_at": "2023-09-06T13:49:39.308Z" } ] }, { "id": 29381, "name": "Elodin", "slug": "elodin", "former_names": [ "Elodin Systems", "Inc", "Elodin", "Elodin Systems" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1c69ab06e9dcd05c2d8d6257e045ed1514a741f0.png", "website": "https://elodin.systems/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Elodin creates flight software, simulations, and hardware for drones, satellites, and defense.", "one_liner": "Unified flight software and hardware for the mission of tomorrow", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1705381687, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Drones", "Satellites", "Rocketry", "Aerospace" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/elodin", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2024/elodin.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/elodin-systems-inc", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/elodinsystems", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/elodin-sys", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1c69ab06e9dcd05c2d8d6257e045ed1514a741f0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Gustaf Alstromer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/gustaf-alstromer" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1618281, "full_name": "Daniel Driscoll", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "A technology adventurer experienced in tanks (and armored warfare in general), video games (playing and making them), sales/marketing & CRM/LMS/digital content platforms, real estate investment platforms, SaaS API platforms generally, blockchain technology (both core technology and services), and aerospace technology (specifically rocketry, guidance and control systems) ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/x46085", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f5e11cc37e499635e13c99cb5fe1dd69fa4a5dad.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1618322, "full_name": "Tom Gurka", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "One-man design and marketing team. Designer and product leader with 10+ years of experience spanning software UI/UX, brand development, and marketing communications. Includes working across early-stage startups and high-growth companies, with deep experience in design systems, motion and interaction design, prototyping, creative direction, and cross-functional product development.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/tomgurka", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fbe4b59a8f66a50f20b19335a450fab146e74e12.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1772157, "full_name": "Akhil Velagapudi", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Grew up in New Jersey, and studied electrical + computer engineering at Rutgers. I entered the startup world with M10, where I worked on distributed systems and developed a passion for systems engineering. After M10, I went to Google to work on kubernetes networking, focusing of programmable data planes. I tend to spend my free time either reading fantasy/sci-fi or working on my homelab (which keeps growing).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhil-velagapudi/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/547d0a28b737b886cc131a86af1bfb6c3ec95b7d.jpg" }, { "user_id": 776143, "full_name": "Sascha Wise", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Elodin Systems, developers of simulation tools for aerospace. I'm a software engineer by practice and a physicist by training. I've worked on a wide variety of projects throughout my career from a database for central banks to the flight software for a deep space mission. I'm passionate about building simple, elegant solutions to complex problems. In my spare time, I try and get outdoors as much as possible, which usually means climbing or skiing. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/sascha-wise", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7a2528ecb1ae1a47f0febbcf408e7cb081ae00ba.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 77547, "title": "Elodin - CI/CD for Aerospace ✈️ 🛰 🚀", "tagline": "We help aerospace engineers rapidly design, test, and simulate control systems", "body": "### **TL;DR**\n\n[Elodin](https://www.elodin.systems) helps aerospace engineers rapidly design, test, and simulate control systems. For example, an engineer could use our Python physics toolkit, which automatically optimizes physics computations for GPU computing, to test a new satellite control system in minutes instead of hours.\n\n---\n\nHello everyone! We’re [Dan](https://linkedin.com/in/x46085), [Sascha](https://linkedin.com/in/sascha-wise), [Andrei](https://linkedin.com/in/andrei-khvalko), [Tom](https://linkedin.com/in/tomgurka), and [Akhil](https://www.linkedin.com/in/akhil-velagapudi/) from [Elodin](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/29381). \n\nDrawing experience from roles at AstroForge, Google, Salesforce, Spatial, and several startups. We discovered that the rapid iteration in cloud software was missing in the field of aerospace, so we were compelled to make the development experience better.\n\n---\n\n### **Problem**\n\nIf you want to build an autonomous drone today, you've only got a few options when it comes to testing.\n\n* You can write your control system, flash it to your flight computer, launch the drone, and watch it crash over and over again. \n* You can agonize over setting up a complex simulation using MATLAB, Gazebo, or something homegrown.\n\nThose choices are time-consuming, complex, and costly.\n\nNow, imagine you are building a satellite or an eVTOL aircraft; you have no choice but to set up a complicated simulation.\n\n---\n\n### **Solution**\n\nHow does Elodin prevent this complexity?\\\n**We don’t; we just do it for you.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=77547&key=user_uploads/1618322/9f285018-486c-4602-adb3-43297bf75961)\n\nCongrats! You can now simulate your drone's control system easily, but that's not enough. What if a massive windstorm comes around? What if the neighborhood dog decides to take a bite out of one of the propellers? You need to test your control system for any situation you can imagine.\n\n**Enter** - [Monte Carlo Testing](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/monte-carlo-simulation/#:\\~:text=The%20Monte%20Carlo%20simulation%20is,on%20a%20choice%20of%20action.)\n\nMonte Carlo testing is when you run a simulation multiple times with randomized initial conditions. For example, you could run your simulation with randomized wind speeds.\n\nElodin makes running Monte Carlo simulations seamless, through our cloud platform. We let you run 100,000s of simultaneous simulations right from the comfort of your laptop. \n\nOur dream is that you run a full Monte Carlo test of your control system every time you push code to GitHub. Historically, this would be very costly and difficult to achieve.\n\n---\n\n### **What Elodin is**\n\n🐍 **Python physics library** - A toolkit for building custom physics engines using the GPU, imagine Tensorflow, but for Physics\n\n🎲 **Monte Carlo Cloud Runner** - A cloud runner that enables you to run your simulation in a scalable Monte Carlo fashion\n\n🌎 **3D Viewer** -  A live-reloading 3d viewer to share, inspect, and analyze your simulations\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=77547&key=user_uploads/1618322/d2e5c348-a7f8-47c4-8522-1025a8d966dc)\n\n**Try out our Alpha!** We have an early alpha sandbox prototype that showcases the real-time editing experience of Elodin but does not include our customizable physics engine or Monte Carlo support.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=77547&key=user_uploads/1618322/effd2707-d83b-4dc4-9c1f-deea7f65fb74)\n\n---\n\n### **Our Asks**\n\n**Reach Out:** If you work with drones, satellites, or anything else with a control system, [schedule a call with our CEO, Dan](https://calendly.com/dan-elodin/30min), to discover how Elodin can streamline your design and testing processes\n\n**Share Your Insights:** We value your perspective! If you have any feedback or suggestions, we'd love to hear from you. Your insights are crucial to shaping the future of Elodin.\n\n**Connect Us:** Even if Elodin is not the perfect fit for your needs, you may know someone who could benefit from our platform. If you have connections in aerospace or related industries, we'd greatly appreciate sharing our website/demo with them or even better a direct introduction to [founders@elodin.systems](mailto:founders@elodin.systems)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/KAl-elodin-ci-cd-for-aerospace", "votes": 24, "created_at": "2024-01-16T14:54:27.097Z" } ] }, { "id": 29402, "name": "Yondu", "slug": "yondu", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0b7969c1cf6999d5b5333e8a0fd7ca63e13f079f.png", "website": "https://yondu.ai/", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Yondu is creating the robotic workforce of the future starting with logistics automation. We're deploying humanoid robots in the first flexible, drop-in picking automation solution designed for 3PLs.", "one_liner": "Robots to Automate Fulfillment", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1709280983, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Logistics", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2024/yondu.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/yonduai/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/yonduai", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0b7969c1cf6999d5b5333e8a0fd7ca63e13f079f.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/a96f5a9a53d9ee9d1ca8ef51cb6f294eab9b6ad6.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 782277, "full_name": "Michael Chen", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Michael Chen is at a unique crossroads with a background in intelligent machines from MIT and research experience at the forefront of robotics and AI. He helped build an open source bipedal robot at MIT CSAIL. Michael is an avid entrepreneur who has always loved business (even owning a sauce brand). For fun, he builds all sorts of cool machines ranging from FPV drones to train track cleaning robots to gasoline powered snowboards. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/michael-chen-17464a1b1", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/chenouttaten", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/16760bb043b9bd6619773df1464be0a224e3f300.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1547615, "full_name": "Tahmid Jamal", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Tahmid graduated from MIT with degrees in AI and AeroAstro. There he's worked on projects ranging from language model compression and quantization to astrodynamics simulations for a solar research proposal to NASA. He was doing his master's researching uncertainty estimation methods in deep learning before dropping out to participate in YC. In his free time, he enjoys movies, board games, and climbing the occasional tree.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/74hm1d", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/74hm1d", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/dc90be30b2779e01b76edb62c535d5bb13944890.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 71111, "title": "Active Interest for Engineers", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/DEor4se-active-interest-for-engineers", "location": "Gardena, CA, US / Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$120K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.60%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Bash/Shell", "C++", "Torch/PyTorch", "Linux", "Deep Learning", "Reinforcement learning (RL)", "Docker", "Computer Vision", "Microcontrollers", "CAD Design", "PCB design", "Sensor integration" ] }, { "id": 74730, "title": "Robotics Researcher", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/QAKnidR-robotics-researcher", "location": "Gardena, CA, US / Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$120K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.60%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 87004, "title": "Senior Robotics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/l6z04IP-senior-robotics-engineer", "location": "Gardena, CA, US / Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$120K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.60%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Bash/Shell", "C++", "Python", "Linux", "Docker", "Sensor integration" ] }, { "id": 107166, "title": "Robot SWE", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/fOsMYvM-robot-swe", "location": "Gardena, CA, US / Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$100K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.20% - 1.20%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Bash/Shell", "C++", "Python", "Linux", "Docker" ] }, { "id": 113732, "title": "Robotics Hardware Engineer ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/Y0Ek2e8-robotics-hardware-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$100K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 1.00%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 114065, "title": "Physical AI Infrastructure Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/dLJNfs8-physical-ai-infrastructure-engineer", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$100K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 1.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "C++", "Python", "Linux", "Microcontrollers" ] }, { "id": 116145, "title": "Chief of Staff", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/AwihGGR-chief-of-staff", "location": "Gardena, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$100K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 116147, "title": "Forward Deployed Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/EYpToWD-forward-deployed-engineer", "location": "Gardena, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$80K - $120K", "equity_range": "0.01% - 0.10%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 116149, "title": "Robot Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/Af1rQ7C-robot-technician", "location": "Gardena, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$60K - $80K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 116150, "title": "Software Engineering Intern (Spring/Summer)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/0Cu1yIr-software-engineering-intern-spring-summer", "location": "Gardena, CA, US", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$4K - $10K / monthly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 116151, "title": "Mechatronics Intern (Spring/Summer)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/yondu/jobs/glxSqKV-mechatronics-intern-spring-summer", "location": "Gardena, CA, US", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$4K - $6K / monthly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95475, "title": "Yondu AI ➡️ Enabling the robot workforce of the future", "tagline": "Yondu is the platform for robot labor starting with drop-in order fulfillment automation", "body": "### **We are a platform-to-application company that puts robots in warehouses and makes them useful on day one. Our state-of-the-art remote teleoperation gives immediate efficiency gains, with our robot behavior models gradually taking over to reach full automation and drive costs down further. We’re starting with mobile order fulfillment, where a huge chunk of warehouse labor spend sits.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95475&key=user_uploads/1547615/e8add669-ff4f-4eaa-9579-da70973fc77b)\n\n[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzglTuRloCo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzglTuRloCo&t=1s)\n\n### ——————————————————————————————\n\n# **The timing**\n\nGeneral purpose robot **hardware has gotten 10x cheaper** in the past decade. And advancements in robot learning are helping automate **long-form, complex tasks**. **BUT** it’s still hard to achieve the **perfect human level success rates necessary** for deployment! The **opportunity lies in automating the shorter-form, easier-to-master tasks** that still have a level of complexity that made them impossible to automate in the past. The logistics field is full of these types of problems…\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95475&key=user_uploads/1547615/8a3ea638-c361-46bd-8276-97be15ccf669)\n\n_A simple, fully autonomous pick at 1× speed_\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n---\n\n### ——————————————————————————————\n\n# **The problem in mind**\n\nOrder picking labor can account for up to **50%** of warehouse manual operating costs. Pickers often walk **miles** per shift! Warehouses still rely on people for repetitive, physically demanding tasks with high turnover. Existing order fulfillment automation falls into two buckets:\n\n\\- **ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems)**: Basically turns a warehouse into a giant 3D robot grid system. It gets high throughput but costs tens of millions and requires an overhaul of warehouse space. 😢 **_HIGH COST_**_, 😊 **HIGH AUTOMATION**_\n\n\\- **AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robots)**: These robots carry shelves and goods around which reduces walking time. But they still require human picking. 😊 **_LOW COST_**_, 😢 **LOW AUTOMATION**_\n\n### ——————————————————————————————\n\n# **OUR SOLUTION**\n\n**We’ve created a 3 part embodied-AI platform that automates bin picking using off the shelf robots in brownfield deployments. 😊 _LOW COST, 😊 HIGH AUTOMATION_**\n\nhttps://youtu.be/UVmMSui2_FQ\n\nWith **ULTRON** (user-friendly low-latency **remote teleoperation** system) we **deploy first**, putting robots to use immediately in our customers’ operations and spinning up our data flywheel.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95475&key=user_uploads/1547615/6ddec526-7b14-48db-a5b1-387ea371943e)\n\nOur **WMS** (warehouse management software) **integration and** **orchestration** software routes orders from a warehouse’s WMS to our platform, instructing robots where to go and operators what to pick.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95475&key=user_uploads/1547615/583a510d-09f3-46e7-8b54-c44e0edc3e9b)\n\nOur autonomy stack **YGM** (Yondu General Manipulation) pushes the system to fully autonomous as we **gain more in-the-wild** experience. Over time the manipulation policy takes over more work and the operator is required less. YGM is responsible for:\n\n* Steering our robot policy to pick and place from the correct bins\n* Identifying how good a job it is doing and whether it is struggling so an operator can take over\n* Learning from new experiences and adapting to succeed in situations that it previously struggled in\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95475&key=user_uploads/1547615/663a0f0b-53ce-40b5-ad46-95980e70197b)\n\n_Operations in our partner warehouse_\n\n### ——————————————————————————————\n\n# Our Vision\n\nOur platform is **not limited to only helping us conquer bin picking**. Logistics warehouses still have many more repetitive-yet-slightly-complex tasks such as decanting, replenishing, and packing. And as **robot learning capabilities continue to grow**, our pipeline of _deploy→collect→refine→automate_ only increases in value. There will be **more brownfield robotics automation providers** for specific industries and increasingly complex tasks. They will need to integrate with their customers and spin up their own data flywheels. And the Yondu platform will be available for them so they can automate **any task** with **any robot**.\n\n### ——————————————————————————————\n\n# **Team**\n\nWe’ve gathered quite the team. Here are just a few of our talented members\n\n\\- **Michael Chen (CEO)** Ex-MIT Controls and Robotics\n\n\\- **Tahmid Jamal (CTO)** MIT AI & Aerospace\n\n\\- **Lianhao Yin (Head of Research)** MIT CSAIL Postdoc in Robotic Systems\n\n\\- **Jairo Maldonado (Teleop Lead)** Georgia Tech PhD in Robotic Prosthesis\n\n\\- **Mehul Kumar (Founding Researcher)** Industry veteran in VR, humanoids, simulations, and teleop\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95475&key=user_uploads/1547615/b5914757-4088-48a7-b88b-0252656f6300)\n\n### ——————————————————————————————\n\n# Ask\n\n\\- **3PLs**: If you are in charge of warehouse operations and think you’re spending more resources on a job than you _should_ be, **complain to us**!\n\n\\- **Robotics partner**: If you’re also in the robotics automation space and would like to use our platform, **let’s partner up**\n\n**Reach out to [founders@yonduai.com](mailto:hello@yonduai.com)**\n\n### ——————————————————————————————", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Opv-yondu-ai-enabling-the-robot-workforce-of-the-future", "votes": 58, "created_at": "2025-11-14T18:30:57.452Z" } ] }, { "id": 29597, "name": "Spaceium Inc", "slug": "spaceium-inc", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0afea0e3a81a3c4895401d9a1e4f5620a04a076b.png", "website": "https://spaceium.com", "all_locations": "Ottawa, ON, Canada", "long_description": "Spaceium builds fully automated space stations to refuel and repair spacecraft. We have secured $86.1 million in binding commercial contracts and have an additional $230 million in the pipeline. Additionally, we have 1 billion dollars in letters of intent. We have successfully tested our hardware, which will launch to space next year. \r\n\r\nOur fully automated space stations will efficiently store and transfer both cryogenic (extremely cold) and non-cryogenic fuels with zero loss during storage and transfer. And they can transfer fuel seamlessly to any spacecraft design using our proprietary modular robotic arm.\r\n\r\nOur customers include launch vehicles, orbital transfer vehicles, moon landers, and spacecraft that benefit from increased payload capacity and extended travel capabilities. Our long-term vision is to build service hubs along the space superhighway to connect Earth to Moon and Mars and help humanity to become multi multi-planetary species\r\n", "one_liner": "In-Space Refueling", "team_size": null, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1715783569, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Space Exploration", "Aerospace" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "Canada", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spaceium-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/spaceium-inc.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "Ottawa", "country": "CA", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/spaceium-inc", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0afea0e3a81a3c4895401d9a1e4f5620a04a076b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 985204, "full_name": "Ashi Dissanayake", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder & CEO @ Spaceium (S24) \nI love space and grew up wanting to be an astronaut one day. I co-founded Spaceium to build space infrastructure for a better new space economy. 
\nI specialize in orbital mechanics and rocket propulsion systems. Previously, I worked on Aerodynamic models for NASA, built models for interplanetary transfers for an unmanned return mission to an asteroid in real time, and built rocket engines, payload structures, and recovery systems. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/ashi-dissanayake", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e89b228c2cf8c0d080711c619dd0f4632d64e346.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1009478, "full_name": "Reza Fetanat", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CTO @ Spaceium (S24).\nBelieve in developing in-space infrastructure to sustainably explore space and find a better place to call home, like the first caveman stepping out of their cave. Help humanity become a multiplanetary species.\nI led a rocket program at university. We successfully launched 3 rockets and became fastest growing team. \nFully developed 4 rocket engines and built a propulsion stability model. \nBuilt many robots including rocket tracker for recovery.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/rezafetanat", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e7e9c6e7386b210ae285efac855201ec036fdbcf.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 92025, "title": "Embedded Software Engineer – Canada", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/spaceium-inc/jobs/kq3uAHj-embedded-software-engineer-canada", "location": "Ottawa, ON, CA / Ottawa, Ontario, CA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$75K - $110K CAD", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C", "C++" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Y Combinator grad Spaceium raises oversubscribed $6.3M for space re-fueling | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/23/space-re-fueling-startup-spacium-raises-6-3-million/", "date": "Jan 23, 2025" }, { "title": "Spaceium Partners Space Machines for Space Cryogenic Refuelling", "url": "https://spacewatch.global/2024/01/spaceium-partners-space-machines-for-space-cryogenic-refuelling/", "date": "Jan 16, 2024" }, { "title": "Spaceium and The Exploration Company Partner for In-Space Servicing", "url": "https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=spaceium+and+exploration+company&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8", "date": "Sep 13, 2023" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 81561, "title": "🚀 Spaceium: Automated space stations that refuel and repair spacecraft in orbit", "tagline": "Enabling deep space exploration through unmanned service stations.", "body": "**TL;DR:** **Spaceium is building unmanned servicing stations in space to improve mission efficiency. Our stations will offer proprietary cryogenic fuel storage and transfer technology, enabling in-space refueling and providing robotic repair solutions, a capability that sets us apart. We aim to launch servicing stations in Low Earth Orbit in 2025 and expand to Geostationary Orbit, the Moon, and Mars by 2030.**\n\n\"Helping space explorers go \"where no man has gone before\" - Captain James T. Kirk :)\n\n**_ _** \n\nHi, everyone. We are [Ashi Dissanayake](https://linkedin.com/in/ashi-dissanayake) and [Reza Fetanat](https://linkedin.com/in/rezafetanat), the team behind [Spaceium](https://spaceium.com/).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=81561&key=user_uploads/985204/76cbc58c-243e-410f-99ca-5eaa12bdeb79)\n\n**Here's a brief introduction:**\n\n**Ashi** is an Aerospace Engineer specializing in **Orbital Mechanics and rocket propulsion.** Ashi has worked on real-time simulation models for uncrewed return missions to asteroids and on **NASA-related aerodynamics projects**.\n\n**Reza** is also a space enthusiast and a Mechanical Engineer specializing in **Robotics, structures, and Cryogenics**. Reza has worked on revitalizing the **LR-101 engine, which was used on Atlas, Thor, and Delta launch vehicles.**\n\nWe first met while leading the University of Ottawa's rocketry team, where we built high-powered rockets to send scientific payloads to different altitudes. In our spare time, we enjoyed working together to build rockets in the backyard, sometimes leading to interesting experiences with backyard fires. 🔥\n\nThroughout our careers, we've noticed the constraints on space missions due to the lack of ability to refuel or repair spacecraft in orbit. The current solutions are costly, and a centralized location where spacecraft can refuel and repair is a massive necessity. We are on a mission to build the missing piece of space infrastructure that connects the space superhighway, Just like how service stations were built on Earth back in the day!\n\n# **The problem**\n\nAll spacecraft and space missions face a standard set of challenges. Fuel is a limited and difficult resource to transport. In the event of a significant issue, spacecraft cannot be repaired in space. These challenges have significantly hindered efficiency in current space missions and have been a substantial obstacle in humanity's quest to explore space further. \n\nUnlike a road trip where refueling is common and convenient, spacecraft face a unique challenge. Spacecraft cannot refuel along the way. Instead, they must carry all the fuel required for the mission from Earth. **An overwhelming 85% - 95% of the launch weight is fuel on a typical launch vehicle, with 80-90% burned off to reach orbit.** 🚀\n\nAs a result, spacecraft that transport loads in space (space tugs) can only perform, **on average, 25% as many missions as they're technically capable of due to the absence of refueling in space.** 🛰️\n\nFurthermore, even if a spacecraft wanted to carry additional fuel, it is not easy. Current spacecraft require cryogenic fuels such as liquid oxygen, methane, and liquid hydrogen, which must be stored and transferred at extremely low temperatures of -285°F. 🥶 Environmental factors in space, such as heat and radiation, increase the temperature of these fuels, causing them to boil off (vaporize).\n\nIn addition, **there is no current solution for spacecraft repair**. This means that today's spacecraft must operate flawlessly to maximize efficiency, which is only sometimes the case. For instance, Eutelsat Communications' satellites experienced power loss mid-mission with no option for repair, resulting in a **$30 million** revenue loss. **With Spaceium's multifunction robotic arm, the communication satellite could have been fixed.** 🛠️\n\n# **Solution**\n\n_Automated servicing stations in space 🌎🚀🛰️_\n\nOur primary solution aims to improve space missions' efficiency by addressing refueling challenges. **The developed cryogenic fuel storage and transfer technology is designed to store fuel without any boil-off for multiple years in space.** As a result, spacecraft can now refuel in space, carry more payload, and travel longer distances.\n\nTwo fundamental principles guide our proprietary Zero Boil Off (ZBO) technology. \n\n* Firstly, we prevent heat from entering the system through a unique tank design, insulation, and coating system. \n* Secondly, our innovative multistage closed-loop cooling system evenly removes the heat from the cryogenic fuel and transfers it to radiators, ensuring zero boil-off.\n\n \n\nOur cryogenic storage system is not only efficient but also highly scalable. Our current cooling system is **65% more efficient** than any other cooling system, and our scalable storage system can store up to 30 metric tons of fuel, making it adaptable to a wide range of space missions and requirements.\n\nAfter successfully addressing the challenge of transporting large amounts of space fuel, we turned our attention to developing technology for delivering this fuel to spacecraft in space. This is achieved through the use of a **multifunction robotic arm**. This advanced arm can securely dock with incoming spacecraft and initiate the fuel transfer. **The fluid system built within the arm allows the transfer of different fuel types through the robotic arm**. The built-in thermal system ensures that fuel is transferred to the customer's spacecraft at the correct temperature without any boil-off issues associated with cryogenic fuels in space.\n\nAdditionally, the same robotic arm is versatile enough to handle non-cryogenic fuels as well, providing a comprehensive solution for refueling spacecraft in space.\n\nIn addition to safe and efficient fuel transfer, the robotic arm is equipped with an interchangeable end effector designed for in-space repairs. In-space repairs are achieved through a fully automated robotic arm that can retrieve tools from a stored \"toolbox\" within the system. This innovative feature ensures that even in the event of a significant issue, spacecraft can be repaired in space, minimizing the risk of mission failure and maximizing mission efficiency.\n\nOur vision is to transform the space industry. Starting in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), our servicing infrastructure will progressively expand to encompass Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), the moon, and eventually Mars. We are on a mission to empower space missions to go further, explore more, and achieve what was once deemed impossible.\n\n**Who can benefit from our service stations in space** \n\n* **Launch vehicles** \n* **Orbital transfer vehicles** \n* **Space tugs** \n* **Moon landers** \n* **Satellites**\n\n# **Ask**\n\n* **Feedback, comments, or questions.** Reach out to us to learn how we can help with your missions.\n* **Warm Intros.** If you know or work with any launch providers, space companies, or satellite providers who could benefit from our service, please introduce us to them. 🛰 \n* **Follow.** Follow us on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/spaceium-inc), [X](https://x.com/SpaceiumInc). Cool news coming soon\n* **Share.** Please share this post with your network so we can reach more space companies looking for refueling, repairs, and other services for their future missions. 👾\n\n# Email us [HERE](mailto:founders@spaceium.com).\n\nThank you!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LDV-spaceium-automated-space-stations-that-refuel-and-repair-spacecraft-in-orbit", "votes": 30, "created_at": "2024-06-17T15:53:21.197Z" } ] }, { "id": 29650, "name": "Sorcerer", "slug": "sorcerer", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/543dab64586e13bb93c11e6012ecd070fb8c8a67.png", "website": "https://sorcerer.earth", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Sorcerer is deploying a global network of persistent airborne sensors to fuel advanced weather forecasting. Our high-altitude balloons collect 1000x more data than existing systems and are already used daily by meteorologists to track extreme weather across the US and Central America.", "one_liner": "Building a nervous system for the atmosphere", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Climate", "launched_at": 1720630564, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Climate", "Aerospace", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Climate" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?", "answer": "Hundreds of terabytes of weather data are collected from satellites, ground stations, airplanes and weather balloons every day. A typical weather satellite costs more than $100 million to launch, and the US National Weather Service spends over a billion dollars a year _just on its sparse network of weather balloon stations_. A small handful of organizations then pipe that data into billion-dollar supercomputers to run the world’s most expensive physics simulations four times a day. Despite this cost, there are still places in the US [**where we don't know what the temperature is going to be two days from now**](https://web.archive.org/web/20240705002110/https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/how-accurate-is-the-weather-forecast/). And for the rest of the world that lacks adequate weather infrastructure? There’s always the [**weather rock**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_rock). AI models are upending the expensive physics simulations. These models are more accurate, running at higher resolutions for a fraction of the cost. But, like most AIs, weather models are hungry for _data,_ and the reality is that most of the world isn’t covered despite the costly infrastructure.This is because _direct_ observation (as opposed to satellite observation) is both incredibly impactful but also incredibly expensive. This cost leaves **most of the Earth without in-situ observations**. Oceans have especially poor coverage, and no matter how good your model is, you still need to know what’s happening over the Pacific today to predict the weather in SF tomorrow. Sorcerer is deploying a global network of low-cost, persistent weather drones to provide real-time data in previously unreachable locations. Our system collects 30x more observations than the entire global observation infrastructure at 1% the cost. We use this data to train a weather model that’s already competitive with best-in-class traditional weather prediction, while being 10,000x cheaper." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/sorcerer", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/sorcerer.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/sorcerercorp", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/sorcerer", "github_url": "https://github.com/sorcerer-corp", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/543dab64586e13bb93c11e6012ecd070fb8c8a67.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/ffc46de4c072ee18d52ad35baaaefdb696ca57f7.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 563504, "full_name": "Austin Tindle", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO at Sorcerer. Engineering and product leader of decacorn hardware teams. Previously Head of Product at SumUp, led acquisition of Fivestars (YC W11).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/austintindle", "x_url": "https://x.com/_austintindle", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6907374cc6f41e1784fd922204f4bf1da1976e52.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1982858, "full_name": "Maxmillion McLaughlin", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "CTO of Sorcerer. Previously, first hire at Urban Sky where I led development of high-resolution stratospheric imaging systems for mapping cities and tracking wildfires.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxmclau/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/edec734a752bb1817cc9bc04e9089b0c5250788e.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1982860, "full_name": "Alessandro Vecchi", "title": "Founder/CPO", "founder_bio": "CPO of Sorcerer. I was employee #3 at Urban Sky, where I built their mission control software (\"the best in the world\" - US Secretary of Defense) and prediction engine from the ground up. Over 5 years of experience working with/dealing with forecast and weather data. Building software products since I was in high school.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/avecchi/", "x_url": "https://x.com/big_veech", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/665d0ba4bdc25d0c61592f32c2caa08dec803f04.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Y Combinator startup Sorcerer raises $3.9M to launch more weather balloon", "url": "https://www.axios.com/pro/climate-deals/2025/06/12/sorcerer-seed-weather-balloons", "date": "Jun 12, 2025" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 83172, "title": "Sorcerer - Weather balloons that collect 1000x more data", "tagline": "Sorcerer builds weather balloons that last for over six months, collecting 1000x more data per dollar from previously inaccessible regions.", "body": "![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdhaRDb6jJZ-jlGUyRp-3-n13VeXn3891lqS1FiV2F80tyntvz2hIWMa4p-4IBuZ_jYh8C1Xg2_jlzBMtO-SSYSaiHp6nwjxQkUJ4iDx756wC7zfboXTd5DEVI3WaWNb0XbXGKK7w5rmDjUS4dW_8IbhaM?key=hflpXWIGtnGX0Lu39DmmlA)\n\nHey YC! We’re [Max](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxmclau/), [Alex](https://www.linkedin.com/in/avecchi/), and [Austin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/austintindle/), the team behind [Sorcerer](https://sorcerer.earth).\n\n**The problem & background**\n\nHundreds of terabytes of weather data are collected from satellites, ground stations, airplanes, and weather balloons every day. In-situ weather observation has the most impact on weather models, but it’s incredibly expensive to collect. The US National Weather Service spends over a billion dollars annually _just on its network of weather balloons, stations, and aircraft sensors_. Despite this cost, there are still places in the US [where we don't know what the temperature will be two days from now](https://web.archive.org/web/20240705002110/https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/how-accurate-is-the-weather-forecast/). And for the 80% of the world that lacks any weather infrastructure? There’s always the [weather rock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_rock).\n\n**The solution**\n\nWe’re launching a global network of persistent weather balloons to provide real-time data in previously unreachable locations. Each balloon remains airborne for over six months, completing \\~30 laps around the globe while navigating between sea level and 65,000 feet. We’re able to collect 1000x more data per dollar than current systems, and we use this unique data to train AI weather models that are up to 50% more accurate than today’s best forecasts. \n\n\n\n**The Team**\n\nAs founding engineer at aerospace startup [Urban Sky](https://www.urbansky.com/), Max developed the world’s first stratospheric ballooning systems for high-resolution imaging and wildfire tracking. As employee number three at Urban Sky, Alex built their mission control and flight prediction engine from the ground up (“the best in the world” - US Secretary of Defense). Austin was an ultralight flight instructor before he could legally drive and was most recently Head of Product at [SumUp](https://www.sumup.com/en-us/), shipping highly regulated hardware at scale.\n\n**How You Can Help**\n\n* **Industry intros:** We’d love to talk with aerospace, commercial aviation, ocean freight, logistics, and commodities trading execs (these folks think weather data is pretty neat)\n* **If you find one of our balloons near SF**: Sorry! It’s still a work in progress (and please get it back to us)\n\nWe’d also love to hear from you! Reach out any time at [austin@sorcerer.earth](mailto:austin@sorcerer.earth)  \n\nBest,\n\nMax, Alex, & Austin\n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfcNhE481xXzkiV3QVQ7bg2bDc4PCU74OYnk6YZZJVbqnpL0CAUknXkFEocEj9MqXJOghGBGnQU0YWXMr9E2j-CeiVHbKLzwKy7PV33p0rM27WB1s_WpSsNZp7xV2fhDo5QnBEUXHJj501V8MDVTuF1-j0H?key=hflpXWIGtnGX0Lu39DmmlA)\n\n# ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LdU-sorcerer-weather-balloons-that-collect-1000x-more-data", "votes": 84, "created_at": "2024-08-19T16:13:50.662Z" } ] }, { "id": 29662, "name": "Atum Works", "slug": "atum-works", "former_names": [ "phorg", "ATUM WORKS", "ATUM Works" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/919432869b9d7a01cb7d24ccff7380278318f625.png", "website": "https://atum.works/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "Gigascale Nanomanufacturing", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1745346268, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "3D Printing", "Semiconductors" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atum-works", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2025/atum-works.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/company/atum-works", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/atumworks", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/919432869b9d7a01cb7d24ccff7380278318f625.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1884492, "full_name": "Lucas Pabarcius", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": ".", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-pabarcius-ba3595167", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/0884df112dcac548a238f88c861cec72db25ca32.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1975891, "full_name": "Matteo Kimura", "title": "Founder/CRO", "founder_bio": ".", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteo-kimura-90879318b/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e889b9ac0bec382d4d511226cf89459d675ae771.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1884437, "full_name": "Malcolm Tisdale", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": ".", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/malcolm-tisdale", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/3589b15041b76034e67feec70fa57fba14af2c76.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 89753, "title": "Atum Works", "tagline": "3D Lithography Foundry", "body": "\n\n**Problem**\n\n“For the past 50 years, semiconductor-technology development has felt like walking inside a tunnel. The road ahead was clear, as there was a well-defined path. And everyone knew what needed to be done: shrink the transistor. Now, we have reached the end of the tunnel.\"\\\nH.-S. Philip Wong, Chief Scientist, TSMC, 2024.\n\nToday’s 2D lithography has hit a fundamental wall in feature density, so the semiconductor industry has begun stacking 2D layers to fit more transistors, bits, and bandwidth on each chip. \\\n\\\nBut stacking scales cost exponentially with density, unlike the constant cost days of Moore: a 10-layer high bandwidth memory (HBM) package is \\~5x more expensive than the same amount of un-stacked DRAM.\n\n**Solution**\n\nUsing a 3D process to make today's increasingly 3D integrated circuits could shortcut this problem, scaling process complexity with materials rather than layers and enabling the next decade of continued progress.\n\nOur 3D lithography technology can do this: it is capable of fabricating multi-material 3D structures with 100 nm resolution at wafer scale.\n\nWhere the ability to create more complex forms enables more complex functions, such granular control of matter enables the future of much more than just chips, including biotech, sensing, and advanced materials.\n\nWe recently crossed the cost thresholds that make this technology commercially viable. We will be driving an exponential scaling law in the production capacity of this technology over the coming decade.\n\n**Team**\n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcMsUlRx_bo7xJvNWmZaC-39OI7Hknw0Y65Er2tjyUh54Sd4--EgCih-wQzZojhTUdUgn2OqKfPxVzmnfqnJGprg2qacYS56K-eYqnSh_n3uz75XB9uyCslMaxReWdNHhKkcVHF?key=cch75ExUod4AOIuWU2xY6A)\n\nWe’re a team of physicists and systems engineers from Caltech and NASA, where we previously matured multiple nascent technologies, winning NASA’s Most Visionary Concept and Best Product Development awards.\\\n\\\n**Advisory Board**\\\nDr. H.-S. Philip Wong: Chief Scientist, TSMC
\\\nDr. Eli Yablonovitch: Director Emeritus of the NSF Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science (E3S)\\\nDr. Julia Greer: Director, Caltech Kavli Nanoscience Institute
 
\\\nDr. Michael Hochberg: Silicon Photonics Pioneer
\\\nDr. Pooya Tadayon: Intel Fellow
", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/NLd-atum-works", "votes": 87, "created_at": "2025-04-22T18:46:21.407Z" } ] }, { "id": 29663, "name": "NetworkOcean", "slug": "networkocean", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4ea43063c4846025feacfa937099e20519f804c8.png", "website": "https://networkocean.io/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We build floating solar data centers to reduce time-to-first-power by 10x. We powered an H100 in the bay, from a paper sketch to serving a customer within 60 days.", "one_liner": "We build floating solar data centers", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Climate", "launched_at": 1722891266, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Cloud Computing", "ClimateTech", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Climate" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/networkocean", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/networkocean.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/networkocean/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Network_Ocean_", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4ea43063c4846025feacfa937099e20519f804c8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 433820, "full_name": "Sam Mendel", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO, Co-founder of NetworkOcean", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/sammendel2000", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/sammendel00", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/3ffd57db8a32e8d41deb62d4d891781f6f30cac4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1647914, "full_name": "Eric Kim", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO building floating data centers @ NetworkOcean. \nBackground in Physics and CS, with a focus on ML and renewable energy.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/yekime", "x_url": "https://x.com/yekime", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a9d4ec17a3c6b3ee6a548d96dcaf4f73cdef3ec7.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 117462, "title": "NetworkOcean: Floating solar data centers", "tagline": "We build floating solar data centers to cut time-to-power by 10x", "body": "### **TLDR:**\n\nFloating solar will soon be the fastest, most sustainable way to deploy data centers. Bypass interconnection queues, HV equipment delays, turbine backlogs, and public moratoriums. Our 2030 target is 1 GW/wk.\n\n#### Launch video:\n\n\n\n#### Whitepaper:\n\n\n\nSolar is already at 700 GW/yr scale. Solar is the only technology that can match AGI timelines. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=117462&key=user_uploads/1647914/857054e6-c943-465f-83b4-7aaff5634538)\n\nLast week, NetworkOcean made history as the 1st to run a customer AI workload from the ocean, powered by solar.\\\n\\\nWe went from paper to deployed in the water in 53 days.\n\n#### Asks:\n\nShare the launch on X: \n\nAnd on LinkedIn: \n\nAnd share the NetworkOcean showcase tomorrow (9/29/26) to relevant investors and founders:\n\n\n\nEdit (10/1/26): Thanks for showing up to the event! \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=117462&key=user_uploads/1647914/d2459e60-8728-46d1-98b6-73fef3e1a4c6)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=117462&key=user_uploads/1647914/a391fac0-bbf2-4b4e-95d1-a8c46025b29b)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=117462&key=user_uploads/1647914/85da9b24-7615-400f-b953-692ef3c8b1f5)\n\n_ad mare_\n\n[_founders@networkocean.io_](mailto:founders@networkocean.io)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/UYY-networkocean-floating-solar-data-centers", "votes": 158, "created_at": "2026-09-30T00:24:09.713Z" }, { "id": 83094, "title": "NetworkOcean - Underwater data centers", "tagline": "We build underwater data centers to cut power usage by up to 30%", "body": "### We are now building floating solar data centers. \nNew launch:\nhttps://www.ycombinator.com/launches/UYY-networkocean-floating-solar-data-centers\n\n\nOld launch:\n# **TLDR:**\n\nOur underwater data centers eliminate water consumption and reduce power usage by up to 30% through efficient cooling, creating **more capital-efficient and sustainable AI infrastructure.** \n\n**✴️ We have 2,048 low priced H100s you can reserve **[**_now_**](http://networkocean.io/)**_._**\n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcZNMjB36smeVmqCdg-o97CvLCbxdtHyni1mK4PoLdGtaLXh06mxoJUueWBB2ic7_btx6EYnyZjYJ7s-sCmWImuXkajXUO60gRL2k-O2VIM7aDIgr7pvTCaQgwdLYpwWk_udq3VPt9_7YbYB8iOb18jh7uV?key=MO98a9JpAng3q9fJmJYqcg)\n\n_Our 0.5 MW capsule in progress, to be tested underwater in the SF Bay in 1 month._\n\n# **Problem:**\n\nBy 2030, we’re projected to see:\n\n* $1T+ spent building data centers\n* 1T+ gal/yr consumed by data centers\n* 800+ TWh/yr by US data centers\n\n**💵 Cost:**\n\nBuilding a data center costs $10-20 million per MW of power capacity. 2/3rd of this cost is land, building, and cooling infrastructure. A GW facility requires a staggering $10-20 billion investment before purchasing any servers or switches.\n\n**🔌 Power:** \n\nPower capacity is the primary constraint in building new data centers. Real estate with high-power infrastructure and power availability is extremely high in demand.\n\n**💧 Water:**\n\nSince water usage doesn’t affect net-zero carbon goals, most hyperscalers prioritize energy efficiency by using water-intensive evaporative cooling systems. This approach is facing scrutiny, as evidenced by [Google's recent permit](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chile-partially-pulls-google-data-center-permit-seeks-tougher-environmental-2024-02-27/) issues in Chile. \n\n# **Solution: 🌊**\n\n**Underwater data centers.** \n\n1. They’re cheaper to build than on-land data centers, significantly reducing costs in land, building, and cooling infrastructure. \n2. They’re also cheaper to operate, with up to 30% lower power consumption and no water consumption.\n\n \n\nOther benefits: \n\n* Co-location with offshore power\n* Speed to deployment\n* [1/8th](https://natick.research.microsoft.com/) Hardware failure rate\n* Low latency to coastal cities (<2ms to all of SF from the Bay)\n\n**Have others tried this?**\n\n[Microsoft, 2016](https://natick.research.microsoft.com/): was the first to experiment with underwater data centers. They built a proof-of-concept capsule that showcased promising efficiency metrics. Despite this, the project remained a research testbed, with limited investment in underwater infrastructure, maintenance operations, and scaled deployments. Microsoft has [officially retired](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/microsoft-confirms-project-natick-underwater-data-center-is-no-more/) the project and is focused on expanding their existing on-land data centers.\n\n[China moving ahead](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/china-deploys-1400-ton-commercial-underwater-data-center/): since Microsoft’s Project Natick, Highlander was awarded an $880M contract to build 100 data center capsules around Chinese port islands.\n\n**Team:**\n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfAwb2H9E-6BWAIJYVyJGPhF9OyzSH1nggJFj_GHMHJH00EvwbnxMioApVY6CLejRHT7McsVvhSF8Q3KAK9TDivKfuFsqqJpn9p92DW6Fr16h6ThEcRmkGVex_WN-pnPwGmOd5DpvOpEIWl6y23boXBTaM?key=MO98a9JpAng3q9fJmJYqcg)\n\n[_Sam Mendel_](https://linkedin.com/in/sammendel2000) _and _[_Eric Kim_](https://linkedin.com/in/yekime)_, co-founders of **NetworkOcean**_\n\nSam and Eric met through robotics in 9th grade and worked together building underwater MHD generators throughout high school. Eric has patented a renewable energy device and developed various CV and LLM applications at Cornell, Merge, and Palantir. Sam, to fund his ocean tech ambitions, built various startups and hardware projects, most recently exiting a hiring marketplace for creators. A year ago, he built and deployed a floating web server that hosted our site in a port in the bay. \n\n### **Asks:**\n\nAs of this launch, **we have 2,048 H100s available NOW.**\n\n[Reserve 1-2,048 H100s](http://networkocean.io), minimum 1 week reserved, ≤ $2.10 / GPU / hr\n\nWe can operate GPUs cheaper than anyone else, but we will be constrained by capacity. If you know you will have future needs, please let us know soon, and we'll work to get you your GPUs!\n\n**_Ad mare -_** [_Founders@NetworkOcean.io_](mailto:Founders@NetworkOcean.io)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LcE-networkocean-underwater-data-centers", "votes": 247, "created_at": "2024-08-15T17:56:53.858Z" } ] }, { "id": 29698, "name": "AutoPallet Robotics", "slug": "autopallet-robotics", "former_names": [ "Anteatr Robotics" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d2f0c4ca0e1ee62abec263fe32fc601c69e08139.png", "website": "https://autopallet.bot", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We’re building the next generation of warehouse robotics.\r\n\r\nIn the US today, retailers spend approximately $10B per year paying human laborers to pick up and move cardboard boxes in warehouses. Existing solutions for automating this are expensive and difficult to install, which is why manual operation is still so prevalent.\r\n\r\nOur solution is different. We make swarms of small mobile robots that install into existing warehouses to provide a low-cost and robust automation solution for case picking and mixed-SKU palletization. Our novel technology allows these robots to be installed and operate at significantly lower cost than existing solutions while being both flexible and robust.", "one_liner": "We make robots that move boxes in warehouses", "team_size": 6, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1723496700, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Machine Learning", "Warehouse Management Tech", "Swarm Robotics", "Automation" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "Eric and Nathan met at Olin College, where they worked on 15 group projects together. " } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/autopallet-robotics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/autopallet-robotics.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/autopallet-robotics/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/AutoPallet/", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d2f0c4ca0e1ee62abec263fe32fc601c69e08139.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 242906, "full_name": "Nathan Yee", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Nathan is the co-founder and COO of AutoPallet Robotics.\n\nAt 18, he graduated as the valedictorian of College of Alameda and then studied Engineering with Computing at Olin College where he met Eric. He has since built ML models for MBARI, consulted for the DIU (xView2) and WashU (drug discovery), and built core software for lab automation robotics at Trilobio.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanielyee/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6e1472399a54fec10ff193ce2453753f7c5170c4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1979497, "full_name": "Eric Miller", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Eric is the co-founder and CEO of AutoPallet Robotics.\n\nAfter graduating from Olin College in 2019, he led the Subject Tracking and Autonomy Infrastructure teams at Skydio, rapidly growing from individual contributor to lead a team of 6 engineers.\n\nEric is a multidisciplinary robotics engineer with significant experience building modern robotics stacks, from hardware and electronics through perception and high-level software.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/olin-eric/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4fa34c4d02dcef337053aafb9f45b11b7a7c2531.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83238, "title": "🤖 AutoPallet Robotics: The future of case picking in warehouses", "tagline": "AutoPallet Robotics uses swarms of hundreds of mobile robots to do case picking in existing warehouses.", "body": "# TL;DR\n\n* AutoPallet Robotics unlocks automated case picking for existing warehouses. Our novel system delivers rapid ROI by leveraging the current infrastructure to deploy swarms of hundreds of small, agile, mobile robots.\n* Want to get in touch? [**connect@autopallet.bot**](mailto:connect@autopallet.bot) or [send us an inquiry](https://forms.gle/YT1XLadSpWaKAa668)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83238&key=user_uploads/242906/61c0e05b-c2d2-470a-8248-dcb394bbaeaa)\n\n# The Team\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83238&key=user_uploads/242906/0e93dfda-da4f-43f2-8170-dcbef1c80b90)\n\n**Nathan and Eric** met at Olin College of Engineering 9 years ago, where they collaborated on over 15 projects.\n\n**COO** - [Nathan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanielyee/) brings four years of experience in machine learning. In his previous position, he worked on robot software and explored heuristic-based and RL-based methods for multi-robot scheduling.\n\n**CEO** - [Eric](https://www.linkedin.com/in/olin-eric/) has extensive experience creating hardware, electronics, and software for modern robotics systems, including five years at Skydio, founding and growing the Autonomy Infrastructure team.\n\n# The Problem\n\n**Case picking for order selecting**, a critical task in the supply chain for grocery stores, retail, and restaurants, remains largely manual in U.S. warehouses. We estimate that **over 30 billion cases** are manually moved between pallets annually, resulting in labor costs exceeding **$10 billion** each year.\n\nCurrent automation solutions are prohibitively expensive and fall into two main categories:\n\n1. **Build a new warehouse** with extensive conveyor belt systems, industrial robot arms, and high-density case storage. Costs range from **$100M to $350M per warehouse**.\n2. **Install large mobile robots** that directly replace humans in existing warehouses at a cost of **$300k to $500k per unit**. This high capital expenditure and long ROI period make them infeasible for many businesses.\n\n## Our Solution Is Fundamentally Different\n\nWe've developed a way to retrofit existing warehouse infrastructure with swarms of affordable, agile robots to automate the order-selecting process. This approach eliminates the need to rebuild warehouses from scratch or invest in expensive large mobile robots. We are designing our system to:\n\n* **Meet or exceed** your current throughput—our robots work in swarms, easily picking tens of thousands of cases per shift.\n* Ensure **resilience** through a decentralized swarm that continues operating even if several robots fail.\n* Optimize **multi-stop deliveries** and create **maximally dense pallets** using an **AI-powered** pallet-building algorithm.\n* Deliver a typical ROI in **less than** **12 months**.\n\n## How You Can Help\n\nWe’re actively seeking **partnerships and collaborations** to propel our mission forward. If you or anyone in your network is interested in exploring opportunities or learning more, we’d love to connect! We’re especially interested in engaging with:\n\n* Retailers and 3PLs operating distribution centers\n* Grocery and Broadline Foodservice Distributors\n\nIf this resonates with you or someone you know, please don’t hesitate to reach out! [**connect@autopallet.bot**](mailto:connect@autopallet.bot) or [send us an inquiry](https://forms.gle/YT1XLadSpWaKAa668)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LeY-autopallet-robotics-the-future-of-case-picking-in-warehouses", "votes": 27, "created_at": "2024-08-20T18:44:31.152Z" } ] }, { "id": 29733, "name": "1849 bio", "slug": "1849-bio", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6a17250c337f8e98ac79079d08da2abffb3b3b6b.png", "website": "https://www.1849.bio", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "1849 bio designs microbes enabling cheap metal extraction allowing miners to unlock value from low quality copper and gold ores. Surprisingly, the mining industry is one of the largest scale users of biotech in the world with biomining processes accounting for ~1% of global copper production. Biomining is ultra-low cost, running around ~$1/ton of ore vs ~$7/ton for conventional processes. \r\n\r\nUnfortunately, while biomining is cheap, it can’t be applied to over 80% of copper ores, leaving vast resources without profitable extraction methods. An estimated ~$800B of copper sit today in waste materials and stockpiles with negative unit economics.\r\n\r\nWhile a great deal of effort has been spent on optimizing microbial metal extraction processes, very little effort has been spent on optimizing the microbes themselves. \r\n\r\nTo change that, we’re creating new biotech tools and platforms applied directly to the types of biology most relevant to miners. This enables us to develop new microbes and tackle some of the most difficult problems in biomining, unlocking billions in value from unprofitable resources while being more environmentally friendly than conventional processes.\r\n\r\nWe’re world class microbial engineers. We met while doing our PhDs in synthetic biology, where we spent our time applying and developing the most advanced bioengineering technologies to engineer living cells. ", "one_liner": "Engineering microbes for miners to unlock billions in trapped metal", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1720558135, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Synthetic Biology", "Biotech", "Climate", "Mining" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/1849-bio", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/1849-bio.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/1849-bio/", "x_url": "https://x.com/1849bio", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6a17250c337f8e98ac79079d08da2abffb3b3b6b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 736094, "full_name": "Jai Padmakumar", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CEO of 1849 bio. I get excited working on difficult problems with outsized impacts if you can solve them. I studied Microbiology and Applied Math at the University of Washington before doing my PhD at MIT in a synthetic biology lab. I've spent my time pushing the limits of what’s possible in bioengineering.\n\n1849 is my second startup, the first of which I co-founded during grad school and led the early science at. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/jai-padmakumar", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4e675d7e4a7d57b363b4c651b1e4e87341b92730.jpg" }, { "user_id": 736376, "full_name": "Yongjin Park", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I am the co-founder and CSO of 1849 bio. I studied chemical engineering at KAIST and did my PhD at MIT in the Department of Biological Engineering. During my PhD, I developed core technology used in the world's first engineered probiotic that went into clinical trial. After completing PhD, I worked in deep biotech companies, developing microbial products that were administered to over 6M acres of farmland in the US (about the area of Belgium!).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/yongjin-park-6604092a/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7a8db85fbc0f4403667b06663061bc5c9c13dc42.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 82014, "title": "1849 bio: Microbes for miners", "tagline": "Optimizing microbes for mining 🧬 ⛏️🪨", "body": "**TL;DR – We’re building microbes for metal extraction, enabling cleaner and cheaper mining of difficult-to-process ores. This will unlock 100M tonnes of copper stranded in ores that are not profitable to mine.** \n\n—\n\nHey all! We’re [Yongjin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yongjin-park-6604092a/) and [Jai](https://linkedin.com/in/jai-padmakumar), co-founders of [1849 bio](https://www.1849.bio/), a team of genetic engineers developing microbes for metal extraction. We met while doing our PhDs at MIT and have spent the better portion of our adult lives hacking living organisms to do cool/useful tasks.  \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82014&key=user_uploads/736094/55c73446-daaf-49c2-b6ec-cd654ab4a66e)\n\nNow, we’re on a mission to make the mining industry more sustainable and ensure a stable metal supply for the green energy transition.  \n\n### The Challenge:\n\nThe drive to electrify the world is driving an unprecedented demand for metals like copper, nickel, lithium, and other rare earths. Unfortunately, ramping up metal production is incredibly difficult. Copper is expected to face a \\~20% supply gap by 2031, threatening to slow the rollout of critical technologies like EVs and wind turbines.   \n\nNew mines are difficult to open, taking an average of 16.5 years in the US _after_ a new ore body has been identified. These bodies of metal themselves have become more difficult to identify. After decades of selective mining, **most copper today exists in low grade ores** (ore that contains very little copper), **making economical extraction with conventional methods impossible**.  \n\nApproximately 100M tonnes of copper is trapped in stockpiles and waste materials without any means to profitably extract the metal.  \n\n### The Solution:\n\nBiology! It turns out the mining industry is one of the largest-scale users of biotech in the world. \\~1.2% of copper production in 2019-2020 was done using microbes in a process called “bioleaching.” The basic idea here is to: \n\n1. Stack ore into a giant pile — think miles long and 100s of feet tall. This pile is called a “heap.” \n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=82014&key=user_uploads/736094/146fb0a7-bff6-421f-81e9-41eea8e38d68)\n\n2. Grow a very unique group of organisms that love acid and use both iron in the rocks and CO2 from the air as food sources. This triggers a series of chemical reactions that ultimately separates the solid copper from the ore into a liquid form.\n3. Collect this liquid at the bottom and run a current through it.\n\nThen you have pure copper! \n\nMiners have been using this process for copper extraction for decades (and in some cases, for other metals like gold, nickel, and cobalt). The process is cleaner and \\~7x cheaper than conventional processes. It also produces fewer tailings (mine waste), a growing environmental problem and liability for miners \n\nWhy isn’t this used everywhere? \n\n1. **It doesn’t work for 80% of copper ores**. Owing to some complex chemistry, the dominant copper ore, chalcopyrite, can’t be processed using bioleaching.  \n2. **It’s really slow, narrowing its use cases**. While a conventional process can melt ore down and give you pure copper in an hour, bioleaching operates on a timescale of months to years.\n\nWe’re using our deep background in bioengineering to build platforms and tools specifically for the types of biology miners need. By engineering the microbes themselves, we are introducing a new set of capabilities to the mining industry: \n\n* **Bioleaching solutions that work on difficult-to-process ores**, like chalcopyrite, unlock billions of dollars of value currently trapped in uneconomical materials. \n* **Faster metal extraction timelines**, getting miners their cash faster. \n* **Low CapEx, sustainable metal extraction**. Our solutions fit into existing mine infrastructure and processes.\n\n# Our asks:\n\n1. If you know anyone in the mining industry, we’d love to meet them! \n2. If you know anyone working in the e-waste recycling industry, we’d love to chat with them, too. We can tune our process for e-waste recycling and are looking into applications for that as well.\n\nReach out to [intro@1849.bio](mailto:intro@1849.bio)!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LKo-1849-bio-microbes-for-miners", "votes": 28, "created_at": "2024-07-17T04:20:31.752Z" } ] }, { "id": 29747, "name": "deepsilicon", "slug": "deepsilicon", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/86bf1a250ebd174788e945f8cb80bbfa5fad5a1c.png", "website": "https://www.deepsilicon.net/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "Software and hardware to run neural networks faster and cheaper", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1724647478, "tags": [ "Edge Computing Semiconductors", "Hard Tech", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Inactive", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/deepsilicon", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/deepsilicon.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/deepsilicon/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/deepsilicon", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/86bf1a250ebd174788e945f8cb80bbfa5fad5a1c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1269816, "full_name": "Abhinav Reddy", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.\nFocused on creating simple software and fast hardware for running neural networks.", "is_active": false, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinav-reddy-387386262/", "x_url": "https://x.com/abhireddy2004", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/70cc4f7cd720b9b145edb1547c6bc4ce0b5a88d1.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83396, "title": "deepsilicon: Running neural nets with 5x less RAM and up to 20x as fast", "tagline": "We’re making hardware to run neural nets with orders of magnitude less latency, energy, and 5x less RAM. Right now, we’re proving it with software.", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83396&key=user_uploads/1269816/61292aaf-ce8a-4b34-ac1a-688fe1bc6517)\n\n**👥 The Team**\\\nHi everyone, we’re running deepsilicon!\n\n**📉 The Problem**\\\nTransformer-based models have become increasingly crucial in various industries, from natural language processing to Vision Language Action models for robotics. However, the deployment and operation of these models, particularly those exceeding a few billion parameters, present significant challenges regarding hardware capabilities, energy consumption, and operational costs.\\\nTraditional approaches to this problem typically fall into two categories:\n\n1. Utilize massive, power-hungry GPU clusters to distribute the computational load.\n2. Compromise on model size and capabilities to fit within existing hardware constraints on the edge.\n\nBoth of these approaches have significant drawbacks. GPU clusters are expensive to acquire and operate, with substantial energy costs and complex cooling requirements. They also introduce latency issues due to inter-device communication and can’t be deployed on the edge. On the other hand, compromising on model size can limit the AI's capabilities and potential applications, putting organizations at a competitive disadvantage.\n\n\\\n📈 **The Solution**\\\nWe help eliminate the need for inefficient distributed computing and compromised model capabilities by providing a full-stack system where we run transformer-based models on a single chip, including existing hardware. Our solution can run on a custom ASIC, dramatically reducing power consumption and operational costs.\n\n\n\n\\\n**_Here's why this is a game-changer:_**\n\n* **Immediate Deployment:** Your large-scale AI model can be operational on a single chip, eliminating the need for complex distributed setups. This means you can leverage the full power of multi-billion parameter models right from the start.\n* **Customization:** The chiplet architecture allows for near-infinite customization, enabling hardware/software co-design tailored to specific client needs.\n* **Efficiency:** Even on existing Nvidia hardware, our software provides a 5x reduction in memory usage\n* **Ease of Use:** Developers can switch their linear layer with our optimized version, dramatically simplifying the integration process and democratizing access to large-scale AI capabilities.\n\nIf you’re a YC company, we offer a 50% discount to help you train your model and deploy it on the device or the cloud!\n\n**🙏 How You Can Help**\\\nWe are looking for connections and collaborations to drive our mission forward. If you or anyone in your network is interested in learning more or helping out, we want to hear from you! We’re specifically looking to connect with:\n\n* Robotics, Drone, and Autonomous Vehicle Companies\n* People looking to train their own foundation model\n* Experts in edge AI deployment\n\nIf that’s you or someone you know, please email us at [founders@deepsilicon.net](mailto:founders@deepsilicon.net)!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Lh6-deepsilicon-running-neural-nets-with-5x-less-ram-and-up-to-20x-as-fast", "votes": 38, "created_at": "2024-08-26T17:39:52.197Z" } ] }, { "id": 29749, "name": "Biocartesian", "slug": "biocartesian", "former_names": [ "coordna bio" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/91093b7c8dbe1ed84a73aa4907b878fc5b0f52bf.png", "website": "https://www.biocartesian.com", "all_locations": "Philadelphia, PA, USA", "long_description": "Finding new cures requires seeing what and where the abnormal molecules are in a diseased tissue, but current tools see less than 1% of those molecules. Biocartesian combines microscopy and new chemistries to see 50X more, offering unprecedented insights into disease biology and new therapies.", "one_liner": "Converting biology into digital molecular maps", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Drug Discovery and Delivery", "launched_at": 1724915415, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "B2B", "Biotech", "Diagnostics", "Drug discovery" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Drug Discovery and Delivery" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/biocartesian", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/biocartesian.json", "year_founded": 2023, "city": "Philadelphia", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/biocartesian", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/91093b7c8dbe1ed84a73aa4907b878fc5b0f52bf.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": null, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1116949, "full_name": "Ian Dardani", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Biocartesian. Microscopy + molecular tools + engineering. Previously Bioscience Enterprise at Cambridge, Bioengineering PhD at UPenn.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/ian-dardani", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6c967a8fcb81f0bfbca52fb800b5ba1f7eea275a.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1975436, "full_name": "Jess Li", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Biocartesian. Genetics + epigenetics, next-gen sequencing. Previously PhD at UPenn, BD at imvaria.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessxli/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8e804f1e103e4d7f9e0e7173849d9d26dbf96a17.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83575, "title": "Biocartesian - Converting biology into digital molecular maps", "tagline": "We use chemistry and microscopy to help scientists discover new drugs.", "body": "**Tl;dr**: Finding new cures requires knowing **what** and **where** the abnormal molecules are in a diseased tissue, but current tools see less than 1% of those molecules. [Biocartesian](https://www.biocartesian.com/) combines microscopy and new chemistries to see a comprehensive picture, offering unprecedented insights into disease biology and new therapeutic approaches.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83575&key=user_uploads/89898/ee18ecba-242d-4cb0-bb1b-d9ab6de69ddd)\n\n# **👩‍🔬 Team**\n\nWe’re [**Ian**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-dardani) and [**Jess**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessxli/), two former UPenn PhDs on a mission to see every molecule in biological specimens. We’ve spent years advancing and troubleshooting the latest tools in biology, from DNA sequencing to microscopy, but even with these efforts, these tools revealed only a fraction of the underlying biology. We dreamed of a way for scientists to see everything (and fast) so they could reduce their guesswork and focus on the most promising therapeutic approaches.\n\n# ❌ **Problem**\n\nMost diseases remain a mystery because existing methods can see less than 1% of the molecules within a biological specimen. These methods can also take months for scientists to set up and often fail, wasting thousands of dollars per specimen and millions in failed drug programs.\n\n# 🔬 **Our approach**\n\nWe’re combining new chemistries and microscopy to see a full map of the molecules in biological specimens. Imagine if we could see into the \\~500 million existing tumor specimens to decode these cancers.\n\nTo use our technology, scientists simply ship their biological specimens to our laboratory, where we automate their conversion into digital molecular maps – saving them months of tedious data collection and troubleshooting.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83575&key=user_uploads/1116949/7deca4d9-cf29-45b4-852d-1fc471672b75)\n\nOur solution:\n\n* Enables scientists in any disease area to 50X their data collection\n* Saves scientists months of time\n* Lowers the cost of biological measurements\n* Expands access to bespoke assays developed by any scientist by integrating with our platform\n* Meets the growing demand for biological data as AI-led analysis supersedes the bottleneck of human-led analysis\n* Turns biology from 99% invisible to an interpretable problem\n\n# **🙏 Asks**\n\nIf you’re excited about this and would like to learn more, email us at:\n\n[**interested@biocartesian.com**](mailto:interested@biocartesian.com)\n\nor reach us at ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ljz-biocartesian-converting-biology-into-digital-molecular-maps", "votes": 265, "created_at": "2024-08-29T15:17:26.070Z" } ] }, { "id": 29754, "name": "Conductor Quantum", "slug": "conductor-quantum", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6f87b0dddb05a92646b51780f21648d12f3019bf.png", "website": "https://www.conductorquantum.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Conductor Quantum is building quantum superintelligence: AI that operates quantum computers to make scientific discoveries beyond human reach.\r\n\r\nQuantum computers let us understand the world at its most fundamental level, the path to new drugs, new materials, and discoveries no human can reach alone. \r\n\r\nA quantum computer is the perfect simulator of nature: it encodes the logic of reality into a programmable machine, atom by atom, electron by electron. Give AI that simulator and you open the door to discovery.\r\n\r\nThe bottleneck is operating the hardware. Today, engineers spend days or weeks by hand to bring a chip to operating conditions for just two qubits. A qubit is the information-carrying unit of a quantum computer, the equivalent of a bit in a classical one, and a useful machine needs billions. \r\n\r\nRemoving the human from that loop is only half the problem. Every command an AI sends to a quantum computer must be optimised for the specific hardware it runs on.\r\n\r\nWe build the AI that operates quantum computers and tunes every machine it runs on. That is the path to quantum superintelligence.", "one_liner": "AI that operates quantum computers for scientific discovery", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1718219316, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Machine Learning", "Quantum Computing", "Semiconductors", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "What is your long-term vision? If you truly succeed, what will be different about the world?", "answer": "Everyone will have access to a quantum computer from their desk." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/conductor-quantum.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/conductorquantum/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/conductorquant", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/conductorquantum", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6f87b0dddb05a92646b51780f21648d12f3019bf.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1977732, "full_name": "Brandon Severin", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Building quantum superintelligence.\n\nDuring my PhD at Oxford, I worked with 4 quantum institutions across the globe (IST Austria, Basel, UNSW, Diraq), developing AI for semiconductor quantum device control and published 4 papers on the topic including one in Nature. \n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-severin/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/BrandonSeverin", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/87d24eacb09bbfa920e690defd179aa0cfe720b2.jpg" }, { "user_id": 947594, "full_name": "Joel Pendleton", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Conductor Quantum, building software for quantum computers. I’ve worked at many deep tech startups and research labs, exploring various quantum computing technologies — from carbon nanotubes to superconducting transmon qubits. I left my PhD at Oxford to start Conductor Quantum.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelpendleton/", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/joelpendleton", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/eec48af10146303ada5db62e00483a97d82d86a9.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 76007, "title": "Quantum Engineer (Spin)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum/jobs/mvfbgvb-quantum-engineer-spin", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.50%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Python", "Design systems" ] }, { "id": 90538, "title": "Quantum Engineer (Superconducting)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum/jobs/Gcnhe4e-quantum-engineer-superconducting", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.50%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Python" ] }, { "id": 92445, "title": "AI Systems Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum/jobs/bVWYarJ-ai-systems-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "Microsoft Azure", "Google Cloud", "Python", "Redis", "Machine Learning", "Reinforcement learning (RL)", "Design systems", "Next.js", "FPGAs" ] }, { "id": 102431, "title": "Quantum Engineer (Neutral Atom)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum/jobs/SjZPBMm-quantum-engineer-neutral-atom", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.50%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Python" ] }, { "id": 102432, "title": "Quantum Engineer (Ion Trap)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum/jobs/eV4F5ew-quantum-engineer-ion-trap", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.50%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Python" ] }, { "id": 103103, "title": "Executive Assistant / Lab Operations Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum/jobs/1vOd00H-executive-assistant-lab-operations-manager", "location": "Albuquerque, NM, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$55K - $75K", "equity_range": "0.05% - 0.15%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Python" ] }, { "id": 104396, "title": "AI Systems Engineer (NM)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/conductor-quantum/jobs/OjWoAtF-ai-systems-engineer-nm", "location": "Albuquerque, NM, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$75K - $125K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 97009, "title": "Coda — Natural language quantum computing", "tagline": "Describe your problem and execute it on real quantum computers.", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97009&key=user_uploads/1977732/6b78d7ee-645f-420a-8e65-86a4e4da0982)\n\n**_TL;DR Quantum computing will not scale if every program is a hand-written circuit. The future is describing what you want a quantum computer to do and letting the system handle the rest._**\n\nHi - We are Brandon and Joel from Conductor Quantum.\n\nWe’re announcing Coda - our natural language interface for quantum computing.\n\nQuantum computers offer a new computing paradigm for simulating the world at the atomic level. This opens up new possibilities in chemistry, materials science, and drug discovery that push beyond what the largest classical supercomputers can handle.\n\n## Problem\n\nUsing quantum computers today requires deep domain expertise and low-level tooling.\n\n## Solution\n\n\n\nType your problem into a box, Coda builds the quantum circuit, verifies the code and runs it on current state-of-the-art quantum computers.\n\nIf you’re completely new to quantum, we’ve included a learn mode to get you started. One of the first quantum computers we’re offering on our platform is [Rigetti’s (S14)](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rigetti-computing) 84-qubit quantum computer. We also support simulations up to 34 qubits supported by NVIDIA cu-Quantum.\n\n## Why?\n\nWe’re building Coda because we want everyone to be able to access a quantum computer from their desk, as soon as possible.\n\n## What we’ve achieved so far\n\n* Built the first API for low-level silicon quantum chip control.\n* Partnered with quantum chip maker SemiQon and ran our software across 64 of their quantum devices.\n* Shipped quantum control software for companies including Quobly and EeroQ.\n\n## What’s next?\n\n* End-to-end GPU + QPU orchestration, so classical and quantum computation work together in a single workflow.\n* Connecting Coda to our lower-level quantum control and tune-up software, closing the loop from high-level intent to device-level execution.\n* Pushing our control software to larger numbers of qubits as hardware scales.\n\n## Team\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97009&key=user_uploads/1977732/fca09063-084c-4734-b9ec-0edde6ec9dd3)\n\n[Brandon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-severin/), CEO, Previously a postdoc at Oxford, with multiple Nature journal publications on silicon quantum computing. Developed early AI systems for automated qubit formation. PhD, Oxford.\n\n[Joel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelpendleton/), CTO, Built machine-learning–based control software for superconducting qubits at QuantrolOx, with prior roles at Quantum Motion and C12. MSc Physics, UCL. Left machine learning and quantum computing PhD at Oxford to start Conductor.\n\n[Raymond](https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymond-jow-190654145/), Founding Engineer, Former SpaceX guidance, navigation, and control software engineer whose code flew on 100+ Falcon 9 missions. Previously worked on robotics at NASA and quantum machine learning at Cornell. BS Physics and Computer Science, Harvard.\n\n## Asks\n\n* Join our team. We’re looking for hardcore full-stack quantum engineers who want to work across the entire stack - from device fabrication, fridge wiring to qubit operation. As well as engineers focused on quantum algorithms and applications.\n* Intros to companies based on hard science - think pharma, biotech, materials, chemistry, engineering who are interested in leveraging quantum computing in their workflows.\n* Email us at [founders@conductorquantum.com](mailto:founders@conductorquantum.com) \n* Try Coda here: [https://coda.conductorquantum.com/](https://coda.conductorquantum.com/login)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/PEf-coda-natural-language-quantum-computing", "votes": 10, "created_at": "2026-01-21T17:45:59.744Z" }, { "id": 83306, "title": "Conductor Quantum - Quantum computers on silicon chips using AI", "tagline": "Our AI software creates qubits 1000x faster than current methods.", "body": "**Tl;dr:**\n\n* [Conductor Quantum](https://www.conductorquantum.com) is using **AI software** to **create qubits** in **semiconductor chips** to **build quantum computers** at scale.\n* The two founders met during their **PhDs at Oxford**. They have experience at 5 quantum companies and institutions, plus 4 publications between them.\n* Conductor Quantum is launching **the first publicly available API** to **classify quantum transport features in semiconductors**.\n\n# **🧑‍🔬🧑‍💻The Team**\n\nHi - We are Brandon and Joel! We are building Conductor Quantum.\n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdZn6_SJC2SQu80WOKYWfJsFE9MCQt2R9PXG6mXNMb3co5B6iBYNZ7ckJ8i8Mgd01fTALt1oZeeLzN19Lc68mTVIqnZZZeJjPQVt_I6ilRcz1m8J-WB-L3xn-zcN4Hci1MBDC6UggpvjN13o_5EMAk3hCWM?key=M7s5FyBBuze--OVSs9y0AQ)\n\nCEO, [Brandon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-severin/) – Brandon developed **_AI for Quantum Computing in Silicon_** during his **PhD** at **Oxford**. Over the past four years, Brandon has worked with four top quantum research institutions on **software for quantum device control** and has **four publications**, including one in **Nature**.\n\nCTO, [Joel](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelpendleton/) – Joel has shipped software at **four deep tech companies** and has worked with a series of quantum devices ranging from **carbon nanotubes to superconducting circuits**. Joel studied **Physics at UCL** and **dropped out of his PhD** at **Oxford** to start Conductor Quantum.\n\nDuring Joel’s PhD at **Oxford**, he launched Feynman.ai— an AI science research assistant— with Brandon, which they bootstrapped to **300 signups within a month** of launch.\n\n# **😯 The Problem**\n\n* **Quantum computers** will **revolutionize drug discovery** and **material development** as we will, for the first time, be able to accurately **simulate nature at its most fundamental level**.\n* Leveraging the **trillion-dollar semiconductor** industry, silicon chips offer a **scalable architecture** for building quantum computers.\n\n→ Currently, quantum engineers **spend days, sometimes weeks,** manually configuring silicon chips to **create a single quantum bit (qubit)**, analogous to a bit in a classical computer.\n\n**→ We need millions, if not billions, of qubits** to make a **useful quantum computer.**\n\nAutomation software to create qubits at scale is vital to realize this goal.\n\n# **✅ Our Solution - AI software to create qubits**\n\n* We are building **leading AI software** that creates qubits by **learning and understanding the principles of quantum transport** in semiconductor chips.\n* Our AI software will **replace the human** in the loop, **unlocking rapid qubit generation** and **fabrication feedback iteration cycles**.\n* Automatic qubit creation and control are the foundation of **the first quantum operating system** on **semiconductor chips**.\n\n[Our AI Playground](https://youtu.be/FBeTFudh-Jc)\n\n# **🤝 How You Can Help**\n\n* Sign up for our [**waitlist**](https://www.conductorquantum.com) (Announcements soon!)\n* Quantum engineers who want to get back to building and save themselves 100s of hours per qubit created - Email us at [founders@conductorquantum.com](mailto:founders@conductorquantum.com)\n* We’d love intros to:\n * Chip designers/verifiers/manufacturers\n * Anyone who wants to **bring chip manufacturing back to the USA**", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Lfe-conductor-quantum-quantum-computers-on-silicon-chips-using-ai", "votes": 100, "created_at": "2024-08-22T17:05:04.031Z" } ] }, { "id": 29777, "name": "Zettascale Computing", "slug": "zettascale-computing", "former_names": [ "Exa Labs", "Exa Laboratories", "Zettascale" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/dc824cdcd1866f181c1cae19f0dfc1371a717e51.png", "website": "https://zscc.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "AI silicon for the era of recursive self-improvement and superintelligence", "one_liner": "Chips for frontier AI", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1722631140, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Semiconductors", "Infrastructure", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/zettascale-computing", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/zettascale-computing.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/zettascale-computing-corp", "x_url": "https://x.com/zettascale", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/thezettascale", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/dc824cdcd1866f181c1cae19f0dfc1371a717e51.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 779644, "full_name": "Elias Almqvist", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder/CEO of Zettascale Computing, autodidact dropout", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/almqv", "x_url": "https://x.com/fcvprzhfgsybj", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a6432e5966767866a5568fae25b979f0f8da9f7d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 109821, "title": "Founding Silicon Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/zettascale-computing/jobs/E3xe53H-founding-silicon-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$200K - $300K", "equity_range": "1.00% - 2.00%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "Tcl", "Verilog", "FPGAs" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "9 startups that stood out on YC Demo Day 2 | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/26/9-startups-that-stood-out-on-yc-demo-day-2/", "date": "Sep 26, 2024" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 120562, "title": "XPU Grasshopper: An AI chip designed for the era of recursive self-improvement", "tagline": "AI chip co-designed with AI for the era of recursive self-improvement", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=120562&key=user_uploads/779644/45160b6c-c87e-4ed1-ad59-7ded469a382d)\n\nToday we’re announcing XPU Grasshopper, our AI architecture co-designed with AI!\n\nIt went from its first tokens to 816x faster in 13 weeks on FPGA.\n\nWith a very small team and autonomous AI agents, we were able to design the hardware and software together. The agents rewrote kernels, reworked the hardware overlay, and ran and tested their own FPGA builds.\n\nRunning gemma-3-1b-it (yes, it runs other models too, but that’s for the next launch :)) at more than 51 tok/s and over 90% utilization at batch 1, on four tiles on an FPGA, measured end to end, to prove out our micro-architecture and software stack before silicon.\n\nWe wrote up the full story, including the day-by-day optimizations the agents found, the Mutation Tile Unit architecture, and the benchmarks: \n\n100 numbered FPGA devkits are open for pre-order, with early cluster API and SSH access: \n\nRead more: ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/VMY-xpu-grasshopper-an-ai-chip-designed-for-the-era-of-recursive-self-improvement", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2026-10-07T16:33:31.723Z" }, { "id": 83472, "title": "Exa Laboratories - 27.6x more efficient chips for AI 🔥🚀", "tagline": "Reconfigurable chips for AI that are 27.6x more energy efficient.", "body": "### TL;DR:\n\nWe're building reconfigurable chips for AI that are up to 27.6x more efficient and powerful than the H100 GPUs. This could save data centers hundreds of millions to billions in annual energy costs.\n\n### Meet the Team\n\nHello! We're [Elias](https://www.linkedin.com/in/almqv/) and [Prithvi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/prithvi-raj-eng/) from [Exa](https://exalaboratories.com/). We're developing **reconfigurable chips for AI** that are up to around **27\\.6x\\* more efficient and performant** than the modern H100 GPUs.\n\n\\*: [_Read our litepaper!_](https://exalaboratories.com/litepaper)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83472&key=user_uploads/779644/fe720272-a21f-4761-a766-9b90dc6401a9)\n\n[**CEO, Elias Almqvist**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/almqv/) (right): Self-taught engineer who also studied computer science and computer engineering (dropped out and founded Exa, btw) at Chalmers University of Technology. Previously worked in the embedded software space but also worked on various aerospace projects at university.\n\n[**CTO, Prithvi Raj**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/prithvi-raj-eng/) (left): Holds an MEng from the world-leading Computational Stats & ML Lab at Cambridge. During his time there, he fell in love with scientific machine learning, a field that demands bespoke neural network architectures and extreme hardware efficiency, and also interned at Microsoft as a software engineer.\n\n### The problems!\n\nThe AI industry faces critical challenges threatening its sustainable growth:\n\n1. **Unsustainable Energy Consumption**: Modern GPUs consume 600-1000 W per unit, creating massive scaling issues for data centers. Large data centers face energy costs in the hundreds of millions to potentially billions each year. **GPU power draw seems to be increasing with each new release**, while **compute per area has remained the same** for the past 5 years.\n2. **Exponential Compute Demand**: With AI advancements, computational power demand is rapidly increasing. Unchecked, this trend could lead to an energy crisis, impeding AI progress and costing data centers billions of dollars.\n3. **Hardware Limitations**: **Current fixed architectures constrain AI innovation**. They lack the versatility to efficiently support diverse AI architectures and custom neural network designs crucial for solving real-world problems.\n\n### The solution.\n\nExa's polymorphic computing technology addresses these challenges:\n\n* **Reconfigures for each AI model architecture**, maximizing efficiency and versatility\n* Supports diverse approaches, from **transformers** and **GPTs** to novel AI architectures (e.g., the new [**Kolmogorv-Arnold Networks (KAN)**](https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.19756))\n* Early simulations indicate potential efficiency gains of up to **27\\.6x** over the H100 GPUs\n\n**This technology could save data centers hundreds of millions to billions in annual energy costs**, significantly reducing operational expenses and environmental impact.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83472&key=user_uploads/779644/12f4a895-8885-4089-a331-920fb65b683c)\n\nFor a somewhat deeper technical dive, refer to our [litepaper](https://exalaboratories.com/litepaper)!\n\n### Asks :)\n\n* Read our [litepaper](https://exalaboratories.com/litepaper)! All feedback welcome!\n* Introduce us to anyone in the scientific machine learning space and/or someone conducting research in AI, **particularly those who have very “_cursed model architectures.”_**\n* Get us in contact with any data center, AI research organization, or GPU cloud provider (i.e., AWS, OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind, Lambda).\n* Give us intros to semiconductor industry professionals, particularly those interested in **bringing back chip manufacturing to the US**!\n\nFeel free to reach us at [founders@exalaboratories.com](mailto:founders@exalaboratories.com), **we would love to hear your feedback and answer your questions!**", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LiK-exa-laboratories-27-6x-more-efficient-chips-for-ai", "votes": 35, "created_at": "2024-08-27T19:36:23.464Z" } ] }, { "id": 29784, "name": "Sensei", "slug": "sensei", "former_names": [ "OBO" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0e3e1067b2d9b0492706fd6cec1ccf4d50ee5c59.png", "website": "https://senseirobotics.com", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "Sensei helps robotics companies scale and outsource their training data collection. Our hardware platform enables the collection of human-demonstration data at a tenth of the cost and twice the speed of current teleop approaches. Our software platform acts like Scale AI for robotics data: a large network of paid human operators use our low-cost collection platform to fulfill data-generation requests. ", "one_liner": "Robotic Training Data at Scale", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1724658554, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Marketplace", "Robotics", "Data Engineering", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/sensei", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/sensei.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0e3e1067b2d9b0492706fd6cec1ccf4d50ee5c59.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 842573, "full_name": "Anubhav Guha", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO at Sensei - building the marketplace for robotic training data. Previously MIT Robotics PhD (dropped out) and Chief Engineer & Program Manager of Aurora Flight Science/Boeing's DARPA AlphaDogfight team. I've spent my whole career in robotics, and my goal is to help make AI robotics a reality.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/anubhav-guha-886445129/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9580bcefaa36422ee6b7c4f52ebab522fc7e6491.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2033335, "full_name": "John Piotti", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "CTO at Sensei - scaling robotic training data collection to be 2x faster and 10x cheaper. Previously MIT '19, Robotics Engineer at Aurora Flight Science/Boeing, and full stack web development at UtilityAPI. Also building a house in my free time. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-piotti-51a67412a/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/16f9d0a34775f335bac9e0e7ac869194c2b0cd63.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 83555, "title": "🦾 Sensei: Robotics training data, at scale.", "tagline": "We produce high quantities of high-quality training data for robotics companies.", "body": "**tl;dr:** [Sensei](https://senseirobotics.com/) is the Scale AI for robotics training data. Our platform collects human demonstration data at a tenth of the cost and twice the speed of current approaches.\n\n# **Our Team**\n\nWe are MIT engineers who have been friends since undergrad. We worked together at Aurora Flight Sciences, where we ran a DARPA-funded program to develop AI algorithms for autonomous fighter jet combat. [John](https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-piotti-51a67412a/) went on to spearhead the reinforcement learning efforts at Aurora, while [Anubhav](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anubhav-guha-886445129/) returned to MIT for a PhD focused on robotics, control theory, and machine learning (but dropped out to found Sensei!).\n\nWe have spent our careers working at the frontiers of robotics and AI. With Sensei, we plan to empower the expansion of those frontiers. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83555&key=user_uploads/842573/7653e304-26fe-4239-b434-58c524f60b31)\n\n# **The Problem**\n\n**Data scarcity is one of the biggest challenges in developing robotic artificial intelligence.** \n\nInnovators in the space are looking to apply the learnings from the Foundation Model Era: that large models trained on huge datasets are incredibly powerful. As researchers, engineers, and a rapidly growing number of commercial efforts race to develop large models for robotic intelligence, it’s become increasingly clear that the availability of sufficient quantities of quality data is the most significant bottleneck. \n\nCurrent solutions are slow, expensive, and fundamentally not scalable. Human demonstrations are the gold standard for training data. Robotics companies currently employ fleets of 5-20 data-collectors. These in-person contractors teleoperate a robot to perform hundreds of demonstrations a day - with tasks ranging from clothes folding, to bin sorting, to dishwasher loading. **This is not the right long-term solution:** \n\n* Large-scale collection is prohibitively expensive: a teleop setup requires a physical robot, often with a cost of $40,000+ per operational platform.\n* Low-quality data: restriction to labs/office spaces makes it hard to collect varied and realistic demonstrations\n* Slow data collection rates: non-intuitive interfaces, cumbersome equipment, and faulty hardware lead to slow demonstrations on platforms that break often.\n\n \n\nThese drawbacks make it impossible to scale quality training data collection to the quantities needed for robotics.\n\n# **Our Solution**\n\nWe design and manufacture low-cost and easy-to-use devices for collecting human demonstration data. Our platform costs less than $300 and can be used by anyone to collect high-quality training data. As seen in a clothes folding task that demonstrates our research prototype, the operator is equipped with a sensorized exoskeleton arm that closely matches the natural human range of motion. The intuitive design, coupled with a suite of angle, vision, and inertial sensors, enables the rapid collection of highly accurate visuo-spatial state information. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83555&key=user_uploads/842573/a58f4a6e-504c-4dd7-a1e1-8afd1d02cb30)\n\nOur main advantage is that an operator can easily set up and equip the platform, leading to an unprecedented ability to generate quality data at scale. Demonstrations can be performed for a broad range of common tasks, in a nearly infinite number of diverse settings, in as many different ways as human behavior is varied. \n\nIn order to maximally utilize a fleet of our data-collect platforms, we are building out and operating a network of Senseis— contractors that have been trained to collect high-quality training data using our devices. Our Senseis receive task descriptions from robotics researchers and engineers, and are then paid to collect demonstrations that fulfill the request. \n\n**Our combined hardware + software stack represents the first truly scalable solution to generating training data for AI robotics.**\n\n# **Our Goal**\n\nWithin the next five years, we envision tens of thousands of operators, equipped with increasingly sophisticated, portable, and effective data-collection arms, exoskeletons, headwear, and tools. These Senseis will be located all over the world, come from and live in a variety of environments, and all have different takes on what it means to perform tasks “like a human.” This is the best way to power data collection for improved robots, and it is the future we’re building.\n\n# **Ask**\n\nIf you’re interested in solving the data scarcity problem in robotics - either for yourself, your company, or your customers - we’d love to hear from you. You can reach us at [founders@senseirobotics.com](mailto:founders@senseirobotics.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ljf-sensei-robotics-training-data-at-scale", "votes": 112, "created_at": "2024-08-28T20:27:10.260Z" } ] }, { "id": 29808, "name": "Starcloud", "slug": "starcloud", "former_names": [ "Lumen Orbit, Inc.", "Lumen Orbit", "Star Cloud" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e9c9b9996bb500ee171134f1e1a0a83f5d48bec3.png", "website": "https://www.starcloud.com/", "all_locations": "Seattle, WA, USA", "long_description": "Starcloud is building data centers in space, initially to provide GPU compute to other satellites, and later to address the rapidly growing demand for energy caused by the deployment of AI. Falling launch costs give Starcloud access to abundant energy, radiative cooling, and the ability to rapidly scale in space.\r\n\r\nIn November 2025, just 21 months after founding, Starcloud launched its first satellite, Starcloud-1 to space. This has an Nvidia H100, which is 100x more powerful GPU than has ever been operated in space before. With this, they became the first entity to train an LLM in space and the first to run a version of Gemini in space. Starcloud will soon also run high-powered inference on Capella SAR data on orbit for the first time. \r\n\r\nStarcloud is launching its second satellite in October 2026, which will have 100x the power generation of the first and generate more cash than it costs to build and launch. Starcloud expects that within 10 years, most new data centers will be being built in space for the energy.\r\n\r\nIn March 2026, Starcloud raised a $170M Series A led by Benchmark, becoming the fastest unicorn in YC history, just 17 months after demo day.", "one_liner": "Data centers in space", "team_size": 12, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1718841179, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Satellites", "Climate", "Cloud Computing", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": true, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/starcloud", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2024/starcloud.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "Seattle", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/starcloudinc", "x_url": "https://x.com/Starcloud_", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/starcloud", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e9c9b9996bb500ee171134f1e1a0a83f5d48bec3.png", "app_video_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/bf-public_profile/29867/app_video.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQC4NIECAOTKCHR7A%2F20261020%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T022722Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHEaCXVzLXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIQDeV7cQCYWa%2ByyakJaw7aH8e0HNWEyd2tO1Fn9KHjIpkgIgJPUveNomWrSf4Oq5DPuVDY7LKeaNJPvi5F2sbSx87Hoq5QMIOhAAGgwwMDYyMDE4MTEwNzIiDJ7%2FkqUU8p5mIeDC5CrCA7F4UggTYlVYiff4mYkoYiIpXa9r%2FKkUhcKwMNwtYpcuNTEBtH5xi9Hzkl3B%2FOYmUn%2FIacrdemsB9KrtOuRo%2FccaY%2Bs%2FSuIzime%2BcYuI7%2B%2Fg2nldjcm7YPCf32sIR8EflXc2916%2FDRMbztsRKDiQDL1ZKbK6YPHJppiQyVyRrrcCFD0X7tEf0D7QgK2DIpKnu8zGLzN4oAHn6xfHIgQnynrupcJbc9cga5AURtsRl7TfSM6XaGTtp1fNogyhUKX9f%2FYIL2pg03nlhLpRpDuqHpJ9qbbVsf%2FvboDHQ4IRRkiCaWH6GZwuTm%2FaXzTPIrAlVKH5%2F0RNaaExh%2Byw4VhHEEsSkHSs4mw%2BmNAKnW2FnWuldPRw5kn3j05dqhv5fkQxdp74JTYQe5wex1YN5PCok147bSKEuieYlIgH%2FiP9NY3Ym0ZRUWuo0zL40XWv9X3L1tLg%2BYWY0fCdhDKHGgTuesmbVajzEhu%2Bg9iWLptoK63cZ4UfO8oOd6sOc09XF6lBy%2BmD%2BSVmOfDWUOzz5ELD16slDTUwml0MZsttBoLDzldUc0olkl5nCAl23UqraiUXeaeW3yLOvJn%2BAD%2B%2FM6PvmZF0VzDn%2FdrWBjqlAVRsuTd0UsfPEqyKlBgBcSJTbWkHvSj10wzTCIqvOoZ3bz1TWza43iHLTCs7u%2FHmvoKE0qG5FTOsMYhLZb5XFdRretuo%2F1BjdoZt%2Fr0dHWGT4LLkmfYrkFclUq7u0pvMr6%2FR4I41ZYdCD3cWpGAcOrCQxKJukkkU%2Fx4O0IOnvZKvXzK4OISHe4XPgWQrnAJcSBOFX%2BXRwhpFbVXOOC%2BtEw%2BR3JTElw%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=8f05ea904212f861c1d5ecd5761f1b4f7880444cd9717a5a059405f701de7659", "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/065a3eebab8634327ccf3fddba698fec064b402a.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1489854, "full_name": "Philip Johnston", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Philip is a second-time founder who previously spent time at McKinsey & Co. working on satellite projects for national space agencies. Philip has an MPA in National Security & Technology from Harvard University, an MBA from Wharton, an MA in Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics from Columbia University, and is a CFA Charter holder.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/philipjohnst0n", "x_url": "https://x.com/philipjohnston", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d3394d5d9bde1ea05b6e234ac597803afa51503a.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1512096, "full_name": "Ezra Feilden", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Ezra has a decade of experience with satellite design, specializing in deployable solar arrays and large deployable structures. Ezra comes from Airbus Defense & Space (SSTL) and Oxford Space Systems, where he worked on many missions, including NASA's Lunar Pathfinder. Ezra has a PhD in Materials Engineering from Imperial College London.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/ezrafeilden", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/b6a499a75b563eb52dd9821819b834e5119c29eb.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1861208, "full_name": "Adi Oltean", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I have a software and hardware background. As part of SpaceX and Microsoft I delivered key features in satellite networks, operating systems, cloud and machine learning infra. \n\nMy focus areas at Starcloud include software, hardware and engineering design aspects of our satellite constellation. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/adioltean/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8f6967e1c2ef4027c9198509b6ec69fb6aa3265b.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 115514, "title": "Electrical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/starcloud/jobs/tJF6I6L-electrical-engineer", "location": "Redmond, WA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$100K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Starcloud raises $170M for space-based data centers, hits $1.1B valuation", "url": "https://www.geekwire.com/2026/orbital-ai-seattle-area-startup-starcloud-hits-1-1b-valuation-to-build-space-based-data-centers/", "date": "Mar 30, 2026" }, { "title": "Could data centres ever be built in orbit? Starcloud thinks so", "url": "https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/04/09/could-data-centres-ever-be-built-in-orbit", "date": "Apr 16, 2025" }, { "title": "Could data centres ever be built in orbit?", "url": "https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/04/09/could-data-centres-ever-be-built-in-orbit", "date": "Apr 09, 2025" }, { "title": "Newly renamed Starcloud raises $10M for space data centers", "url": "https://www.geekwire.com/2025/lumen-orbit-starcloud-10m-space-data-centers/", "date": "Feb 26, 2025" }, { "title": "The answer to tech’s clean energy problem? Put data centres in space", "url": "https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/the-answer-to-techs-clean-energy-problem-put-data-centres-in-space-6pl9z5zbw", "date": "Feb 11, 2025" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 83713, "title": "Starcloud🚀 Data Centers in Space", "tagline": "Starcloud is building data centers in space to make use of 24/7 solar energy and passive cooling. ", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83713&key=user_uploads/1489854/7e0ffedf-fdc5-45ce-ade1-c091f6c96ea5)\n\n# **TL;DR** - We should train future large AI models in space to make use of abundant solar energy, cooling, and the ability to freely scale up.\n\nHey all, we're building data centers in space. We’re launching our first satellite next year, which will have the most powerful GPUs ever put in space by >100x. We will launch a larger iteration each year until we reach gigawatt scale.\n\n## **❌The Problem**\n\nFuture hyperscale data centers will put a huge strain on electricity grids, freshwater distribution, and the Western world’s permitting systems. It will simply not be possible to deploy multi-gigawatt scale data centers rapidly in the way we build data centers today.\n\n## **✨Our Solution**\n\nWe take advantage of falling launch costs to make use of inexpensive solar energy in space and low-cost passive radiative cooling, rapidly scaling up orbital data centers almost indefinitely without the physical or permitting constraints faced on Earth. This will ensure we can continue training ever larger models without destroying the environment.\n\n## **⚙️ Read our white paper**\n\nCheck out our [**white paper**](https://lumenorbit.com/wp) for more information on why space data centers are the future and how we’re going about making this happen.\n\nSee a short video on the design [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIaKDUzFMpk).\n\n## **🏆 What we’ve achieved so far**\n\n* Booked our first launch (May 2025) and our second launch (H2 2026)\n* Set up our payload manufacturing facility in Redmond, WA\n* Designed and started building and testing our first spacecraft, with the fastest GPUs to ever launch to space by \\~100x\n* Created concept designs for our micro data center (2026 launch) and our Hypercluster data center (launching when Starship-class launch vehicles enter commercial service)\n* Secured high-value LOIs for H100 compute time in space\n\n## **🔜 What’s next**\n\n* Launch and complete our demonstrator mission, which will train the first LLM in space!\n* Prototype our micro-data center design\n* Secure contracts which incumbent hyper scalers\n\n## **👥 Our Team**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=83713&key=user_uploads/1489854/22431fb2-7f3d-42f8-b2a2-32f684a6cf2b)\n\n[**Philip**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnstonphilip/), CEO, is a second-time founder who has worked at McKinsey & Co. working on satellite projects for national space agencies. Philip has an MPA in National Security & Technology from Harvard University, an MBA from Wharton, an MA in Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics from Columbia University, and is a CFA Charter holder.\n\n[**Ezra**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ezrafeilden/), CTO, has a decade of experience with satellite design, specializing in deployable solar arrays and large deployable structures. Ezra comes from Airbus Defense & Space (SSTL) and Oxford Space Systems, where he worked on missions including NASA's Lunar Pathfinder. Ezra has a PhD in Materials Engineering from Imperial College London.\n\n[**Adi**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adioltean/), Chief Engineer, was previously a Principal Software Engineer at SpaceX, where he was part of the Starlink network team enabling Starlink for in-motion users, including Starship. Before that, he deployed the first LLMs on large GPU production clusters at Microsoft, where he also delivered more than 25 patents in more than two decades. Adi holds degrees in Computer Science and Chemistry from the top two universities in Bucharest.\n\n## **🙏 Asks**\n\nJoin our team! If you are or know any hardcore engineers with experience in aerospace or data center infrastructure and are interested in working with the Starcloud team, please get in touch!\n\n[**https://www.starcloud.com/careers**](https://www.lumenorbit.com/careers)\n\nWe are also interested in talking to operators and customers of hyperscale training clusters who are contemplating the scale-up from megawatts to gigawatts.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/LmD-starcloud-data-centers-in-space", "votes": 44, "created_at": "2024-09-03T19:42:08.218Z" } ] }, { "id": 30097, "name": "Innate", "slug": "innate", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/374e6b2cd282f5fe31c64fcc82aaebb3105153c9.png", "website": "https://innate.bot", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We make personal AI robots - general-purpose physical machines that anyone can teach with code, language and demonstrations.\r\n\r\nWe believe building open platforms like the first PCs this is the only way to bring the robotics future that we all want, where everyone can participate in the robotics revolution.", "one_liner": "Personal AI Robots", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Consumer", "subindustry": "Consumer -> Consumer Electronics", "launched_at": 1730365227, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2024", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Consumer", "Consumer Electronics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/innate", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2024/innate.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/innate-bot", "x_url": "https://x.com/innate_bot", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/374e6b2cd282f5fe31c64fcc82aaebb3105153c9.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Nicolas Dessaigne", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/nicolas-dessaigne" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 938249, "full_name": "Axel Peytavin", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO @Innate. Former researcher at Stanford HCI, The Ocean Cleanup", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/axel-peytavin", "x_url": "https://x.com/ax_pey", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f87ffaf60cfa73031c4d08001d38c77d4b23ac75.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1831970, "full_name": "Vignesh Anand", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Former Stanford robotics graduate student. Former flight sciences intern at Archer. Also built high-powered rockets and underwater robots. Currently building the future of embodied AI with Innate", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/vignesh-anand-iitb/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7adac2bc127fc7a93bf960286b96991e5463f4df.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 100521, "title": "Content & Marketing Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/innate/jobs/PZV8HFZ-content-marketing-intern", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Marketing", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$4.33K - $5.2K / monthly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 114969, "title": "Open Application", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/innate/jobs/XCZlld4-open-application", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$38.9K - $300K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 114970, "title": "Mechatronics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/innate/jobs/AoTR6iU-mechatronics-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$150K - $180K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 85667, "title": "Innate 🤖 Teach your own general-purpose robots", "tagline": "Shipping assembled AI robots for builders of Silicon Valley!", "body": "Innate builds **AI brains for general-purpose robots**, and **affordable embodiments** for consumers to experience the first AI robots.\n\nOur first product, **Maurice**, is a mobile robot with a trainable arm, designed for Silicon Valley builders to play with, customize and build on. It runs our AI brain that can navigate, perform physical tasks, interact with people, and reason.\n\n\n\nThe brain is **completely teachable**: You can prompt it, chat with it, and teach it physical tasks.\n\nIt takes **only 5 minutes** for you to write another prompt for Maurice to behave very differently, for example, performing security at home:\n\n\n\n# ⚙️ Under the hood\n\nIn the past 3 months, we created **our brain, an AI orchestrator** leveraging several of the most recent research publications in AI for manipulation, navigation, reasoning and planning.\n\nIt combines **9 different models** to create something that feels innately intelligent - like GPT, Gemini, Claude and Llama (Groq) got a body and learned to move. Maurice **constantly understands its environment**, makes decisions, remembers what is sees and where, and learns from you.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=85667&key=user_uploads/938249/cc03013d-d569-4272-93d8-e7a3c7f0a6b8)\n\n**This system comprises:**\n\n🧠 A **multi-agent** orchestrator running specialized models locally and in cloud 🤖 **Real-time manipulation** models controlled by our own transformers\n\n🦾 A **full data pipeline** to collect arm data, train in the cloud, run inference on the platform\n\n💬 **A 100% interactive platform**, that can be steered vocally or through its prompts\n\n📈 An **eval pipeline** for our brain’s decision making, to progressively make it better\n\nMaurice learns your space, remembers context, and makes autonomous decisions about where, what to do next.\n\n**It’s also ready to build on:**\n\n* **All the compute required** is onboard (uses a Jetson Orin Nano)\n* Shipped with a **teleop arm** to train it quickly\n* **SDK to access the agent**, steer it, give it new functions to call\n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=85667&key=user_uploads/938249/1459c238-8aff-4226-acec-5c3c3770f57c)\n\n\nAnd as a user, you can customize it, collect data quickly to train it, and even change the hardware.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=85667&key=user_uploads/938249/1039d908-0523-43d5-a70e-8d6d00971063)\n\nThis allows Maurice (and future robots) to learn several kinds of physical tasks.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=85667&key=user_uploads/938249/ed3e71f0-37cb-498d-8448-57f2ebb47178)\n\nFinally, Maurice is already reliable enough for us to do live, autonomous demos!\n\nWe're also developing a larger robot that can reach countertops. Our interoperable software ensures quick capability matching across all future embodiments using the Innate brain.\n\n# Our Ask: Join us into the **future**\n\nWe're making teachable robots accessible to builders now, because we believe it is the right way to tailor robots people want, for a reasonable price. Furthermore, the data we collect along the way, teaching our robots, will be useful for all future robots.\n\nOur first platform is for Silicon Valley builders who want to shape what teachable robots can do. Sign up for our waitlist [on our website.](https://innate.bot)\n\n1. **Join the community:** Builders, if you want to know more, join our Discord and / or get one, send us a DM at [@ax_pey](https://x.com/ax_pey) on X or at [axel@innate.bot](mailto:axel@innate.bot)\n2. **Intro us:** Our AI brain could be useful to an individual or company you know making robots? We’d love to chat!\n3. **I just want to chat! :** Great! Happy to! The best way is still through [X](https://x.com/ax_pey), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/axel-peytavin/) or [email](https://mailto:axel@innate.bot)!\n\n# Who we are\n\nWe are Vignesh and Axel, two former Stanford grad students and researchers in AI for robotics and AI for HCI. We met almost a year ago working on a previous idea, and through several iterations of this project, we have come to trust our shared abilities to face the hard problems ahead to make general-purpose robotics accessible to everyone.\n\nThis company embodies our vision of bringing a technology that will be a major game-changer for humanity, in the hands of everyone. So that robots are made for humans, taught by humans.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=85667&key=user_uploads/938249/8d097e3a-cf0a-4ef9-ac06-4b6397935231)\n\n_Us, 10mn before a successful live demo of our robot in front of 40 people, fixing an unexpected bug_\n\nThe future of robotics is teachable. It’s time to build it!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MHj-innate-teach-your-own-general-purpose-robots", "votes": 44, "created_at": "2024-11-18T19:25:14.391Z" } ] }, { "id": 30224, "name": "Maritime Fusion", "slug": "maritime-fusion", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2af0192d25e843e5333e635fa35115413fbca155.png", "website": "https://maritimefusion.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Maritime Fusion is building fusion reactors for ships and off grid energy markets. En route on this endeavor we’re commercializing High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) cable technology for power distribution while advancing the physics basis of our HTS tokamak to decarbonize global shipping. \r\n\r\nBreakeven fusion is coming soon, but the first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors will be costly, high maintenance, and have low capacity factors, leading to 5–10x higher electricity cost on the grid. Maritime Fusion is pursuing the most widely accepted approach to fusion, the tokamak, but specifically designed for the marine environment where the challenges that arise between breakeven and a commercially viable energy source are alleviated. The market we're targeting requires 15x less power, lower up-time, and costs the same as alternative fuels but without any emissions. Since fusion does not use highly radioactive fuels or materials – unlike fission – we sidestep the vast majority of regulatory challenges and safety risks associated with nuclear energy. Our team brings over a decade of industry and research experience in plasma physics, nuclear engineering, and electrical engineering with backgrounds at SpaceX, Tesla, Columbia University, and University of Pennsylvania.", "one_liner": "Fusion reactors for ships", "team_size": 6, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Energy", "launched_at": 1739572830, "tags": [ "Fusion Energy", "Hard Tech", "Energy" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Energy" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/maritime-fusion", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2025/maritime-fusion.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/maritime-fusion", "x_url": "https://x.com/maritimefusion", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/2af0192d25e843e5333e635fa35115413fbca155.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2336806, "full_name": "Justin Cohen", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Nuclear engineer and plasma physicist working on fusion reactors for defense and commercial shipping applications. Previously Tesla, SpaceX, Columbia University, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, NC State.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-cohen707", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c63b262e560db673d53a59a25f5d906a3b7acaef.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2364454, "full_name": "Jason Kaufmann", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "I'm a hardware engineer with a passion for building cool electronics and systems. With a background in physics and computer engineering from Penn, I've worked on everything from AI hardware at Tesla to power systems for rockets at SpaceX. Currently focused on making a fusion reactor for ships.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonskaufmann/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/de5bd445a30e5ded336464f26afb4873ba9b1435.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 75503, "title": " Member of Technical Staff - R&D Engineering", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/maritime-fusion/jobs/jF7a5Wc-member-of-technical-staff-r-d-engineering", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$120K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 1.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 75505, "title": "Member of Technical Staff - Plasma Physics", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/maritime-fusion/jobs/sX8ipt6-member-of-technical-staff-plasma-physics", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Science", "role_type": "Laboratory", "salary_range": "$120K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 1.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 85661, "title": "R&D Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/maritime-fusion/jobs/vbJGLSZ-r-d-technician", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$100K - $160K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.25%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 85662, "title": "Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Lead", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/maritime-fusion/jobs/fpZ2pbI-business-development-strategic-partnerships-lead", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$120K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "This startup wants to build a fusion reactor — on a boat | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/24/this-startup-wants-to-build-a-fusion-reactor-on-a-boat/", "date": "Nov 24, 2025" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 87909, "title": "Maritime Fusion - Fusion reactors for ships", "tagline": "The application where first generation fusion reactors can thrive", "body": "[We are building the first fusion reactors for marine applications](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ThTnDoKzLU)\n\n**The Problem**\\\nBreakeven fusion is on the horizon, but first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors will be expensive, high-maintenance, and have low capacity factors, leading to 5–10x higher electricity cost on the grid. Additionally, these reactors face significant physics challenges for steady-state operation, such as managing first wall heat flux and mitigating nuclear activation of structural components that require novel materials to solve.\n\n**The Solution**\\\nWe are leveraging the most proven approach to fusion energy, the HTS tokamak, but designed specifically for maritime applications. This reactor bridges the gap between achieving breakeven fusion and commercial viability. Our target market, commercial shipping vessels, require 15x less power and lower uptime compared to traditional grid reactors all while matching the cost of alternative bunker fuels—without any emissions. Operating at reduced power densities also alleviates many of the materials hurdles, paving the way for a more robust and reliable technology in the near term. We’re also leveraging the same reactor to meet the Department of Defense’s need for mobile power plants via Ship-to-Shore power.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87909&key=user_uploads/2336806/28482a6e-e905-4e36-9aad-41bd64336dff)\n\n**Who We Are**\\\nOur team brings over a decade of industry and research experience in plasma physics, nuclear engineering, and electrical engineering with backgrounds at SpaceX, Tesla, Columbia University, and University of Pennsylvania. We first met at SpaceX while conducting radiation tests for Starship electronics, and later worked together at Tesla on Cybertruck and Optimus.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87909&key=user_uploads/2336806/3b3e4061-2aff-4cb0-a183-5755dc8fae50)\n\n**How the YC Community Can Help**\\\nWe’re in process of making inroads to the Department of Defense, Navy, DARPA, and Department of Energy, as well as connections to the commercial shipping industry, if you know anyone we should speak with please reach out!\\\n[maritimefusion.com](http://maritimefusion.com)\\\n[founders@maritimefusion.com](mailto:founders@maritimefusion.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Mrt-maritime-fusion-fusion-reactors-for-ships", "votes": 28, "created_at": "2025-02-21T20:38:05.707Z" } ] }, { "id": 30305, "name": "Forge Automation", "slug": "forge-automation", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/83675e4cb8108f5003548d5dd5c6e5ee56ede4aa.png", "website": "https://www.forgeautomation.ca", "all_locations": "Toronto, ON, Canada", "long_description": "Forge Automation runs software enabled factories that deliver custom metal parts in four days or less. Instead of mechanical engineers having to wait two to three weeks for their low volume CNC parts, they can simply upload a CAD model on our platform and we will ship it out in four days or less. We aim to give mechanical engineers the \"Amazon experience\" for custom metal parts.", "one_liner": "Software Enabled CNC Parts Supplier", "team_size": 21, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1736647566, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Manufacturing", "Industrial" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "Canada", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/forge-automation", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2025/forge-automation.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "Toronto", "country": "CA", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/forge-automation", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/83675e4cb8108f5003548d5dd5c6e5ee56ede4aa.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1502123, "full_name": "Timothy Seto", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder + CEO @ Forge Automation | I make metal parts. Send me CAD, I will make it in the real world.\n\nI went to the University of Waterloo Engineering, and interned at Apple, Formlabs and iRobot. I have been machining for over 10 years and I love building robots and machines. I graduated in the summer of 2022 and co-founded Forge Automation right after.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/timmy-seto", "x_url": "https://x.com/TimmySeto", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e323b40b6256f205c7b5e8cf0bc59216b4541428.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1631233, "full_name": "Walter Raftus", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder + CTO @ Forge Automation | I love computers, math, and big specialized machines controlled with software!\n\nI went to the University of Waterloo for AI + Mechatronics Engineering, and interned at Nvidia, Trexo Robotics (W19), and Intel PSG working on a bunch of different software ranging from system software, deep learning, and embedded control. I graduated in the summer of 2022 and co-founded Forge Automation right after!", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/walterraftus", "x_url": "https://x.com/walter_raftus", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/0d7ab215db8f29667413c93869cec9b8fdba5150.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 103180, "title": "Manufacturing Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/forge-automation/jobs/GAgHVzO-manufacturing-software-engineer", "location": "Toronto, ON, CA / Toronto, Ontario, CA", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$100 - $160 CAD", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.30%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 87618, "title": "Forge Automation - CNC parts in 4 days or less", "tagline": "Forge Automation runs software enabled factories that deliver quickturn on-demand CNC parts.", "body": "**TLDR**\n\nForge Automation runs software enabled factories that deliver quickturn on-demand CNC parts.  For customers who prioritize consistent and fast lead times, Forge offers the option to reserve dedicated CNC machines on their floor, giving you a guaranteed SLA on production time. Alternatively, customers can order parts on-demand at a higher price. We’ve shipped thousands of parts to engineers all over North America ranging from Fortune 10 companies to start-ups.\n\n**For an instant quote, upload a CAD file at** [**www.forgejobshop.com**](http://www.forgejobshop.com)!\\\n\\\n[**Check out our Factory!**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSKWPaM_Yno) \n\n**Problem:**\n\nHardware development is hard because it takes 2-3 weeks to receive prototype parts after placing an order with a supplier. For those in the software world, imagine having to wait 2 weeks to compile your code - you would hate your life and nothing would get done! Engineers just want a CNC service that is quick, affordable, and reliable! \n\n**Introducing Forge Automation:**\n\nWe are a North American based machine shop that makes custom, low volume CNC parts. Over the past two years, we’ve shipped thousands of parts to engineers all over North America ranging from Fortune 10 companies to brand new start-ups.\n\nAlong with the high quality and fast lead times, customers love our service because it’s the easiest way to order parts online. **Engineers can ditch the drawing and add manufacturing intent directly onto their CAD model within our platform.** Here's a quick demo showing how easy it is to submit an order.\n\n[**Quoting Demo:**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkJ73dUJ1gs)\n\nWe are excited to launch a new product – **Forge Reserve Machines**. Customers can get dedicated access to their own CNC machine on Forge's shop floor. Forge handles everything - purchasing and maintaining a 3 axis mill, plus providing one of their skilled machinist to make your parts. Forge Reserved Machines represent an SLA guaranteeing you 4 day production times so your parts are never late!\n\n**Our Ask - If you need parts made:**\n\nIt's easy to get started! Upload a CAD model to [**www.forgejobshop.com**](http://www.forgejobshop.com), receive an instant quote, checkout online, and have a part in your hand lightning fast!\n\nIf you want fast, reliable, and guaranteed service on your CNC parts, check out our [**Reserved Machine**](https://www.forgejobshop.com/docs/reserve) option.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87618&key=user_uploads/1502123/01702dfd-885e-4894-a3e6-420115ecedc5)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MnC-forge-automation-cnc-parts-in-4-days-or-less", "votes": 37, "created_at": "2025-02-12T19:12:07.695Z" } ] }, { "id": 30315, "name": "Optifye.ai", "slug": "optifye-ai", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d86ffdce2296389239f29bc23023bc7867815208.png", "website": "https://www.optifye.ai", "all_locations": "New Delhi, DL, India", "long_description": "Optifye.ai does AI performance monitoring for factory workers\r\n\r\nWe place cameras in factories and use vision AI to tell supervisors who's working and who's not in real time. \r\n\r\nThe shop floor has historically been a black box. With Optifye, manufacturing companies can now accurately measure worker output and boost efficiency!", "one_liner": "AI performance monitoring for factory workers", "team_size": 8, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1739567184, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Computer Vision", "Manufacturing" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "India", "South Asia" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/optifye-ai", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2025/optifye-ai.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "New Delhi", "country": "IN", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/optifye-ai/?viewAsMember=true", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d86ffdce2296389239f29bc23023bc7867815208.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1289176, "full_name": "Vivaan Baid", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I studied computer science & psychology at Duke. My family has been running a manufacturing company since before I was born. I've been around assembly lines for as long as I can remember.\n\nAt Optifye, I am using my expertise in computer vision to enable supervisors to solve shop-floor inefficiencies in real-time.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivaan-baid-119415177/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f9c6b9b6347741a6d9c5e1f2925f6fe792d6e654.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2122711, "full_name": "Kushal Mohta", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Building Optifye.ai. Previously built a system to boost efficiency by 105% of semi-automated lines at an automobile gears manufacturing company. My family also runs several manufacturing plants in various industries, which has given me unrestricted access to assembly lines since I was 15.\n\n Studied for a B.S.E in Electrical and Computer Engineering and B.S. in Computer Science at Duke University.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/kushal-mohta-6926931b4/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d2a8ab3d0987d09ccf90ab6ef67b652990a20d12.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 74288, "title": "Founding Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/optifye-ai/jobs/sDfGXkK-founding-engineer", "location": "New Delhi, DL, IN / New Delhi, Delhi, IN / Gurugram, HR, IN / Gurugram, Haryana, IN", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Backend", "salary_range": "₹2.4M - ₹4.8M INR", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.30%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizenship/visa not required", "skills": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "Kubernetes", "PostgreSQL", "Machine Learning", "Docker", "Computer Vision" ] }, { "id": 79224, "title": "Founding Engineer - AI/ML", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/optifye-ai/jobs/NQxhJPr-founding-engineer-ai-ml", "location": "Gurugram, HR, IN / Gurugram, Haryana, IN", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "₹2.4M - ₹3.6M INR", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 87931, "title": "Optifye.ai - AI Performance monitoring for factory workers", "tagline": "Solve shop-floor inefficiencies in real-time", "body": "Hi everyone, we’re Kushal & Vivaan - co-founders of Optifye.\n\nWe’re CS grads from Duke and because our families run manufacturing companies, we’ve seen more assembly lines than most industrial engineers!\n\n**Tl;dr;** We place cameras in manufacturing lines and use computer vision to help supervisors solve shop-floor inefficiencies in real-time.\n\n# **The Shop floor is a black-box.**\n\nThere has never been a way to accurately measure shop-floor performance. It is also understaffed; each supervisor, on average, is responsible for 50+ workers. \n\nCompanies struggle to boost efficiency because they cannot determine what caused the problem. \n\nAsk any manufacturing company owner about the last time they reached their productivity targets and you will get a very long, frustrated answer.\n\n# **For the first time ever, Optifye makes it… not a blackbox!**\n\nWe place cameras in manufacturing lines and use computer vision to count the number of pieces each workspace makes in real-time.\n\nWe then relay this information on a dashboard.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87931&key=user_uploads/1289176/58cd8240-7fe5-4884-b809-581905b11f89)\n\nWe believe that if you can measure it, you can improve it. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87931&key=user_uploads/1289176/dd1da477-3736-42fb-8f82-f76d7d32c77b)\n\n# **What this means for the ____**\n\n**Owner**: Gets accurate real-time factory, line, and workspace productivity metrics - no need to rely on your production head (who never has the incentive to say production looks terrible)\n\n**Production Head**: Gets line-wise and workspace-wise metrics to identify areas for improvement\n\n**Shopfloor supervisor**: Can finally identify what is causing inefficiency in the line and fix the problem on the go\n\nWe align every stakeholder with manufacturing companies’ primary KPI – efficiency.\n\nKnow any manufacturing company owners? \n\nLet us know at [founders@optifye.ai](mailto:founders@optifye.ai), and we’ll help them drop their cortisol levels :) \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=87931&key=user_uploads/1289176/387126da-5b03-41ab-b442-9f2ca0dbcb86)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MsF-optifye-ai-ai-performance-monitoring-for-factory-workers", "votes": 82, "created_at": "2025-02-23T02:27:13.182Z" } ] }, { "id": 30316, "name": "Reditus Space", "slug": "reditus-space", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f567bf243e624ac80b841cec50ec05ef7e87c1ac.png", "website": "https://www.reditus.space/", "all_locations": "Atlanta, GA, USA", "long_description": "We are making reusable satellites for zero-g manufacturing & Hypersonic Technology Development. \r\nOur first orbital recovery mission is set to launch in Q4 2026.", "one_liner": "Reusable Satellites", "team_size": 12, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1739340612, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Manufacturing", "Aerospace" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "The founders met in graduate school at Georgia Tech, while we were both pursuing our PhD’s in aerospace engineering. " } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reditus-space", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2025/reditus-space.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "Atlanta", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/reditus-space", "x_url": "https://x.com/ReditusSpace", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/reditus-space", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f567bf243e624ac80b841cec50ec05ef7e87c1ac.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/1847423dc250b719ebdef9254dae22b30428d3fd.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2231256, "full_name": "Stef Crum", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO Reditus Space - Space Systems Engineer\nSpace Systems Engineering PhD, worked with NASA and Space Force on orbital operations and reentry. Founded Da Vinci Satellite, a satellite mission non-profit.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/spcrum/", "x_url": "https://x.com/StefReditus", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e5da8427c01c1ced92fb4375f6dbf2541ffdee78.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2250643, "full_name": "Will Sherman", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "CTO Reditus Space - Georgia Tech PhD dropout", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/willamasherman/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6bb49f20a0b9d5d15773ae4b4ed4fb47472edf81.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 76235, "title": "Avionics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reditus-space/jobs/2Ag3TbE-avionics-engineer", "location": "Atlanta, GA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$110K - $145K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.30%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 76237, "title": "Thermal Structures Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reditus-space/jobs/zVwGCvw-thermal-structures-engineer", "location": "Atlanta, GA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$110K - $145K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.30%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 81898, "title": "Senior Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reditus-space/jobs/z9X9wJa-senior-mechanical-engineer", "location": "Atlanta, GA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$130K - $175K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.25%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "CAD Design" ] }, { "id": 92319, "title": "Senior Aerothermal Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/reditus-space/jobs/phc3lPZ-senior-aerothermal-engineer", "location": "Atlanta, GA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$130K - $175K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 0.25%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 88064, "title": "Reditus Space: Reusable Satellites for zero-g manufacturing", "tagline": "The next wave of pharmaceutical & materials manufacturing will happen in space, and we are getting people there and back faster!", "body": "Hey everyone, we are Will and Stef from Reditus Space!\\\n\\\n**The Problem**\n\nAccess and Return from space is almost entirely dependent on the International Space Station (ISS), a costly, slow, and overly bureaucratic process. Zero-G manufacturing is currently at a turning point, transitioning from research to producing materials for use on Earth. The current space infrastructure cannot provide consistent access & return for zero-g manufacturing, and that is where we come in.\n\n**Why produce anything in space at all?**\n\nThe absence of gravity in space means that there is no sedimentation or convection. In turn, that means during the formation of materials, you are able to make them more homogenous on an atomic level. This has huge implications for pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, and biologics. You are able to create materials in space that cannot be produced on Earth.\\\n\\\nIn short, the material production has to be so precise that gravity is too much of a disturbing force and needs to be removed.\n\n\\\n**What are we building right now?**\\\nRight now we are working on our first full-scale re-entry mission, the ENOS mission, which will be launching on a Falcon 9 in a launch window starting in March '26. We will be hosting a pharmaceutical R&D payload on-orbit and fully re-enter and recover the satellite.\\\n\\\nCheck out the following video for more info about ENOS!\\\n\n\n**The Team**\n\nWill and I met at Georgia Tech while we were both pursuing our PhD’s in Aerospace Engineering. We have worked on several satellite missions and re-entry and recovery with NASA & the DoD.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=88064&key=user_uploads/2231256/ea6b8ac3-69ce-446b-90f8-9ceb9661a42e)\n\n**The Ask**\n\nWe are actively looking to expand our customer base. If you have any connections within the pharmaceutical or the semiconductor industry, especially the very large companies, we would love to talk to you! Even if you think that your company doesn’t do anything in space, very often they do.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=88064&key=user_uploads/2231256/7966f07a-9691-448a-8ba7-e90e7537d2f7)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/MuO-reditus-space-reusable-satellites-for-zero-g-manufacturing", "votes": 15, "created_at": "2025-02-26T18:27:06.101Z" } ] }, { "id": 30347, "name": "Instinct Space", "slug": "instinct-space", "former_names": [ "Instinct" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4bb840258f778d8499065a3377b1461a88ad66ed.png", "website": "https://www.instinct-space.com/", "all_locations": "London, England, United Kingdom", "long_description": "Instinct is making the Moon the new LEO. Our small lunar lander is designed to be launched as a regular LEO rideshare, enabling higher mission cadence at a lower cost.", "one_liner": "Building lunar landers", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1739754908, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Space Exploration" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/instinct-space", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2025/instinct-space.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "London", "country": "GB", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/instinct-space/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Instinct__Space", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4bb840258f778d8499065a3377b1461a88ad66ed.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/0bff9b3783db2f83e829a5295839eca0aab1f311.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1741395, "full_name": "Alex Pinel Neparidze", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Building lunar landers. Co-CEO of Instinct.\n\nGraduate in Space Engineering at UCL and Aerospace engineering at QMUL. At Open Cosmos, he worked in project management on the PHISAT-2 and HAMMER Earth observation satellites, both launched in 2024 and now in orbit. Published research on the usage of machine learning for detecting Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. \n\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-pinel/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Alex__Pinel", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2686a16bde1511b7fc8f5979a461225a3ce9bc36.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2390225, "full_name": "Joaquim Dickson", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Building lunar landers. CTO at Instinct.\n\nStudied Physics at Imperial College London and Space Technology at UCL. Worked on the magnetometer (MAG) for NASA's IMAP spacecraft with Imperial's Fluxgate Magnetometer Laboratory. Also worked on the Solar Wind Analyser (SWA) instrument suite aboard ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft with UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaquim-ropd/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/b6505e0e0f06bad77f9a710345a84337c3daffe1.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1830493, "full_name": "Ashwin Iyer", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Building rideshare compatible lunar landers. Ashwin is the co-founder and co-CEO of Instinct.\n\nHe studied mechanical engineering at QMUL in London and holds a Master in Industrial Systems, Manufacturing and Management from the University of Cambridge. Ashwin has also worked at Imperial College London, researching Rolls Royce jet engines as well as undertaken consulting projects as part of a team at Cambridge across a variety of industries including Venture capital, Metalworking and Electronics.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashwin-iyer-626263245/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/eb93731bd9cfc0a59ed3ff2d5a210efdf7a84bcf.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Instinct Space Unveils Plans for Low-Cost Lunar Landers", "url": "https://payloadspace.com/instinct-space-unveils-plans-for-low-cost-lunar-landers/", "date": "Jun 17, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 103381, "title": "Instinct - Lunar Landers as a Service", "tagline": "lunar landers designed to launch as a regular LEO rideshares", "body": "We are going to the Moon, without spending billions. Launching more often and from any rocket.\n\n### **TL;DR:**\n\nModern lunar landers are not designed for the realities of today's launch market, leading to infrequent and expensive flights. Instinct is building a lunar lander that can launch from anywhere, increasing flight cadence and decreasing cost.\n\n\n\n### **The Problem:**\n\nDemand for the Moon is increasing, and modern landers rely on dedicated launches to the Moon that cost upwards of $100M and only fly once or twice a year. This means payload costs of $1.2M/kg and very limited availability of payload slots. Most potential lunar payloads are either stuck on Earth or never leave the concept stage.\n\n### **Our Solution:**\n\nInstinct's lunar lander is small enough to launch as a rideshare to Low Earth Orbit, enabling low-cost, high-cadence missions. From LEO, our lander makes its way to the Moon without the need for refueling or multiple stages, delivering 20kg of payload to the Moon at a cost per kg of less than half that of current providers.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=103381&key=user_uploads/1741395/a31b9757-ea96-4f67-8e24-a31ef7bf474b)\n\n\nAt its core, our lunar lander relies on custom propulsion and visual navigation systems, which enable our unique architecture and most importantly are designed to keep vehicle mass as low as possible. This reduces launch cost and maximizes performance.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=103381&key=user_uploads/1741395/6887996a-f7fc-4d07-a5ae-68e548ba6acf)\n\n### **Who We Are:**\n\nOur team brings years of experience working on space missions including NASA's IMAP, ESA's Solar Orbiter, and PhiSat-2.\n\nWe are super passionate about space exploration, and have also experienced firsthand the pains involved in developing lunar missions nowadays. We think getting to the Moon should be routine.\n\n### **What's Next:**\n\n* Integrated tests of our reaction control thrusters\n* Flight of our hopper test vehicle\n* A lot of testing\n* First lunar mission in Q4 2028\n\n### **Asks:**\n\n* Fly a payload to the Moon\\![ https://www.instinct-space.com/fly-with-us](https://www.instinct-space.com/fly-with-us)\n* Commercial/Government Intros\n* Join the team[ https://www.instinct-space.com/careers](https://www.instinct-space.com/careers)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QtR-instinct-lunar-landers-as-a-service", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2026-06-17T14:05:35.501Z" } ] }, { "id": 30465, "name": "Photonium", "slug": "photonium", "former_names": [ "PhotonIQ" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1f9f89a3e11065395408b656b79f12f0fd9868a1.png", "website": "https://www.photoniumoptics.com/", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Photonium is building software to automate optical system design. We supercharge optics experts with intelligent tooling to reduce costs and deliver faster. We handle the full design stack — from optimization, verification, sourcing, to prototyping — for AR/VR, quantum, biotech, metrology/chip fab, LiDAR, and more. ", "one_liner": "AI-Powered Optical Consulting & Software", "team_size": 5, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1748388578, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Machine Learning", "B2B", "Manufacturing" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/photonium", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2025/photonium.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/company/photonium-optics/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1f9f89a3e11065395408b656b79f12f0fd9868a1.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Nicolas Dessaigne", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/nicolas-dessaigne" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2467765, "full_name": "Jennifer Song", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Photonium. Quantum Computing at Harvard/Stanford/QuEra", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/jennifer-y-song", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/727e50b2591f66ca240e53da3afda54e3a081413.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1865732, "full_name": "Adam Mhatre", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Photonium. Computational Physics at Stanford", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/adam-mhatre-5b8aaa230", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d9986f5f0661a450e5b754ef2c49dce90970e9db.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 79020, "title": "Founding ML Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/photonium/jobs/JEOfTqj-founding-ml-engineer", "location": "New York, NY, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$150K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 2.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "Machine learning" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 90808, "title": "Photonium: AI-Accelerated Optical Design Automation ⚛️", "tagline": "Design optical systems faster and cheaper.", "body": "Hey YC!\n\nWe’re [Jennifer](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-y-song) and [Adam](https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-mhatre-5b8aaa230/) - cofounders of Photonium.\n\n**TL;DR**\n\nPhotonium automates optical system design with AI, replacing costly manual iteration with end-to-end system optimization.\n\n**🚨 The Problem**\n\nOptical systems are mission-critical across many high-growth sectors — including quantum technology, biomedical imaging, LiDAR for defense and autonomous vehicles, and metrology for semiconductor fabrication.\n\nBut designing them is a nightmare:\n\n* Companies pour millions into teams of 20+ optical engineers\n* Projects take months or years to go from R&D to production\n* Tools are fragmented and outdated\n* Optimization is manual and often based on trial-and-error\n\nEngineers spend countless hours on repetitive workflows — constrained by tools that haven’t changed in decades.\n\n**⚙️ Our Solution**\n\nPhotonium is building the electronic design automation (semiconductor EDA) for optics. We work with complex optical setups across industries and handle the entire design process — from system generation and optimization to simulation, tolerancing, and sourcing.\n\nPhotonium enables companies to:\n\n* Generate and optimize designs from product specs\n* Predict tolerance impacts without slow simulations\n* Recommend data-driven alignment and manufacturing tweaks\n* Optimize for cost, size, and performance trade-offs\n* Seamlessly integrate with existing CAD workflows and optics simulation tools\n* Automate the full design-to-sourcing pipeline\n\n[Launch Video](https://youtu.be/YvX3Xr2_Gt8)\n\n**🚀 The Team**\n\nJennifer studied physics, math, and CS at Harvard and built quantum optics experiments across Harvard, Stanford, and QuEra (a Google-backed quantum computing startup).\n\nAdam studied computational physics at Stanford, and worked on plasma simulation for fusion and large-scale astrophysical modeling of black holes.\n\nWe’ve both felt the pain of inefficient engineering design firsthand — and built Photonium to fix it.\n\n⚛️ **Why This Matters**\n\nOptical systems are foundational to cutting-edge technologies, from quantum computing to semiconductor fabrication. Yet, outdated tools and fragmented workflows slow innovation and inflate costs. We hope to eliminate these bottlenecks and accelerate innovation across industries.\n\n📣 **Our Ask**\n\nIf you know anyone working with lasers and optics in any context, we’d love to chat! Contact us at [founders@photonium.ai](mailto:founders@photonium.ai)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90808&key=user_uploads/2467765/c27811f3-aa01-4860-9682-d3136973df3e)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Nce-photonium-ai-accelerated-optical-design-automation", "votes": 51, "created_at": "2025-05-28T19:10:45.827Z" } ] }, { "id": 30502, "name": "NODI Energy", "slug": "nodi-energy", "former_names": [ "PowerMatrix" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a4a4e15d9d456412939a83c9d998aaeedade968a.png", "website": "https://www.nodienergy.com", "all_locations": "London, England, United Kingdom", "long_description": "NODI Energy is building distributed energy infrastructure to rewire the grid. \r\n\r\nWe deploy and aggregate batteries at the edge and orchestrate them as distributed nodes, providing locational flexibility to the rigid grid — relieving congestion and unlocking capacity at constrained locations, so data centers can connect in weeks instead of waiting decades for reinforcement.", "one_liner": "Distributed energy infrastructure unlocking grid power to data centers", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Energy", "launched_at": 1748546232, "tags": [ "Energy Storage", "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Energy", "Electronics" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Energy" ], "regions": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nodi-energy", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2025/nodi-energy.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "London", "country": "GB", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/pwrmx", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a4a4e15d9d456412939a83c9d998aaeedade968a.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Nicolas Dessaigne", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/nicolas-dessaigne" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2116203, "full_name": "Borong Hu", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I have been working on power electronics for over ten years and have extensive experience in R&D, manufacturing, and business in electronics engineering area.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/boronghu/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4c9eaf5c1c126122c529977520f01fba9c208a2a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 110609, "title": "NODI Energy - Distributed Energy Infrastructure to Rewire the Grid", "tagline": "Making the grid flexible to unlock GW power, enabling on-grid interconnection for data centers", "body": "Hi everyone 👋! We're [Borong](https://uk.linkedin.com/in/boronghu) and [Catherine](https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathjeong/), co-founders of NODI Energy!\n\n**TL; DR:**\n\nNODI is building distributed energy infrastructure to rewire the grid. We are deploying and aggregating batteries at the edge. All these distributed nodes are orchestrated to make the existing rigid grid more flexible, reducing grid congestion and unlocking more capacity at specific constrained locations. So data centers can get **_on-grid_** connection in weeks instead of waiting on grid reinforcement for decades. ⚡ ️ **Gigawatts unlockable on the way!**\n\nLaunch video: \n\n### **Problem**\n\nThe existing power grid was built for the fossil-fuel era, not for tomorrow’s economy. It’s too rigid to deliver power to the right place at the right time.\n\n* 2,000 GW of projects, including data centers, sit stalled in grid connection queues, waiting up to 15 years.\n* 200 TWh of renewable energy was curtailed last year, with several countries dumping over 20% of their generation.\n* Over 1,000 GW of capacity could potentially be unlocked from the existing network, only if the grid is flexible enough.\n\n### **Solution**\n\nWe are building a vertically integrated engine to create a flexible grid. Three layers: \n\n* **Hardware:** originating from the edge, we deploy our own plug-in batteries and aggregate energy assets from third parties.\n* **Software:** orchestrating and operating as these distributed nodes to enable real-time locational flexibility in the grid.\n* **Intelligence:** modeling the grid from edge data, reducing grid congestion, and delivering capacity at the right time and place.\n\n### **It’s giving main character energy**🌟\n\nResults in 6 months:\n\n* 2,000 plug-in batteries on the way, per month!\n* Onboarding >1 GW of batteries in 2026.\n* Secured a pipeline to aggregate 10 GW of assets in 2027.\n* Soon to be one of the largest multinational VPPs.\n\n### **Team**\n\nBorong Hu, PhD in power electronics from Warwick and postdoc at Cambridge University, with 60+ papers, IEEE awards, and government grant funding. Built power conversion systems for AI data centers and one of the world's largest offshore wind turbines. Led R&D collaborations with world-leading industrial partners.\n\nCatherine Jeong, Second-time industrial tech founder with a decade of experience across energy, climate investment, and policy. Holds a BA in Political Science from Brown University and an MSc in Climate Innovation from London School of Economics. Former NCAA Division I fencer, now taking a stab at the grid.\n\n\\\n**Ask**\n\n* **Project developers,** stuck in a connection queue in US, GB, Netherlands, Germany, and Ireland, looking for a demand-side answer. Tell us what a year of delay costs you.\n* **Network operators,** who want to know LV visibility and constraints.\n* **Utilities and energy suppliers,** who need predictable behind-the-meter capacity they can count on\n* **Households and small businesses in urban areas who** think electricity bills are too expensive. \n* Hiring ambitious talent to join the Power Team. \n* Intros to any of the above.\n\nContact: info@nodienergy.com\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=110609&key=user_uploads/2116203/c3942998-0111-4265-9f36-cd3da7b0ba75)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Sm1-nodi-energy-distributed-energy-infrastructure-to-rewire-the-grid", "votes": 8, "created_at": "2026-08-14T22:20:32.941Z" }, { "id": 90889, "title": "PowerMatrix: Efficient and Compact Power Supply for AI Hardware", "tagline": "Efficient and compact power supply for GPU and data centers to save 50% energy", "body": "**TL;DR**\n\nPowerMatrix delivers highly efficient and compact power supplies for cutting-edge applications—from GPUs and data centers to drones, EVs, and aerospace. Based on proprietary technologies, our power supply systems can reduce energy loss by up to 50%. We’ve built working prototypes and are piloting with world-leading partners.\n\n# **The Problem**\n\nAI computing heavily relies on data centers where every watt of electricity is processed and converted by multiple stages of power supplies—from the power grid to processors.\n\nCurrently power supply solutions face significant challenges:\n\n* **Inefficiency:** Data centers consume 5% - 10% of global electricity, while 20% of that (100TWh) is wasted on power supplies.\n* **Size Constraints:** Power supply is given very limited space in server trays and on GPU board surface but required to provide much higher power.\n* **Performance Gaps:** It is required to provide a voltage conversion ratio over 100 and provide 1A/ns dynamics for robust operation of future advanced AI computing processors.\n\n# Our Solution\n\nBased on proprietary technologies, we provide the reverlutionary **single-stage vertical power delivery solution:**\n\n* **Single Stage:** directly convert high voltage to <1V low voltage, eliminating inefficiencies multiple stage power conversion chains.\n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90889&key=user_uploads/2116203/943302c9-5ff6-4189-8cd3-47d80cd3b6d0)\n\n* **Vertical Power Delivery:** minimize power transfer loop, locating directly underneath computing chips.\n\n ![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90889&key=user_uploads/2116203/a4ce171d-72bb-4bfe-b640-23d7eb2db1d6)\n\n\nResults vs. incumbents:\n\n* **80%** smaller form factor\n* **50%** less energy wasted\n* **10×** faster dynamic response\n\nDeploying our modules can save customers **$10 B** annually, cut **30 TWh** of electricity waste, and avoid **100 Mt** of CO₂ emissions each year.\n\n# Team\n\nWe have more than ten years of experience in power electronics and are dedicated to solve the most challenging tasks in this area.\n\nBorong did a Postdoc at the University of Cambridge and got his PhD in power electronics from the University of Warwick. He has extensive experience in research: he published 60 papers that got 650 citations and received the IEEE ECCE William Portnoy Award. He also worked on a power converter for the largest wind turbine at GE, and led a team at Bitmain, a bitcoin miner, to develop a new power supply.\n\nXufu got his PhD in power electronics from the University of Cambridge. He received the Semikron Danfoss Young Engineer Award in 2025, the Trinity Bradfield Prize Award in 2025, and First Place Award of the IEEE ECCE Best Student Project Demonstration in 2023. He also published 15 papers on power electronics that have 41 citations.\n\n# Our Ask\n\nIf you’re building AI hardware, data-center infrastructure, or next-gen power-electronics, let’s connect! [info@pwrmatrix.com](mailto:info@pwrmatrix.com)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90889&key=user_uploads/2116203/a8103e69-94a4-451c-9bbd-7f740349c937)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ndx-powermatrix-efficient-and-compact-power-supply-for-ai-hardware", "votes": 20, "created_at": "2025-05-30T19:03:39.513Z" } ] }, { "id": 30509, "name": "Boost Robotics", "slug": "boost-robotics", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4ab11f23c518bbbd560df743f85f60218829e65f.png", "website": "https://www.boostrobotics.ai", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "Boost Robotics is building autonomous mobile manipulation robots to remotely perform manual tasks in data centers. \r\n\r\nThe surge in AI applications is pushing data centers to scale faster than they can manage, leading to suboptimal operations and staffing shortages amid rising power and compute demands.\r\n\r\nWe save data centers millions in insurance premiums and SLA violations by increasing the frequency of inspection and maintenance while reducing the time it takes to triage and address failures.", "one_liner": "Robots for the inspection and maintenance of data centers", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1748984174, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Infrastructure", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "We met as engineering school freshmen at Carnegie Mellon University in 2015, when we both joined the same competitive Bhangra dance team. Over the next 10 years, we have lived together, performed and won awards at Bhangra competitions, worked together in school projects, and both received separate robotics Master’s degrees from CMU’s Robotics Institute. In every context we have worked together, we have found ways to grow, overcome challenges, and succeed. We’re excited to take the next step with this venture." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/boost-robotics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2025/boost-robotics.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/company/boost-robotics", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4ab11f23c518bbbd560df743f85f60218829e65f.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/3e373405fcdb24fc612d085c8d27845b37501b94.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 973181, "full_name": "Hardik Singh", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder @ Boost Robotics.\n\nMS in Robotic Systems Development @ CMU Robotics Institute. Commencement speaker at CMU SCS Masters Ceremony.\n\nI've worked on nearly every robot you can think of: autonomous drones, rovers, tractors, hexapods, quadrupeds, and robot arms - both cobot and industrial.\n\nRobots are hard. Building a talented team greater than the sum of its parts is the only way to do it.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardiksingh", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a81e9e30f870f18ad982d9ab996528d35300c310.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2564407, "full_name": "Hans Kumar", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder at Boost Robotics. Previously at Boston Dynamics and Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute. Eagles fan and Taco Bell fan.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumarhans/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/085ccf5a8fc02e387262789439bdd65ac582ed38.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 91007, "title": "Boost Robotics - Robots for the inspection and maintenance of data centers", "tagline": "Physical Agents for Digital Infrastructure", "body": "Hello!\n\nWe are [Hans](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumarhans) and [Hardik](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardiksingh) - longtime friends and co-founders of Boost Robotics.\n\n**TL;DR**\n\nBoost Robotics builds autonomous mobile manipulation robots that can inspect and physically interact with data center infrastructure.\n\nInstead of dispatching technicians for every cable check, reboot, or hardware swap, data centers can now triage and resolve issues through “robot remote hands”. When not performing interventions, the robots continuously provide 24/7 security monitoring and operational analytics.\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVqbUd1crU0\n\n🚨 **The Problem**\n\nAs AI infrastructure continues to scale up, data center physical operations are becoming increasingly difficult:\n\n* **Growth bottleneck:** AI demand is scaling faster than the operational capacity to support it.\n* **Increasingly Remote Locations:** Data centers are being built near cheaper power sources in sparsely populated areas—often with limited access to skilled labor.\n* **Competition:** Hyperscalers are looking for every possible edge. Downtime means SLA violations and lost revenue.\n* **Hazardous Environments:** Maintenance involves high-voltage power and toxic liquid coolants.\n\nNow more than ever, robots are gaining the dexterity and generality to solve these critical problems.\n\n🤖 **The Solution**\n\nWe are building a general purpose robot to handle a variety of use cases in data centers. \n\n* Predict, find, and solve issues faster, even when you’re not physically on-site. \n* Enable one skilled technician to debug multiple issues across multiple sites through context-aware teleoperation, and eventually autonomy.\n* Provide 24/7 security monitoring and inventory management, simplifying compliance and financial audits while collecting data for your data center digital twin models.\n\n**Early Renderings of our Robot**\n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfjbzl61UaeLu1lIocEDGGwIyFhxHWCF9OIaKZb85nQ4MS-muTqxZDodGZE1IyiKbf8Ryo1f5n_tcic5oV284i0IvnG_4D1V3X2lxolzUC32Nrc4yeRF1uAHrxs71tU3NEnXoT-2g?key=m-hLuOQB66mOy66_Sg1ptQ)\n\n**Bi-Manual Teleoperation of the Manipulation Subsystem**\n\n![](https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdqZfjtJGw48PJmg0KUnARoJVCpa29xC7wyK_3JTD7SuCact7vXgAA9csNhLUSKxNknFKbE9xTIsr6Uk5qwVUXSLJdd2QuRUt8EiSbtaFKRofi4p9PJVw8_jp8WkYIMcyr5GwXk?key=m-hLuOQB66mOy66_Sg1ptQ)\n\n# **👥 The Team**\n\nWe met as engineering school freshmen at Carnegie Mellon University in 2015, when we both joined the same competitive Bhangra dance team. Over the next 10 years, we lived together, worked together in school projects, and both received Master’s degrees from CMU’s Robotics Institute. We always knew we would start a company together.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=91007&key=user_uploads/2564407/f3defc57-762e-47f4-9bfa-4a346913346b)\n\nHardik was previously robotics team lead at an agtech startup where he pivoted the team to a new product and made sales within 1 month. He was selected as commencement speaker for the CMU School of Computer Science Masters ceremony by his professors in recognition of his leadership.\n\nHans was previously a Staff Software Engineer at Boston Dynamics, where he worked on productizing computer vision algorithms for the Spot inspection robot. Before that, he built GPS-denied drone autonomy at a startup and conducted legged robotics research at CMU’s Robotics Institute.\n\n**Our Ask**\n\nWe're actively seeking forward-thinking data centers to pilot our autonomous robotics platform at their facilities. \n\nReach out to us at [**founders@boostrobotics.ai**](mailto:founders@boostrobotics.ai) — let’s shape the future of data center operations together.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=91007&key=user_uploads/2564407/6f2eb4dc-5340-46dc-a264-fdf00f57c8ce)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Nfr-boost-robotics-robots-for-the-inspection-and-maintenance-of-data-centers", "votes": 73, "created_at": "2025-06-04T02:59:25.110Z" } ] }, { "id": 30510, "name": "Cactus Compute", "slug": "cactus-compute", "former_names": [ "Cactus" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/38edcfba2831cce5f05a5da045992ae4f758e655.png", "website": "https://www.cactuscompute.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "On-device AI for phones, wearables, smart home and small robots. ", "one_liner": "Automation Foundation Models For Tiny Devices", "team_size": 8, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1752189935, "tags": [ "Developer Tools", "Hard Tech", "Open Source", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "We met through YC co-founder matching in London four years ago!" } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/cactus-compute", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2025/cactus-compute.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/cactus-compute/", "x_url": "https://x.com/cactuscompute", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/cactus-compute", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/38edcfba2831cce5f05a5da045992ae4f758e655.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/6676c889601b8d2af6994b7f717feaa936baf6d7.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Andrew Miklas", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/andrew-miklas" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1131467, "full_name": "Roman Shemet", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Former quant & economist with a background in product and data engineering. Pilot, triathlete, chess enthusiast. Working on mobile inference @ Cactus.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/roman-shemet/", "x_url": "https://x.com/romanshemet", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1991f894485f13d07f1c9e71688c42ddf1c63296.jpg" }, { "user_id": 901131, "full_name": "Henry Ndubuaku", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Author of \"Maths, CS & AI Compendium\"", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/henry-ndubuaku-7b6350b8", "x_url": "https://x.com/Henry_Ndubuaku", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/979686e7135b71cdb313d9af81830f6052dd572b.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Whistle: Speech to Text in 16.9 MB", "url": "https://cactuscompute.com/blog/whistle", "date": "Oct 01, 2026" }, { "title": "Needle 3: 8-29 MB foundation model for tiny devices ", "url": "https://cactuscompute.com/needle", "date": "Sep 15, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 92059, "title": "Cactus 🌵: Deploy AI models locally on smartphones", "tagline": "Cross-platform open-source framework for deploying LLMs, VLMs, Embedding, and other models locally in your apps.", "body": "# TL;DR\n\nDeploy AI models locally, privately, and offline in any app using Cactus. Cactus is a blazing-fast inference engine optimized for smartphones and comes with React Native, Flutter, and Kotlin bindings.\n\nhttps://youtu.be/xwKrmYkJZD8\n\n# Our framework:\n\nCactus is a cross-platform & open-source framework for doing inference on smartphones, wearables, and other low power devices. It supports any LLM or VLM available on HuggingFace directly.\n\nThe recently released Google AI Edge and Apple Foundation Frameworks are platform-specific and primarily support specific models from the companies.\n\nTo this end, Cactus:\n\n* Is available in Flutter and React-Native for cross-platform developers, since most apps are built with these today.\n* Supports any GGUF model you can find on Huggingface; Qwen, Gemma, Llama, DeepSeek, Phi, Mistral, SmolLM, SmolVLM, InternVLM, Jan Nano etc.\n* Accommodates from FP32 to as low as 2-bit quantized models, for better\n\n efficiency and less device strain.\n* Have MCP tool-calls to make models performant, truly helpful (set reminder, gallery search, reply messages) and more.\n* Fallback to big cloud models for complex, constrained or large-context tasks, ensuring robustness and high availability.\n\nSo far, our customers have built:\n\n* Personalised and private RAG and prompt-enhancement pipelines for their app users.\n* Offline fallback for the big remote AI models.\n* Phone tool use agents like gallery & calendar management.\n* AI for medical and other privacy-pertinent industries.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92059&key=user_uploads/1131467/bd9fc810-5239-41b7-90ac-bf6d1686bb3c)\n\n# Some demos:\n\n**LLMs and embedding models**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92059&key=user_uploads/1131467/0f36edcb-6e65-408f-b30b-a920b37a0aa0)\n\n**Real-time vision inference**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92059&key=user_uploads/1131467/24403145-da55-4c01-ad60-8472f49b439d)\n\nTell us how we can make it great!\n\nRepo: https://github.com/cactus-compute/cactus \\\nDiscord: https://discord.gg/nPGWGxXSwr", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Nwp-cactus-deploy-ai-models-locally-on-smartphones", "votes": 41, "created_at": "2025-07-11T19:13:56.052Z" } ] }, { "id": 30556, "name": "Cascade Space", "slug": "cascade-space", "former_names": [ "Heliosphere Network Corporation" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/36e55270dbc5bebe580db836e83f643f2121440a.png", "website": "https://cascadespace.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Cascade Space is building the commercial alternative to the Deep Space Network. Our first ground station, Earth Station Zero, will be online and downlinking data from the Moon in 2026, with plans to scale to a full global network by 2028.", "one_liner": "Commercial alternative to the Deep Space Network", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1746647881, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "SaaS", "Aerospace", "Industrial" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/cascade-space", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2025/cascade-space.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/cascade-space/", "x_url": "https://x.com/cascade_space", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/36e55270dbc5bebe580db836e83f643f2121440a.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 222992, "full_name": "Jacob Portukalian", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Cascade was founded by Jacob Portukalian, architect of comms systems at SpaceX, Tyvak, and Astra. He has assembled a team of elite space engineers to scale communications infrastructure for the next generation of space exploration companies.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-portukalian", "x_url": "https://x.com/jportukalian", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ec0d743fbdca8073e2272c94f64f25dc2b4502bc.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2222230, "full_name": "Arlen Abraham", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Arlen is a deep generalist who thrives at the interfaces between hardware, software/firmware, product, and business. He brings a wealth of technical and leadership experience, not only from the aerospace industry, but also from consumer goods, communications, and energy.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/arlenabraham/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/33d4c97f7c373e420260fa770b8870398e382c7e.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 94460, "title": "Senior Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/cascade-space/jobs/oD1pldv-senior-mechanical-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$150 - $190", "equity_range": "", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 96236, "title": "Cascade Designer - Spacecraft communication system design software", "tagline": "Elite company tools designed for tiny teams", "body": "https://youtu.be/cPNXStE7LcE\n\nCascade Space was founded to build the ground station company of the future. But lack of large dishes is not the only thing broken about space communications, so are the design tools. \n\nIndustry standard spreadsheets are painful to build and maintain and error prone, but they can at least get you started. That said, they completely break down once you need to predict how your spacecraft will perform in real world dynamic environments, analyzing multiple variations of a system, or sharing and keeping the design updated across teams.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=96236&key=user_uploads/222992/5bdf36f9-9f71-4796-9f12-ecbeba37d8c4)\n\nEvery space company eventually starts to build internal tooling to parse 3D antenna patterns and scripts to evaluate link performance over given flight trajectories. This is usually unplanned work done by RF engineers that takes months to get even a rudimentary implementation up and running. This software is very bespoke and often brittle, and makes the tight timelines of early stage companies even tighter.\n\nAcross the industry this work gets duplicated over, and over, and over. \n\n**Enter Cascade Designer**. The pipeline is already built. Start by designing your system in a graphical interface, get your link margin with a single button click. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=96236&key=user_uploads/222992/7e4a5642-dc70-4093-a7d5-5a2b1802cda3)\n\nNext, analyze entire trajectories with a single API call. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=96236&key=user_uploads/222992/980c9907-784c-4861-8758-b6341afd2721)\n\nDesigns can be shared with anyone on your team through our interface\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=96236&key=user_uploads/222992/bec0b967-999c-4089-849f-d0c547431498)\n\nWe built this out because the customers of the best ground network need the best design tools, but we didn’t just build this for our ground station customers. Anyone designing a spacecraft for any orbit using any ground station can use it. \n\nVisit our website to learn more and book your demo: https://cascade.space/designer/", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/P2C-cascade-designer-spacecraft-communication-system-design-software", "votes": 18, "created_at": "2025-12-16T12:01:40.937Z" }, { "id": 90423, "title": "Cascade Space - Deep space communications as a service", "tagline": "Your next lunar mission just got easier!", "body": "# tl;dr\n\nCascade Space is building a turn-key communications system for lunar and deep space missions. Our ground station network and integrated software tools work together to maximize uptime and availability, while reducing spacecraft iteration cycles from weeks to hours. \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90423&key=user_uploads/222992/7b3a56ce-8dc0-48db-a2e5-3badb2afd893)\n\n**Why are we building this and why now?**\n\nThe Deep Space Network (DSN), NASA’s global network of ground terminals for communicating with deep space probes, is [oversubscribed by 40% and in desperate need of upgrades.](https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2024/09/02/nasas-deep-space-network-challenges-and-the-road-ahead/) The DSN is all but unavailable for most commercial operations. Companies with missions going to the Moon and beyond have to deal with a patchwork of individual dish operators for every mission, each with bespoke hardware, specs, and interfaces. Furthermore, many of these commercial providers are not able to handle the demand and [operational failures also can lead to loss of mission](https://www.astroforge.com/updates-collection/odint-mission-debrief).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90423&key=user_uploads/222992/c6aa8968-e567-42e5-8866-866414630f22)\n\n**Comms system design is fraught with peril**\n\nThe spacecraft comms system design is tightly coupled to the available ground network. Engineers spend hundreds of hours poring over datasheets, on the phone with vendors and suppliers, and endless email threads, only to put all this data into a giant spreadsheet to make sense of it. Every iteration requires not only painful attention to detail, but also in-depth esoteric knowledge of how radio frequency systems and channel coding schemes work in order to accurately predict in-flight performance. Simple misunderstandings can lead to catastrophic errors in design and configuration.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90423&key=user_uploads/222992/1623d16f-4789-4793-892f-2c7adffc84a7)\n\n**End-to-end comms system validation often doesn’t happen**\n\nFully integrated testing between the spacecraft and ground terminal is typically cost prohibitive. Instead, engineers compare spec sheets and email configurations to the ground operators, and hope it works in flight (spoiler alert: it often doesn’t). It is routine for spacecraft to fly having never done an end-to-end test of their system with ground terminal representative hardware. The whole process is subject to human error from end to end. \n\n**This approach to space communications does not scale**\n\nCommercial space ventures beyond low earth orbit have already pushed existing infrastructure to its breaking point, and demand for deep space comms support is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade. We will not have a spacefaring future for humanity until communications for spacecraft become as easy as signing up for cable internet. \n\n**We are redefining the process, starting with spacecraft design**\n\nBetter comms starts at the beginning, in the early trade study and design phase. We are replacing industry-standard spreadsheets with a modern software tool that lets you see how your system will perform with our ground network in real time.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90423&key=user_uploads/222992/4873c5a0-9288-48fe-8d2e-a3a32f3fcad0)\n\n**Test as you fly, fly as you test**\n\nYou don’t rise to the level of your expectations, you fall to the level of your testing. We ship you a “ground station in a box,” identical to hardware we’ve installed at the ground stations you will be using, and provide you with a test plan that you can use to test your entire system end to end, with both the space vehicle and the ground terminal in the loop. \n\n**Launch with confidence**\n\nFly and operate your spacecraft. Use our API to schedule passes on our network, track your spacecraft, stream data, monitor the ground site, and access recordings.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90423&key=user_uploads/222992/2b01ca98-b6d7-4f8b-9af5-5b93b0613ef0)\n\n**We are rolling out our preliminary network rapidly**\n\nWe start by partnering with owners of dishes that are currently unused for any other telemetry applications. This allows us to build out the product and acquire customers with a minimal amount of capital. As we build out the network, we will further expand our network by strategically building our own ground stations in key locations. Our first downlink only ground stations are expected to come online in 2025, with more to follow in 2026.\n\n**We are passionate about your mission success**\n\n[Jacob](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/company/30556) and [Arlen](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/2222230) have solved many of these exact problems at company level scales in previous roles. Jacob was RF system architect at SpaceX and Arlen has built complex hardware/software systems his entire career. Collectively they have spent hundreds of hours in mission control, many of those hours dealing with anomalies and outright failures. They are both passionate about building the culture of excellence at Cascade that is required for flawless mission execution.\n\n**If you are struggling with comms for your upcoming mission, drop us a line. We can help.**\n\nhttps://cascade.space/", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/NWR-cascade-space-deep-space-communications-as-a-service", "votes": 84, "created_at": "2025-05-15T14:54:19.097Z" } ] }, { "id": 30559, "name": "Godela", "slug": "godela", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fe1589548b774d33ca4f20c5020467a9627f9c13.png", "website": "http://godela.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "What if every experiment you wanted to run could be modeled using AI? \r\nGodela is an AI-powered physics engine that gives engineers faster, cheaper replacement to simulations and physical prototypes.\r\nNo set up, no wait. Just ask—and get simulation quality result.\r\n", "one_liner": "AI Physics Engine to replace simulations and prototypes", "team_size": 10, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1747413596, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Aerospace", "AI", "ML" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?", "answer": "Engineers and scientists rely on simulations and physical testing to understand how the world works. Today, those tools are slow, expensive, and fragmented. \r\n\r\nRunning a single simulation can take hours to days. Building physical prototypes takes weeks to months. Every domain—from fluid dynamics to thermal modeling—requires different solvers, different experts, and perfect setups. This creates massive bottlenecks in innovation. We’re building AI that turns engineering questions into instant, physics-based models. No solvers. No bottlenecks." }, { "question": "What is your long-term vision? If you truly succeed, what will be different about the world?", "answer": "The next wave of breakthroughs will come from AI that deeply understands physics, not just text.\r\n\r\nWe’re building Godela to give humanity the power to instantly model, explore, and invent across the physical world. Imagine being able to instantly test any idea, uncover hidden relationships, and accelerate discovery at the speed of thought." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/godela", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2025/godela.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/godela-ai", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fe1589548b774d33ca4f20c5020467a9627f9c13.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1725296, "full_name": "Cinnamon Sipper", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Built laptops and iPads at Apple. Built AI products for Google. Now building Godela—AI that models the physical world, for engineers and scientists everywhere.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/cinnamonsipper", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/570e39102fe604a6a07c24ff01576933926b0869.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2549090, "full_name": "Abhijit Pranav Pamarty", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Researched physics-driven optimization at Harvard and generative models for fluid mechanics at Stanford. Built surrogate models for semiconductor manufacturing at Intel. Now building Godela - giving engineers and scientists their own AI model for physics.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhijit-pranav-pamarty-6b2453152/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5d4db953f29142244b996d150241a0b4753b00b9.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 82147, "title": "Founding Engineer (ML Systems) – Godela", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/godela/jobs/6MlUqiS-founding-engineer-ml-systems-godela", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 1.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "ML", "Python", "CUDA" ] }, { "id": 82354, "title": "Founding Simulation Engineer – Godela", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/godela/jobs/vWajfU5-founding-simulation-engineer-godela", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.08% - 1.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 82749, "title": "Founding Engineer (SWE) – Godela", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/godela/jobs/rKMZtYt-founding-engineer-swe-godela", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$120K - $180K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 1.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [ "ML" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Three Big Projects That Win The AI Prize In Silicon Valley", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwerner/2025/09/19/three-big-projects-that-win-the-ai-prize-in-silicon-valley/", "date": "Sep 25, 2025" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 90799, "title": "Godela: AI Powered Physics Engine for Engineers", "tagline": "Bringing AI powered intelligence to the physical world", "body": "**AI powered physics is the next frontier**\n\n**TL;DR:** Godela is an AI-powered physics engine that gives engineers faster, cheaper, simulation-quality answers to even the most complicated engineering problems.\n\nHi YC—we’re @Cinnamon Sipper and @Abhijit Pamarty, former engineers at Apple, Google, and Intel, now turning our Stanford research into the future of engineering.\n\nhttps://youtu.be/I5E1Zi9cpM4\n\n**The Problem: Engineering Discovery is Too Slow.** Every groundbreaking innovation—from fusion reactors to life-saving drugs—hinges on understanding how the physical world works. Yet, engineers spend agonizing weeks, even months, wrestling with complex simulations, preprocessing data, and manually tuning parameters just to answer _one_ question. Many critical questions go unasked because the effort is too great.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90799&key=user_uploads/1725296/03894dba-703c-4a25-a00b-b1ba24b27392)\n\n**Our Vision: Ask About the Physical World as Easily as You Use Language.** Imagine a world where understanding the implications of a new design, material, or physical scenario is as instant as a search query. That’s the future Godela is building.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90799&key=user_uploads/1725296/b7ae00e6-d8ea-4354-a110-233a65568e0f)\n\n**Introducing Godela: Your AI Copilot for Engineering.** Godela is an AI-native platform that transforms your engineering questions into computable, physics-informed models—instantly.\n\n* **Ask Anything:** Pose complex questions in natural language or with your existing data.\n* **Upload Your World:** Integrate CAD files, experimental results, or existing simulation data.\n* **Get Instant Insights:** Receive actionable, simulation-quality models you can explore, refine, and iterate on immediately.\n\nInstead of replacing simulations, Godela becomes their intelligent, adaptive home—blending diverse data sources with AI to provide insights that were previously out of reach or would take weeks to uncover.\n\n**Why We’re Building This:** As engineers who’ve designed everything from chips and laptops to particle accelerators, we’ve lived the frustration of slow design-simulation loops. Inspired by how AI revolutionized access to information (like ChatGPT for language), we believe it’s time for the same leap in understanding the physical world.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=90799&key=user_uploads/1725296/308937e8-b076-46b9-a432-39585f6ea464)\n\n**Partner with Us:** We're looking for forward-thinking engineering teams eager to break free from traditional simulation constraints. If you know engineers battling simulation bottlenecks, send them our way!\n\nIf you want to accelerate your design cycles and unlock new levels of understanding:\n\n🌐 Visit: [www.godela.ai](http://www.godela.ai) \n\n✉️ Email us: [founders@godela.ai](mailto:founders@godela.ai) \n\n🗣️ Talk to us: https://calendly.com/cinnamon-sipper", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/NcV-godela-ai-powered-physics-engine-for-engineers", "votes": 129, "created_at": "2025-05-28T13:50:39.357Z" } ] }, { "id": 30672, "name": "Induction Labs", "slug": "induction-labs", "former_names": [ "Next Action" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0c2f926be6434de6b8c75a3a873f2b79fe0bdf59.png", "website": "https://inductionlabs.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We are scaling foundation models that are curious about the world.\r\n\r\nWe’ve seen general intelligence appear exactly once, and its hallmark has been curiosity: a dissatisfaction with what we already know about the world, an ability to learn from world experience, and a disposition to share knowledge with other individuals. Across generations, these human traits have built modern science, technology, and culture.\r\n\r\nWe think superintelligence will come from models that work the same way: learning from their own observation, updating as they go, growing what they know. These models will start from what humanity knows and discover past us.\r\n\r\nWe believe that scaling curious intelligence is a defining problem of our time. If solved, we will live to see a new era of technological advances, scientific understanding, and human flourishing.", "one_liner": "Building intellectually curious AI", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Infrastructure", "launched_at": 1755632182, "tags": [ "Deep Learning", "Hard Tech", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Infrastructure" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/induction-labs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/induction-labs.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/induction-labs", "x_url": "https://x.com/induction_labs", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0c2f926be6434de6b8c75a3a873f2b79fe0bdf59.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Harj Taggar", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/harj-taggar" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2757445, "full_name": "Jonathan Li", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Building foundation models of the future @ Induction Labs", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonatli/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/90c27a353548d1b9ce21de3e22843a28c5df654f.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3212248, "full_name": "David Li", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Building foundation models of the future @ Induction Labs", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidy-li/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fdfa320022a46b1bbdfc1ec63b6c4ca91cab0451.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 107033, "title": "Induction Labs - foundation models that learn from observation", "tagline": "Unlocking scalable video pretraining with imagination models", "body": "**TL;DR: We're Induction Labs, and today we're announcing research we've been working on: imagination models, a foundation model architecture that unlocks scalable learning from internet video. Our first model, Photon-1, beats a production LLM on internal computer use benchmarks with 30x less training compute, at 3x lower serving cost. \\[[Main Article](https://inductionlabs.com/news/scaling-video-pretraining)\\]**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=107033&key=user_uploads/2757445/94f0365c-7de2-4792-ad4e-a8362f27c233)\n\nInternet video contains millions of hours of people using computers, doing skilled work, and interacting with the world.\n\nImagination models can scalably learn from this video to get better at completing tasks and understanding the world.\n\nWe tested the architecture with Photon-1, a 106B-A5B MoE transformer pretrained on 18 years of computer screen recordings.\n\n**Some Results:**\n\n* **Outperforms a production LLM (Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite) on our internal computer use benchmarks**, with 30x less pretraining compute and 3x cheaper inference.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=107033&key=user_uploads/2757445/7e217b7a-bbf0-40b0-a160-94855bbf7e90)\n\n* **Simulates full desktop sessions from a single screenshot**: it can imagine VS Code, Gmail, and ChatGPT frame by frame\n* **Generalizes beyond computers**: finetuned, it learns checkers and simulates billiard physics better than LLM baselines.\n* **Picks up human behavior from video**, like reprompting ChatGPT until it gets what it wants.\n* [**Demos here**](https://inductionlabs.com/news/scaling-video-pretraining)\n\nWe see imagination models as a path to intelligence that learns by observing the world directly, without a human first translating it into text. \n\n**Our Ask**\n\nWe’re working to scale this method to more kinds of video and looking for exceptional people to work with us! If you’re an exceptional thinker, engineer, or researcher (or know anyone who would be a great fit) - shoot us a message at [team@inductionlabs.com](mailto:team@inductionlabs.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/RqL-induction-labs-foundation-models-that-learn-from-observation", "votes": 15, "created_at": "2026-07-23T16:02:32.265Z" } ] }, { "id": 30744, "name": "SigmanticAI", "slug": "sigmanticai", "former_names": [ "BitForge (in process of incorporating as SigmanticAI Inc due to trademark)" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/551c81e2cf1198e6431c7a170e74ee43deff6f61.png", "website": "https://www.sigmanticai.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "SigmanticAI is building an AI-native hardware development assistant that automates the entire RTL design flow, from natural language to synthesizable HDL and testbenches, inside a seamless VSCode fork. Powered by fine-tuned Verilog LLMs, reinforcement learning, and real compiler feedback, SigmanticAI iteratively refines code until it compiles and passes synthesis, no matter how complex the design. It’s like the Cursor for HDL design. \r\n\r\nIn addition to code generation, SigmanticAI can generate token-level annotations and onboarding documents to accelerate ramp-up for new engineers. With support for both cloud and on-prem deployment, it integrates with existing EDA tools to dramatically reduce debug time, improve collaboration, and accelerate hardware design across teams", "one_liner": "The Cursor for Chip Design - Delivering Silicon-Ready Chip Designs…", "team_size": 2, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1752688016, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "B2B", "AI", "AI Assistant" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/sigmanticai", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2025/sigmanticai.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/sigmanticai", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/551c81e2cf1198e6431c7a170e74ee43deff6f61.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/c9b026b6fd12edf22493d5be3a803d35dec493c9.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1546753, "full_name": "Rohil Khare", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I’m Rohil Khare, Co-Founder of SigmanticAI. I studied EECS at UC Berkeley and previously worked at Amazon. In high school, I filed provisional patents in IoT as an early innovator, and since then I’ve worked at multiple startups at the intersection of hardware and machine learning. At Berkeley, I conducted research at BAIR and the Architecture Group, and published at ICRA. Now, at SigmanticAI, I’m building AI-native tooling that accelerates the creation of custom chip designs and silicon.\n\n\n\n\n\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohil-khare/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/0a747020d8797a7663560faf0d3ee7f8f8a38a67.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2407642, "full_name": "Tamzid Razzaque", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I'm Tamzid Razzaque, Co-Founder of SigmanticAI. I studied EECS at UC Berkeley, with a focus on integrating AI applications with custom hardware design. I am continuing this passion at YC. I previously worked at Apple on custom circuits and researched at BWRC and BETR on custom FPGA accelerators.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tamzid-razzaque/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/cdb0ba93640f4645566485e8ec147cbe34380085.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 92212, "title": "SigmanticAI - The Cursor for Hardware Design", "tagline": "Suite of AI Agents and Tools to Accelerate HDL (Hardware Description Language) Design", "body": "Hey YC! We're Tamzid and Rohil from [SigmanticAI](https://www.sigmanticai.com/).\n\n**The Problem with Creating Custom Hardware**\n\n* HDL tooling hasn’t changed much since the '90s: still slow, manual, and fragmented\n* Debugging eats up majority of hardware dev time\n* There's no seamless AI-native experience for building and reasoning about HDL\n\n---\n\n**Our Solution**\n\n_SigmanticAI_. What it can do:\n\n* **Natural language to synthesizable Verilog + testbenches**\n* **RL-driven debugging** loop\n* Built-in **onboarding**, codebase **annotation**, and **spec** documentation **generation**\n* LLM-powered on both **cloud** and **fully air-gapped/on-prem** deployments\n* **Seameless** integration with **VScode** + your **existing synthesis tools** from Cadence, Synopsys, etc.\n\nWe’ve already made a RISCV CPU start to finish with it, onboarded our first paying customer, and are getting 90%+ accuracy on the VerilogEval benchmark (NVIDIA framework)\n\n---\n\n**Demo video\\\n[https://youtu.be/Cq3hpMflIA8](https://youtu.be/Cq3hpMflIA8)**\n\n---\n\n**Asks!**\n\n* We want to talk to:\n * Anyone **working** **with** **FPGAs, custom chips, ML accelerators, or RISC-V** cores\n * Anyone **working in EDA** \n * Anyone **working with fine tuned LLMs for hardware**\n* **Try us out! Thank you!**\n * [https://www.sigmanticai.com](https://www.sigmanticai.com%EF%BF%BC%EF%BF%BC)\n\n**Who We Are**\n\nWe’ve spent years working on both LLMs and hardware. After working at Apple (Tamzid) and Amazon (Rohil) and research in FPGA mapping and LLaMA fine-tuning, we realized the real bottleneck in hardware design is tooling. We’ve built custom CPUs, worked with EDA stacks, and experienced the pain firsthand. Conversations with engineers at Northrop Grumman, SciEngines, and Quadric made it clear: hardware desperately needs a smarter workflow.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92212&key=user_uploads/2407642/74a5aa7d-62e0-47f9-9e95-9bc55e7c49f1)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=92212&key=user_uploads/2407642/85c5143a-36c1-43aa-84ed-eebdfd014498)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/NzI-sigmanticai-the-cursor-for-hardware-design", "votes": 50, "created_at": "2025-07-16T19:05:10.461Z" } ] }, { "id": 30881, "name": "Wardstone", "slug": "wardstone", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/12a498451818daa71ba01c88400ac7f241e33a03.png", "website": "https://www.wardstone.us", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Wardstone builds a low-cost, modular interceptor platform for air and missile defense. Our platform enables the warfighter to right sizes their interceptors against the threat. This allows us to defeat air-breathing and ballistic missile threats at a fraction of the cost of exquisite interceptors, adding affordable magazine depth to existing air defense systems.", "one_liner": "The Modular Interceptor Platform", "team_size": 8, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1758642388, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Satellites", "Rocketry", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/wardstone.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/company/wardstone", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/12a498451818daa71ba01c88400ac7f241e33a03.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/ab81317481142b07105aa808600a4b4749295538.png", "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/4efeb33d5678c6b0ea2ce77889b521cbdc962c8c.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2077453, "full_name": "Sebastian Fischer", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I am the cofounder & CEO of Wardstone, a missile defense company building modular interceptors to defend the U.S. and its allies from air-breathing and ballistic missiles. I have 11+ years of engineering and product experience in satellites, drones, and self-driving cars. I held leadership roles at Amazon Prime Air and Cruise Self-Driving and previously worked at Lockheed Martin and NASA on Planetary Spacecraft. I studied Aerospace Engineering at MIT and did a dual MS/MBA degree at Harvard. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebastian-fischer-71ba9658/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a975f42da11779da4b51eab7d8fee48c2476250c.jpg" }, { "user_id": 736136, "full_name": "Tobias Fischer", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "I am the cofounder of Wardstone, where I lead the technical development of next-generation defense spacecraft. Previously I worked at Astranis, building, launching, and operating geostationary communication satellites. I hold a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. At Cornell, I was the Chief Spacecraft Engineer for a lunar CubeSat mission that demonstrated novel electric propulsion and navigation systems.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobifischer", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2169bbf45e34664f0faded58ac46a6922eee79ba.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 117400, "title": "Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/CFCKb8f-mechanical-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117401, "title": "Senior Propulsion Engineer - Solid Rocket Motors", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/fsF9kpQ-senior-propulsion-engineer-solid-rocket-motors", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117402, "title": "Lead Guidance, Navigation, and Controls Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/Rx9NXGQ-lead-guidance-navigation-and-controls-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117404, "title": "Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/ebmOtW6-engineering-intern", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117406, "title": "Senior RF Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/dGSECYn-senior-rf-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117407, "title": "Lead Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/VWvGVK4-lead-mechanical-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117408, "title": "Senior Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/jr5qBxR-senior-mechanical-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117409, "title": "Senior Aerodynamics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/ucT0UPc-senior-aerodynamics-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117410, "title": "Propulsion Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/0GHovwc-propulsion-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117411, "title": "Technical Program Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/kOxrx3O-technical-program-manager", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117412, "title": "Avionics Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/2Cri5XL-avionics-technician", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117413, "title": "Mechanical Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/QdOCjsL-mechanical-technician", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117414, "title": "Operations and Logistics Associate", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/oD6arcZ-operations-and-logistics-associate", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117415, "title": "Supply Chain Manager", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/adts588-supply-chain-manager", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117416, "title": "Head of Manufacturing", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/nWEQ2kq-head-of-manufacturing", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "5+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117456, "title": "MBA Intern - Missile Defense", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/oD9vGAc-mba-intern-missile-defense", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117457, "title": "Avionics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/wardstone/jobs/vJZ96sk-avionics-engineer", "location": "El Segundo, United States", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95440, "title": "Wardstone: Satellites for Missile Defense", "tagline": "Introducing New Space Defense Capabilities for America's Golden Dome", "body": "# **Introduction**\n\nHi YC,\\\n\\\nWe are [Tobias ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobifischer/)and [Sebastian](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sebafischer/). Cofounders (and brothers!) of [Wardstone](https://www.wardstone.space/).\\\n\\\n**TL;DR:** Wardstone builds satellites for missile defense. We are pursuing an emerging \\~$40B/year space defense market as part of America’s Golden Dome initiative. Tobias studied Mechanical Engineering at Cornell and worked at Astranis. Sebastian studied Aerospace Engineering at MIT and worked at NASA, Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cruise. We built and demoed a live ground-based missile intercept during YC.\n\n# **Launch Video**\n\nCheckout the automated missile defense system we built during YC:\n\nhttps://youtu.be/jXABTM9GZ6s\n\n# **About Wardstone**\n\nWardstone builds space-based interceptors: satellites with interceptors designed to kinetically destroy missiles. New space threats, specifically hypersonic missiles, are emerging as existential threats to the United States. Our current missile defense systems were not designed for this new offensive technology. The United States’ Congress has allocated \\~$25B towards developing new on-orbit hypersonic missile defensive missile capabilities over the next 3 years. Follow on build out of this on-orbit defensive layer coined the _Golden Dome_ has been estimated by congress to cost up to $831B over the next 20 years.\\\n\\\nAt Wardstone, we believe that we can build defensive missile capabilities for a fraction of the cost of the offensive hypersonic weapons themselves, and orders of magnitude cheaper than the defensive concepts being proposed/explored by the major defense primes. We will do this with our first product, Hailstorm, that deploys high speed clouds of buckshot to kinetically destroy hypersonic missiles.\n\nOur integrated interceptor-satellite constellation provides global intercept capabilities from space for various missile types beyond hypersonics. \\\n\\\nThe success of Wardstone and the full deployment of the Golden Dome will place the United States in an incredibly strong geopolitical position.\n\nThe full Wardstone constellation with the space based intercept capability in action will look like this:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/f2a877a7-c23c-438d-8714-5a854930bba2)\n\n# **Our Progress During YC**\n\nDuring YC we had 2 main objectives: 1) build our first missile intercept demo and 2) establish relationships with our main customer: the US Space Force.\\\n\\\n**The Intercept Demo**\\\nWe built a fully automated missile tracking and intercept system that uses infrared computer vision for predicting the future missile position and a high pressure air cannon to deploy an interceptor to destroy a 150+ mph missile. Our system provided repeatable behavior, could adapt to different missile speeds, and destroyed a total of 3 missiles. Checkout he video above for the entire story and insights into our system. Highlights below:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/c1d9b5df-8297-4a8a-aec8-a8529cb805e8)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/4ea3e37d-2172-4627-bd54-67a1f2374fe3)\n\n**Space Force and Other Department of War Relationships**\\\nWe built relationships and engaged with multiple agencies inside the military including: Air Force Research Labs, AFWERX, Space Systems Command Commercialization Office, Space Safari, and the Navy’s Joint Special Operations Command. We are receiving letters of support for an Air Force $3MM Space Based Interceptor SBIR grant and are receiving inbound requests for additional use cases of our technology (Ground to Air, Space to Ground).\\\n\\\nWe have also engaged with five satellite bus and sounding rocket providers to integrate our Space Based Interceptors for our Series A demo milestone.\\\n\\\nIf Space Defense Technology resonates with you, please reach out: [founders@wardstone.space](mailto:founders@wardstone.space).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95440&key=user_uploads/2077453/129abf15-7925-4374-9279-d48e58da1fa2)\n\n---", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/OpM-wardstone-satellites-for-missile-defense", "votes": 25, "created_at": "2025-11-12T06:56:19.257Z" } ] }, { "id": 30923, "name": "Frontier Computing", "slug": "frontier-computing", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a10237e5548f0937c67885cb916abadcaa74cc08.png", "website": "https://frontier.site", "all_locations": "London, England, United Kingdom", "long_description": "Frontier is first to grow biological brains at scale, serving biological neural nets with substrate-level colocation of memory and compute, enabling highly cost effective training of large parameter count models.\r\n\r\nWhile academia has traditionally been limited to ~1M neurons in vitro, Frontier has built a pathway to scale to 100M+ neurons by circumventing traditional scaling challenges in biological culture, demonstrating this strategy's functionality by training a biological brain using this scaling primitive to play Frogger.\r\n\r\nFrontier is now growing exascale compute clusters to produce substrates capable of long-horizon language reasoning while operating at much higher sample efficiencies than traditional architectures, and collocating memory with compute to enable significantly larger parameter counts than would be tractable for training within traditional compute clusters.", "one_liner": "Frontier grows scalable biological brains as an ML training substrate", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1788161513, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United Kingdom", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/frontier-computing", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/frontier-computing.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "London", "country": "GB", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a10237e5548f0937c67885cb916abadcaa74cc08.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Harshita Arora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/harshita-arora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2627752, "full_name": "Michael Domarkas", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "19 y/o growing exascale brains for continual learning\n\nprev growing brains in my bedroom", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-domarkas", "x_url": "https://x.com/MichaelDmrks", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/dbc0487122f2a39f809799e732a7b1e3cb67b540.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 112791, "title": "Frontier Computing – Growing biological brains at scale", "tagline": "We colocate memory with compute in biological tissue, so you can train larger models at lower cost", "body": "TL;DR – We're deploying exascale biocomputing clusters, growing biological systems with memory baked into compute at the substrate level, enabling training of models at parameter counts that would otherwise be inaccessible under traditional GPU architecture-constrained approaches.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112791&key=user_uploads/2627752/445c283b-feb2-4b6b-9d2c-ab2cf60edc7d)\n\nHey all, we're Frontier Computing, and we’re excited to announce that we are growing the first large-scale neuronal tissues for ML training and inference!\n\nFrontier is launching its 500M biological neurone cluster by January 2027, which will be 2500x larger than the next-largest publicly available system in the biocomputing space that companies are currently restricted to building on. \\\n\\\nWe'll continue to launch increasingly larger iterations of our substrate to circumvent the challenges of GPU parallelisation seen in roofline analysis across computation/computation/memory, colocating memory with compute in biological neurones to circumvent the infra problem of GPU networking for model training and inference, enabling inference time training at scale on biocompute, at much lower cost than traditional GPU approaches.\n\n# **❌** The Problem\n\nBiological brain tissue is already being bought and sold, including being trained for a range of tasks from gaming environments to next-token prediction, but the scaling limits of the underlying wetware have acted a fundamental barrier to useful economic output.\n\nAcademia has previously been unable to exceed a \\~1M neurone scale due to \"the vascularisation problem\", where neurones cannot grow past a geometric limit imposed by insufficient oxygen access in cells that are increasingly far away from active supply.\n\n# **✨** Our solution\n\nFrontier has developed a novel neuronal tissue culture approach to engineer large-scale brain systems that exceed traditional scaling limits of neuronal tissue culture.\n\nThis enables us to scale past traditional wetware substrate sizes, supporting much larger biological neural nets with correspondingly greater parameter counts, increasing the complexity of task environments these systems can represent, and using their larger geometric size to provide physically larger surfaces for I/O and informationally rich encode and decode.\n\nWe provide the substrate, interfacing and cloud infrastructure to enable third parties to train on our systems, taking advantage of the inference-time training capacities of biological neurones, the sample efficiency, the capacity to exist in an abstraction layer above backprop, and the opportunity to perform RL on models in excess of sizes that would be traditionally accessible on GPU hardware due to memory bandwidth issues that we circumvent through colocating memory and compute within neuronal tissues.\n\n## **🏆** What we've achieved so far\n\n\\- We have proven out the first scalable culture system for biocompute, and demonstrated its computational capacities by training our system to play the arcade game Frogger\n\n\\- Demonstrated tail-end capabilities in sample efficiency, with 1 hour of real-time learning producing 92% peak cross rate (over a 25-game sample) in our Frogger environment\n\n\\- Raised a 10M pre-seed round to produce early scale up our team and wetlab work, led by General Catalyst with participation from LocalGlobe, Amino Collective, Kaya, Long Journey Ventures, Off Piste Capital, SVA and more angels and firms that we are very excited to have on board\n\n\\- Begun build out of a 100M and a 500M biological neurone system, live EOY 2026\n\n## **🔜** What's next\n\n\\- Demonstrating SOTA task performance of biohybrid models using our larger-scale substrates\n\n\\- Launching our API library to enable our customers to implement their own models and RL environments via our platform\n\n\\- Iterating towards post-neocortex-scale build outs to further enhance computational capacities of biocompute\n\n## **👥** Our Team\n\n[Michael](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-domarkas/), CEO, is a Cambridge Natural Scientist who first learnt programming at 8 through C# Unity game development, competed in maths/chess/bio competitions nationally throughout high school, and has been culturing neuronal tissues for the past two years, starting from $20K USD in grant funding at 17 from Emergent Ventures. He has built the first scalable neuronal culture platform for biocomputation and validated performance via reinforcement learning on this substrate.\n\n## **🙏** Asks\n\nJoin the team! We're hiring across the stack for neurobiologists, RL researchers, electrical engineers, and biochemists, accepting both direct applications and referrals. Feel free to get in touch at the link below:\n\n\n\nIf you're interested in working at the _frontier_ of biocomputing and scaling the fundamental wetware primitives humanity has access to, Frontier Computing is building out the leading platform in the space. We’re looking forward to collaborating with you.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/TLD-frontier-computing-growing-biological-brains-at-scale", "votes": 21, "created_at": "2026-08-31T17:00:00.185Z" } ] }, { "id": 30928, "name": "Darwin", "slug": "darwin", "former_names": [ "Thesis Labs", "Thesis", "Darwin", "Thesis" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/834b16b30c5de79bf9dbcd0a4819289bfa937936.png", "website": "https://darwinrobotics.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Darwin Robotics creates general-purpose robots to build and maintain the machines civilization runs on.\r\n\r\nWe're starting with AI infrastructure, where skilled technicians perform a long tail of physical work across assembly, installation, commissioning, and maintenance. Our robots learn new tasks from demonstrations rather than being explicitly programmed for each workflow.\r\n\r\nFirst deployments are planned for early 2027.", "one_liner": "Robots to build civilization", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1762476616, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Machine Learning", "Robotics", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)", "answer": "We are brothers and have been building things together our whole lives. We grew up in the Caribbean with our mom, obsessed with math and computers. Sergio taught himself calculus from MIT OpenCourseWare at 12, published mathematics as a teenager, and later worked on AI and robotics at Stanford, Nvidia, and Google X. Luigi studied math and CS at Columbia, then co-founded a payments company where he scaled engineering from zero to billions in transaction volume.\r\n\r\nAs kids, we built worlds in Minecraft. Now, we’re building robots." }, { "question": "What is your long-term vision? If you truly succeed, what will be different about the world?", "answer": "We sit at the dawn of a new era in civilization. AI is beginning to solve problems across science and mathematics that were previously impenetrable. Yet this intelligence is still largely confined to the screen.\r\n\r\nWe believe the next frontier is physical. Our goal is embodied artificial general intelligence.\r\n\r\nWhen we succeed, billions of intelligent robots will work alongside humans, performing useful work and expanding what humanity is capable of." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/darwin", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/darwin.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/darwin-robotics-inc", "x_url": "https://x.com/darwin_robotics", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/Darwin-Robotics-Inc", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/834b16b30c5de79bf9dbcd0a4819289bfa937936.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/415cd09f20efd72acec243c4e7b73ccb3b01cd35.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 455353, "full_name": "Sergio Charles", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Robots to build civilization. Prev: AI R&D at Google X, NVIDIA, and Stanford AI Lab, working with Chelsea Finn on autonomous RL for robotics and Andrew Ng on computer vision. Stanford B.S. Math & CS, M.S. Stats.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergio-charles-5a8052134/", "x_url": "https://x.com/eigentopology", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ba455346463b0d6acae18a8bcd3d2bba294bfdb5.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1021038, "full_name": "Luigi Charles", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Building Westworld. Previously founded a fintech payments startup, scaling volume from zero to billions. Columbia CS & Math.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/luigicharles", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ca6e645d2ffabef7f901b4d6e1aec82d02f81657.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 96229, "title": "Member of Technical Staff, AI & Robotics", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/darwin/jobs/R8xvEoc-member-of-technical-staff-ai-robotics", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$120K - $170K", "equity_range": "0.75% - 2.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Git", "Python", "Torch/PyTorch", "Machine Learning", "Deep Learning", "Reinforcement learning (RL)", "CUDA", "Microcontrollers", "Diffusion Models" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95309, "title": "δ Thesis: Building the frontier of AI discovery", "tagline": "Making it possible for researchers anywhere to discover the next Transformer or invent the next AlphaFold.", "body": "Thesis is an applied AI lab accelerating the frontier of AI discovery.\n\nWe're making it possible for researchers anywhere to discover the next Transformer or invent the next AlphaFold.\n\n**Mission**\n\nOur mission is to make state-of-the-art AI discovery 10x faster and 10x cheaper. The big labs are racing to get there, but their need to productize and turn a profit has already weighed them down. Thesis embraces rapid experimentation and novel fundamental research. Our singular focus, outcome-driven mindset, and early results give us confidence that we can get there first.\n\n**Results**\n\nThesis is state-of-the-art on OpenAI’s Machine Learning Engineering benchmark ([MLE-Bench](https://github.com/openai/mle-bench?tab=readme-ov-file#mle-bench)).\n\nMLE-Bench tests how well AI systems can train ML models autonomously, a first step toward self-improving systems. We achieved this result in the record time of 1 month and with only $10k in compute. Agents will get you far, but not far enough. Our methods mix old school with new, and have already outperformed teams of researchers at Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Baidu.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95309&key=user_uploads/455353/310c8083-1512-40c3-8e31-c1cc941f3634)\n\n**Team**\n\nLuigi and Sergio are brothers. Back in 2021, Sergio [wrote about a future where AI could create its own algorithm](https://cs229.stanford.edu/proj2021spr/report2/82285254.pdf)s. With today's foundation models, that future is suddenly within reach.\n\nSergio worked on AI R&D at Google X, Nvidia, and Stanford’s AI Lab (SAIL). He has published work at NeurIPS and ICML, and has worked with Chelsea Finn and Andrew Ng.\n\nLuigi built Sphere, a fintech company that processes billions of dollars every year in global cross-border payments. Sphere was recently valued at $250 M+ in its Series A round.\n\n**10 Year Vision**\n\nThe holy grail of AI is building self-improving systems that, guided by human creativity, enable breakthroughs and new paradigms achieving state-of-the-art results under resource constraints.\n\nIn the limit, our engine will expand beyond ML to every domain of science, from computational biology, to theoretical mathematics and physics. Thesis will autonomously discover new knowledge and become the driving force behind humanity’s scientific progress.\n\n**Our Ask**\n\nWe collaborate with leading institutions, startups, and independent researchers around the world. If you’re interested in what we’re building, please get in touch: \\[[ask@thesislabs.ai](mailto:ask@thesislabs.ai)\\](mailto:[ask@thesislabs.ai](mailto:ask@thesislabs.ai))", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/OnF-thesis-building-the-frontier-of-ai-discovery", "votes": 232, "created_at": "2025-11-11T16:40:14.609Z" } ] }, { "id": 30987, "name": "Lightberry", "slug": "lightberry", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e293e7e459ca366271fd5317cd8af37ed2cd6625.png", "website": "https://lightberry.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We build brains for robots.\r\n\r\nWe work with manufacturers like Unitree to make robots listen, speak, and act. You can program your robot out of the box by literally talking to it, no coding involved.\r\n\r\nRobots running Lightberry are emotionally intelligent, always on, and fully autonomous. Just like in Star Wars!", "one_liner": "Robots with soul", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1761343459, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Design", "Conversational AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/lightberry", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/lightberry.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightberryinc", "x_url": "https://x.com/lightberry", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e293e7e459ca366271fd5317cd8af37ed2cd6625.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 255747, "full_name": "Ali Attar", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder @Lightberry (F25) 💛", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/attarali", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/aliatttar", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fc8e4cc390f95fd1cb22381c69d3e994240bed1e.jpg" }, { "user_id": 187048, "full_name": "Stephan Koenigstorfer", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder @ Lightberry 💛", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephankoe", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5a8868edb0a4206fafe6b4d0157e327fe6e9b1dd.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2052513, "full_name": "Stephan Wolski", "title": "Founder/Head of Robotics", "founder_bio": "Self driving cars, trucks, and humanoids.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephan-wolski/", "x_url": "https://x.com/StephWolski", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/aaf21d7f88280fe68894078fb1ca2cae4d0b2bd0.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 90164, "title": "Senior/Staff Software Engineer, Voice AI", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/lightberry/jobs/J1rOMLl-senior-staff-software-engineer-voice-ai", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$130K - $280K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 90199, "title": "Robotics Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/lightberry/jobs/zMM4MQ4-robotics-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$150K - $225K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95161, "title": "Lightberry - Robots with Soul", "tagline": "We’re building brains for robots - so they can talk, act, listen and feel. ", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95161&key=user_uploads/187048/b726300c-0e1d-4190-87ac-44a8bc4a2ed3)\n\nGreetings dear humans – we’re building **Lightberry: the social brain for robots.**\n\nWe work with manufacturers like Unitree and Booster to make robots listen, speak, and act. You can program your robot out of the box by literally talking to it, no coding involved.\n\nRobots running Lightberry are:\n\n* emotionally intelligent\n* always on\n* fully autonomous\n\nJust like in Star Wars!\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJZ3pcFyfg4\n\n### **Why?**\n\nWe’ve seen robots on stage: folding laundry, serving popcorn, doing backflips… But before robots get deployed in homes, offices, and shops, they need to become good at **interacting with people**.\n\nSlapping ChatGPT realtime on it is not enough, every manufacturer tried that already. It responds to every little noise, lacks personality, and needs to be teleoperated.\n\nLightberry makes robots **contextually aware**, **customizable**, and **autonomous**.\n\n_We’ll let our robot Mini-Pi say it in its words:_\n\n[**https://youtu.be/e1gD57WY74s**](https://youtu.be/e1gD57WY74s**)\n\n### **Is it just a voice pipeline on top of a robot?**\n\nNo. Lightberry robots have agency. They **decide** when they want to speak or move. Our robots can **see the world** around them, **navigate it** without hitting obstacles, and have an internal **monologue of thoughts**.\n\n_Here’s our robot Koko’s hot-take:_\n\n[**https://youtu.be/Y7SN58Cdvs4**](https://youtu.be/Y7SN58Cdvs4**)\n\n### **What can your robots do?**\n\nRobots running Lightberry are being deployed to interact with people: homes, offices, shops, conferences, etc. Our software works on many different robots: Unitree G1, Fourier GR-2/N1, Booster T1/K1, High Torque Mini-Pi/Mini-Pi+ …\n\n_Here are a few robots we’ve deployed Lightberry on – meet Koko, Synthia, Alfred, Blake, Minnie, and Bradford:_\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95161&key=user_uploads/187048/60dd09f1-41ed-488c-bb73-546727f5d606)\n\n### **Ask**\n\n**We want to deploy as many robots in the real world as possible.** If you want to:\n\n* Hire a robot for a people-facing gig (conference, sales, marketing, receptionist, concierge…)\n* Integrate Lightberry into your robot (if you’re building hardware!)\n\n**Please email us at [founders@lightberry.com](mailto:founders@lightberry.com).**\n\nThanks,\n\n[**@Ali Attar**](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/255747) & [**@Stephan Koenigstorfer**](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/187048)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95161&key=user_uploads/187048/c6837400-65bf-4cb7-a943-52615e648ae8)\n\n_Yes, it walks around me!_", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Okr-lightberry-robots-with-soul", "votes": 178, "created_at": "2025-11-04T17:34:27.623Z" } ] }, { "id": 31019, "name": "Ndea", "slug": "ndea-com", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/51a1310dd1344aa031a62430dad084db50b7229d.png", "website": "https://ndea.com", "all_locations": "Remote", "long_description": "Ndea is building frontier AI systems that blend intuitive pattern recognition and formal reasoning into a unified architecture.\r\n\r\n# AI for Scientific Advancement\r\n\r\nUnlike all life before us, humanity's ascent is a story of ingenuity, not just biological evolution. Our progress has been driven by the curiosity to acquire knowledge, the ability to pass it on, and an intrinsic drive to innovate. We build technology which gives us leverage beyond our biology.\r\n\r\nWe stand at the top of a knowledge and technology colossus that we collectively created over the past ten thousand generations. Scientific progress has helped us overcome burdens that long defined human life — famines, plagues, and widespread illiteracy. Science will continue to redefine the boundaries of the human condition.\r\n\r\nToday, the acceleration of scientific progress hinges on one factor: AI capable of independent invention and discovery. This capacity is the gateway to advancements beyond our wildest imagination.\r\n\r\n# A New Research Lab\r\n\r\nWe're starting Ndea — an AI research and science lab. The name - like 'idea' with an 'n' - is inspired by the Greek concepts ennoia (intuitive understanding) and dianoia (logical reasoning), capturing our first goal to merge deep learning with program synthesis.\r\n\r\nNdea is entirely focused on developing and operationalizing AGI to realize unprecedented scientific progress in our lifetime for the benefit of all current and future generations.\r\n\r\nBuilding AGI alone is a monumental undertaking, but our mission is even bigger. We're creating a factory for rapid scientific advancement — a factory capable of inventing and commercializing N ideas.\r\n\r\nFrom our vantage point today, we see many 'known' frontiers like self-driving vehicles, drug discovery, sustainable energy, robotics, and space exploration. While AGI will benefit all of these, the most exciting adventure lies in the 'unknown'. AGI promises discoveries and progress we cannot imagine today.", "one_liner": "Building AGI that can innovate.", "team_size": 15, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1772669917, "tags": [ "Deep Learning", "Hard Tech", "Remote Work", "AI", "ML" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "Remote", "Fully Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ndea-com", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2026/ndea-com.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": null, "country": null, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ndea/", "x_url": "https://x.com/ndea", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/51a1310dd1344aa031a62430dad084db50b7229d.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2858111, "full_name": "Francois Chollet", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "https://fchollet.com/", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/fchollet/", "x_url": "https://x.com/fchollet", "avatar_thumb_url": "/avatars/thumb/missing.png" }, { "user_id": 898, "full_name": "Mike Knoop", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "https://mikeknoop.com", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeknoop", "x_url": "https://twitter.com/mikeknoop", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/45810451d10680414c72b6b9db3769a697c4bc6d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 31021, "name": "Zephyr Fusion", "slug": "zephyr-fusion", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c896e2a98ef03115005ed5ae8acd4500d7eea752.png", "website": "https://www.zephyrfusion.com", "all_locations": "San Diego, CA, USA", "long_description": "Zephyr Fusion is building the first in-orbit fusion power source: a megawatt-class reactor enabling large-scale industry in space, at a fraction of the cost of equivalent solar.\r\n\r\nFounded by former physicists from Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Zephyr leverages decades of fusion research to deliver a compact magnetic confinement system designed to take advantage of the space environment.", "one_liner": "Powering tomorrow's industrial revolution in space", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Energy", "launched_at": 1762532179, "tags": [ "Fusion Energy", "Hard Tech", "Satellites", "Aerospace" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2025", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Energy" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/zephyr-fusion", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2025/zephyr-fusion.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Diego", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/zephyr-fusion", "x_url": "https://x.com/Zephyr_Fusion", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c896e2a98ef03115005ed5ae8acd4500d7eea752.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2842889, "full_name": "Edward Hinson", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Cofounder of Zephyr Fusion, an in-orbit fusion power company. 20+ years in mathematical modeling and experimental plasma physics. Former scientist at Oak Ridge National Lab and UW-Madison. PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-hinson-078b15143/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/7d140c01f06bf0f6bd2775b56bbb6dd17665d759.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2938721, "full_name": "Galen Burke", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Co-founder of Zephyr fusion, an in-orbit fusion power company. 15+ years in cutting edge diagnostics and plasma physics. Former scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. PhD in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/galen-burke-78923317/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/98c843bf90dac8ffc44e771edb2b7073905edb05.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 95415, "title": "Zephyr Fusion: In-orbit fusion power", "tagline": "Powering tomorrow's industrial revolution in space", "body": "**TL;DR: Most satellites are limited to kilowatt-scale solar power, constraining high-power applications in orbit. The unlimited vacuum in space allows a dipole magnetic confinement device to form the large plasma confinement regions fusion requires without bulky reactor hardware. With HTS magnets and declining launch costs, compact megawatt-class fusion in orbit is now within reach, unlocking an industrial space economy.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95415&key=user_uploads/2938721/f0f7e94a-1ebe-4b6d-8d0e-b4fa8aad7051)\n\n**Who We Are**\n\nHi everyone! We’re Dr. Galen Burke and Dr. Edward Hinson, founders of Zephyr Fusion. After years working on some of the hardest problems in fusion energy at Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore National Labs, we realized something fundamental: fusion actually gets easier in space.\n\nWe’ve been friends and collaborators since 2010 in grad school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where we operated a spherical tokamak. We subsequently continued research at premier fusion research facilities, like the W7-X stellarator in Greifswald and the premier US tokamak, the DIII-D National Fusion Facility in San Diego, as employees of US DOE National Labs. Between us, we’ve accumulated 35+ years of experimental fusion research experience, publishing in _Physical Review Letters_, _Nuclear Fusion_, and _Physics of Plasmas_, and others.\n\n**Launching Zephyr Fusion**\n\n“Fusion in space” sounds ambitious - and it is - but it is grounded in well-established physics and enabled by new economics. Zephyr Fusion exists because the physics and economics now align: high-temperature superconductors and drastically reduced launch costs make it possible to build compact, megawatt-class orbital fusion power. We’re here to bring real power to the space economy.\n\nOur goal is simple: Provide megawatt-class power in orbit.\n\nThe space economy is fundamentally power-limited. Most satellites operate on the power equivalent of a toaster or two. While the Sun provides about 1 kW/m², scaling solar beyond \\~10 kW rapidly becomes mass- and cost-prohibitive. For example, the ISS’s new 120 kW roll-out arrays cost roughly $100M, or about $1B/MW installed. Advancing beyond this power limit would catalyze a new economy: large-scale industrial activity, data centers, high-power electrical propulsion, large human habitats, and more.\n\n**Why Space Makes Fusion Easier**\n\nThe performance of magnetic fusion devices scales with the size of the plasma, specifically the magnetized vacuum volume they occupy. Magnetized vacuum is in fact the most essential resource for fusion plasmas. The performance improvement is quantified with “energy confinement time,” τₑ, roughly how long energy stays in the plasma. For tokamaks, global experiments have shown roughly:\n\nτₑ \\~ R²\n\nwhere R is the device radius. Fusion gets easier when the plasma is big.\n\nOn Earth, increasing plasma size forces the entire reactor to scale up with it, driving cost - which is why ITER - the world’s largest tokamak - has a \\~6m plasma radius and a \\~$65B price tag ([DOE 2018](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-115shrg19104909/pdf/CHRG-115shrg19104909.pdf)). It is a research project, but ball-parking ITER as a 100MWe reactor, the expense amounts to $0.65B/MW - notably still less than what is being paid now for large-scale space solar, but a long way from commercial viability in the competitive commodity market back on Earth. The physics imperative for larger plasmas leads to devices that are larger still.\n\nBut in space, the link between hardware size and plasma size can be broken.\n\nA dipole magnetic field (which may be familiar from planetary magnetospheres), allows the plasma to form a large, self-organized region enclosing a single coil, extending into the external vacuum. In space, the outer boundary is not a physical wall but free vacuum. This “inside-out” configuration removes the dominant energy loss channel in terrestrial devices and allows for very large effective magnetized vacuum volumes with minimized hardware footprint. Furthermore, scalings obtained from the physics of magnetospheric dipoles appear to hold in dipole reactors as well ([LDX Nature Physics 2010](https://www.nature.com/articles/nphys1510)), implying that fusion power in a dipole reactor grows extremely strongly with radius.\n\nIn other words:\n\nA meter-scale dipole coil in orbit, that can be built today, can produce a magnetized volume exceeding that of ITER, at a tiny fraction of the mass and cost, and ITER-scale confinement may be accessible with hardware that fits on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95415&key=user_uploads/2938721/b30c091c-ecb7-4b4d-9998-f738a5d5352c)\n\nDipole fusion reactors in space have been proposed before, notably by [Edward Teller](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.13182/FST92-A30057), but have only become practical now because:\n\n• Launch costs have dropped by \\~10x in the last decade.\n\n• Mass-produced, HTS tapes provide - 10x more field per kg in the last decade\n\nThe _two price shocks multiply_: cost of field-per-kilogram and cost of kilograms-to-orbit are both independently collapsing. In orbit this results in an ongoing “price shock squared” in just the resource we need for fusion: magnetized vacuum.\n\n**Why This Matters**\n\nPower is the final barrier to a real space economy:\n\n• Large computing and data centers in orbit\n\n• Industrial manufacturing and materials processing in microgravity\n\n• High-power electric propulsion stages\n\n• Defense platforms\n\n• Human habitats and long-duration exploration\n\nAll of these require MW-class power.\n\nHumanity's ability to harness concentrated energy has been the driving force behind Earth's industrial revolutions.\n\nWhen hydrocarbons arrived, heavy industry followed.\n\nWhen cheap, compact fusion arrives in orbit, the same thing will happen - off-planet.\n\nAnd the early movers shape the infrastructure layer.\n\nWe founded Zephyr Fusion because we believe the space economy is transitioning from exploration to industry, and industry requires power at scale.\n\nLet’s build it.\n\n**Ask**\n\n**Feedback -** We’d love to discuss the physics and roadmap - reach out anytime.\n\n**Introductions -** If you know satellite, defense, or other teams that have an interest in MW-class power, we’d appreciate intros. Let us know at [founders@zephyrfusion.com](mailto:founders@zephyrfusion.com).\n\nThanks!\n\n\\- The Zephyr Fusion Team\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=95415&key=user_uploads/2938721/ce082155-315b-44b0-af6a-017346eb99db)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Oox-zephyr-fusion-in-orbit-fusion-power", "votes": 59, "created_at": "2025-11-12T06:56:27.373Z" } ] }, { "id": 31114, "name": "Piris Labs", "slug": "pirislabs", "former_names": [ "Piris Inc.", "Pirislabs" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/cfbd3640d376f89f668901f7449636b7f882fdb6.png", "website": "https://pirislabs.io/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Up to 80% of the most advance AI compute chips sits idle because of slow networking. Piris Labs builds photonic based networking solutions to enable fast, scalable, and low cost AI workload execution infrastructure.", "one_liner": "The Networking Layer of AI", "team_size": 8, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Infrastructure", "launched_at": 1770857008, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Infrastructure", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Infrastructure" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pirislabs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2026/pirislabs.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/110912035", "x_url": "https://x.com/PirisLabs", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/piris-labs", "github_url": "https://github.com/PirisLabs", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/cfbd3640d376f89f668901f7449636b7f882fdb6.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2792621, "full_name": "Ali Khalatpour", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder (YC W26), reimagining AI compute architectures | PhD EE (MIT → NASA → Stanford)", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alikhalatpour", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/42b5a5f623f8120937aa26e3d674989a58a1f3f4.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3157622, "full_name": "Keyvan Moghadam", "title": "Founder/President", "founder_bio": "I am an AI technologist with a decade of experience scaling AI/ML products. At Meta and X, I specialized in leading tiger teams to launch high-stakes 0-to-1 initiatives.\n\nNow, I am the Co-Founder of Piris Labs. We are building high-speed photonic interconnects to solve the energy and latency constraints for AI data inference. My current focus is to iterate on our inference service and onboard customers into our platform.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/keyvanrm/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/b998bdac71f94c01737efbb8c8777cfb76a14d3a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 93808, "title": "Founding Engineer -- AI Inference Stack ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pirislabs/jobs/r6mskwZ-founding-engineer-ai-inference-stack", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Backend", "salary_range": "$100K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.10% - 1.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Rust", "TCP/IP", "Design systems", "Transformers" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 104954, "title": "Piris Labs: We Set the Fastest Reported GLM-5.2 Inference Speed", "tagline": "Fast, scalable AI workload execution infrastructure.", "body": "Piris Labs just achieved the fastest reported inference speed for the new GLM-5.2, outperforming pioneers and veterans in the space.\n\nWe finished the YC batch just a few months ago and believed it was important to maintain that same pace of execution while keeping our technical bar high. So yes, the YC advice is right: keep building.\n\nA lean, highly passionate team with strong execution and the right long-term vision can accomplish in a short period of time what often takes much larger organizations with billions in funding and hundreds of people years to achieve.\n\nWe're well on track to build fast, scalable, and low-cost AI workload execution infrastructure with a deep focus on the data movement layer, where many of the biggest bottlenecks in performance and unit economics exist.\n\nRead the full details here:\n\n\n\nWe welcome independent third-party benchmarking. Feel free to DM us or reach out by email.\n\n#AIInference #MachineLearning #GLM52 #GenAI #AIInfrastructure #TechInnovation\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=104954&key=user_uploads/2792621/98b898a8-99fa-482a-ab7a-d65badc2b3e4)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/RIo-piris-labs-we-set-the-fastest-reported-glm-5-2-inference-speed", "votes": 5, "created_at": "2026-07-07T22:22:52.996Z" }, { "id": 97751, "title": "Piris Labs: Inference at Light Speed", "tagline": "We deliver low-latency, low-cost AI inference by eliminating the memory wall using full-stack optical interconnects and a purpose-built software stack.", "body": "**The Problem: The Memory Wall Is Breaking the Economics of AI Compute**\n\nAI’s promise is unprecedented, but its economics are broken. Copper-based interconnects cannot keep up with modern models, limiting data movement between and within compute and memory. The result is high latency, inefficient hardware utilization, and unsustainable inference costs—creating a hard ceiling on AI margins.\n\n---\n\n**The Solution: Grow-Style Optimization for the Interconnect**\n\nToday’s data-center compute and networking were not designed for inference. Slow, power-hungry **copper** interconnects, along with costly signal processing and memory overhead, drive high latency and high cost.\n\nHigh-performance inference requires purpose-built hardware and a vertically optimized software stack. Piris Labs builds this optimized stack by combining proprietary **optical** interconnects with software designed to maximize hardware utilization. We vertically optimize the interconnect layer—just as the compute layer was vertically optimized by **Groq** (acquired by **NVIDIA** for $20 B).\n\nPiris Labs combines proprietary optical interconnects with a purpose-built software stack designed to maximize hardware utilization, delivering **5x** lower latency, **10x** lower power per bit, and **2x** lower cost per token\\\n\\\n**Our Launch Video**\\\n\n\n**The Team**\n\nWe are a team of specialists at the intersection of hardware and AI:\n\n* Ali Khalatpour: MIT-trained engineer and Harvard–Stanford–trained optical scientist; developed the first room-temperature terahertz semiconductor laser; led the development of GUSTO’s optical engine for NASA\n* Keyvan Rezaei Moghadam: AI scientist and engineering leader with experience building 0-to-1 AI infrastructure at Meta and Twitter.\n\n### **Our Ask**\n\n**AI Products**: If you want to scale your inference workloads while slashing costs, reach out to us at [**contact@pirislabs.io**](mailto:contact@pirislabs.io).\\\n\\\n**Chip Makers & ODM Partners**: We are also looking for a couple of additional partners who get the chance of trying our optical solution first hand. Shoot us an email at [**founders@pirislabs.io**](mailto:founders@pirislabs.io).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/PQd-piris-labs-inference-at-light-speed", "votes": 21, "created_at": "2026-02-12T17:58:23.293Z" } ] }, { "id": 31182, "name": "Visibl Semiconductors", "slug": "visibl-semiconductors", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c9acdb09765b62086883672feeb576e191249bff.png", "website": "https://visiblsemi.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Visibl Semiconductors makes custom silicon accessible to hardware companies, starting with power electronics. We are an AI-native custom-silicon design partner that cuts ASIC development cost and timeline on mature nodes, helping teams deliver better performance and lower BOM cost.\r\n\r\nWe work with data-center and AI-infrastructure power, motor drives, industrial automation and robotics, industrial power supplies and conversion, battery systems and e-mobility powertrains, EV charging, solar, energy storage, grid power, HVAC, heat pumps, and appliances.\r\n\r\nV1 boards built from off-the-shelf parts are great for getting to market quickly, but scaling to v2+ volume requires optimizing cost, size, and manufacturability. Visibl folds those parts into custom silicon built around the product: a simpler BOM, reclaimed board space, fewer supply constraints, and automation-ready assembly.\r\n\r\nWe manage the full path from architecture and design through verification, fabrication, packaging, and production-ready silicon, working alongside hardware teams so they do not need an in-house chip team.", "one_liner": "Custom silicon for power electronics", "team_size": 3, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Engineering, Product and Design", "launched_at": 1767637338, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Enterprise", "Enterprise Software", "Semiconductors", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Winter 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Engineering, Product and Design" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/visibl-semiconductors", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/winter-2026/visibl-semiconductors.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/visiblsemi/", "x_url": "https://x.com/visiblsemi", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/visibl-semiconductors", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/c9acdb09765b62086883672feeb576e191249bff.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 931842, "full_name": "Bryce Neil", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CEO at Visibl Semiconductors. Passionate technologist and recipient of two of Canada’s most competitive academic scholarships. Bryce is a computer engineer with experience across engineering, data, and business. He has built production software and data systems for Deloitte’s OmniaAI team, healthcare, and the public sector. His work has run in leading U.S. hospitals and supported teams globally.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryceneil/", "x_url": "https://x.com/BryceNeil__", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f4a73099532b0428b2822b3d566c3aa58aa1a33e.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2574530, "full_name": "Jordon Kashanchi", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CTO of Visibl Semiconductors. Jordon previously worked at Microsoft, Arm, and Intel, building expertise in AI accelerators, autonomous vehicle hardware, and graphics. Most recently at Microsoft, he designed digital logic and microarchitecture for next-gen custom AI silicon. He holds an MS in ECE from UT Austin and is published in PNAS and ACM.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordon-kashanchi-46357b143/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8c29f07f5f652b30a9a450937d9ee7519a73abfa.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 113109, "title": "Senior Digital IC Engineer — RTL Design & Verification", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/visibl-semiconductors/jobs/o2iGDo7-senior-digital-ic-engineer-rtl-design-verification", "location": "Remote (US)", "type": "Contract", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$180K - $250K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Verilog", "FPGAs" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 97968, "title": "Visibl Semiconductors: The First AI-Enabled Coordination Layer for Chip Design", "tagline": "Meet Visibl, The First AI-enabled Coordination Layer for Chip Design", "body": "Hey everyone 👋\\\nWe’re Bryce and Jordon, co-founders of VISIBL SEMICONDUCTORS™\\\n\\\n**Launch video:** \n\n---\n\n**TL;DR**\\\n_Visibl is the first coordination layer for chip design._ Requirements, architectural intent, and implementation drift out of sync as designs and teams scale. Visibl surfaces drift early, opens cases with evidence, and delivers review-ready fixes enabling improved schedule, cost, and risk outcomes in chip design.\n\nCheck out LinkedIn post here:\\\n\n\n**Problem**\\\nCoordination has always been a human job: monitoring drift, triaging failures, keeping the schedule aligned. It demands constant vigilance, reacting to failures, proactively scanning for issues, always watching.\n\nAs designs scale, no one can hold all that context: the specs, the implementation, the test results, the decisions scattered across Slack, Jira, and docs. Issues slip through. Drift compounds. We saw this firsthand. There was no software to solve it. So we're building it.\n\nOur experience spans chip design and high-stakes production systems. We're solving a problem there was never enough human bandwidth to address, but one that directly impacts the most important outcomes in chip design: schedule, cost, and risk.\n\n**What Visibl Does**\\\n\\\n**Monitors** - specs, implementation, CI, and all design collateral to detect drift early\n\n**Investigates** - creates cases with evidence: spec sections, RTL refs, CI logs, historical decisions\n\n**Proposes** - agents suggest fixes, run verification, package review-ready diffs\n\n**Gates** - human approval required, nothing ships without explicit sign-off\n\n### —\n\n\\\n**Results**\\\n\\\n**Schedule** - Eliminate weeks lost waiting for the one engineer with context to debug failures\n\n**Cost** - 10x less engineering overhead on triage; your team builds instead of firefighting\n\n**Risk** - Catch issues early to minimize rework; avoid late-stage surprises that lead to $10M+ respins\\\n\\\n\\\n\\\n\\\n**Instant Dispatch & Case Creation**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97968&key=user_uploads/931842/d732540d-c0f2-416d-9402-378b41735ffe)\n\nAgents spin up immediately on regressions, failing PR checks, spec updates, and more. Visibl opens a case automatically.\n\n---\n\n# \n\n—\n\n\\\n**Evidence Bundle**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97968&key=user_uploads/931842/e869a320-410e-4c42-9126-535bd4c9b4be)\n\n\\\nEach case comes preloaded with spec sections, RTL refs, CI logs, and decision history.\n\n# \n\n—\n\n\\\n**Recommended Fix**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97968&key=user_uploads/931842/d5e63a58-2b58-4e78-8278-652a0808b651)\n\nVisibl proposes three fix paths and recommends the best one for approval. User can also clarify and specify their own intent.\n\n# \n\n—\n\n\\\n**Verified Review-Ready Diff**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97968&key=user_uploads/931842/45650b40-9fc2-477a-8ffa-8c29cf6bac09)\n\nApproved changes are applied, verified, and packaged as a review-ready diff with results.\\\n\\\n\\\n\\\n**Role-Based, Team-Based, and Individual Views**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=97968&key=user_uploads/931842/2c568efd-b5a0-42db-be95-97f9cbfde4d8)\n\nRole-specific views surface the same underlying truth at the right level of detail. For example, the executive view shows how Visibl ambiently ingests signals across the org and distills them into what leaders care about most—readiness, schedule impact, and top tapeout risks—so they can take action quickly. **Visibl also lets executives (and every role) act directly on these insights, drill into the underlying evidence, assign owners, and drive cases to resolution.**\n\n\\\n**Our Ask**\\\n\\\n**If you have a friend who designs chips at a semiconductor or hardware company, we would really appreciate an intro.** Even a quick forward of this post helps.\\\n\\\nIf you are a:\n\n* _DV / CI owner_\n* _Design methodology / flow owner_\n* _Team heading into integration, freeze, or pre-tapeout_\n\n…we’d love to talk.\n\n**Schedule a demo:** [**founders@visiblsemi.com**](mailto:founders@visiblsemi.com)\n\n---", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/PU8-visibl-semiconductors-the-first-ai-enabled-coordination-layer-for-chip-design", "votes": 13, "created_at": "2026-02-19T15:43:41.410Z" } ] }, { "id": 31226, "name": "Libra Robotics", "slug": "libra-robotics", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e588f98ac537da3d55ea3c2b43b0bd505524c7f8.png", "website": "https://www.librabots.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Infrastructure faces rapid expansion and labor shortages. Today, robots struggle to scale to meet customers’ high-mix work needs. Libra builds AI that engineers robots for new tasks across embodiments. We go from each new infra task to field-deployable robots 10x faster. Today, our robots are working on solar farms and piloting in data centers. Contractors pay for completed work as a service, not robots.", "one_liner": "The robot workforce for infrastructure", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1783647531, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Construction", "Energy", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/libra-robotics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/libra-robotics.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/librabots", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/e588f98ac537da3d55ea3c2b43b0bd505524c7f8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3178817, "full_name": "Jermaine Zhao", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Full-stack robotics engineer with an EE & ME background from Stanford. Built and deployed robots across industrial automation, agriculture, and utility-scale solar. Founder of Libra Robotics.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jermaine-zhao-9439202a2/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/54d431097cd70fba6fbe8902e21879a923482e82.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2782328, "full_name": "Yaojing Huang", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Stanford Civil Engineering+CS | PhD defended in Construction Robotics\n\nDissertation on shared robotic platforms and reusable construction skills across tasks. Research at Center for Integrated Facility Engineering and the Stanford Robotics Center; taught Stanford’s Construction Robotics course; worked with 40+ contractors and robotics companies worldwide.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaojing-h-0b903620b/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9f3184f01d6822e5211831c041bd669f65ee31b5.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 122276, "title": "Libra Robotics: The robot workforce for infrastructure", "tagline": "One intelligence layer, many robots. Across solar farms, data centers, and beyond.", "body": "Hey everyone 👋 We're Jermaine and Yaojing, co-founders of Libra Robotics. **We'll present & demo at YC's F26 Demo Day!** If you're attending, we'd love to connect.\n\n**TL;DR:** Infrastructure faces rapid expansion and labor shortages. Today, robots struggle to scale to meet customers’ high-mix work needs. Libra builds AI that engineers robots for new tasks across embodiments. We go from each new infra task to field-deployable robots 10x faster. Today, our robots are working on solar farms and piloting in data centers. Contractors pay for completed work as a service, not robots.\n\n\n\n\\[A simplified walkthrough of how Libra’s AI takes a real data center customer's task from initial requirements to robotic deployment - autonomously designing, simulating, testing, and improving along the way.\\]\n\n**The Problem**\n\nInfrastructure has a labor shortage. Robotics has a scalability problem.\n\nUnlike factories, infrastructure work is high-mix: tasks, designs, and environments constantly change. Single-task robots need custom engineering per task; general-purpose robots need enormous data to become reliable. **Neither scales to thousands of changing tasks.**\n\n**Our Approach**\n\nInstead of building one robot that does everything, we build **reusable robotic capabilities and AI that engineers them into new tasks.**\n\nMany infrastructure tasks share the same physical challenges: handling heavy components, precise positioning, alignment, and fastening. We've built a common set of robotic capabilities around these operations, designed to work across different robots and installation tasks.\n\nOur hardware-agnostic AI selects the right robot configuration and tooling, reuses existing skills, and engineers what is missing for each new task, reducing the need for custom engineering.\n\nIt validates solutions in simulation, then autonomously designs and runs physical experiments on our in-house robotic testbeds, stress-testing solutions against real-world variability (such as unexpected obstacles, changing environmental conditions, etc.). When a test fails, the system **diagnoses the failure, recovers, and iterates autonomously** - without human engineers in the loop. Through **recursive self-improvement (RSI)**, it continuously refines its approach toward field-ready performance.\n\n**Every task adds reusable knowledge, making the next one faster and cheaper to automate.**\n\n**GTM & Traction**\n\n**We deploy AI-powered robot crews to perform infrastructure work**, starting with solar installation and data center electrical work, including prefab MEP and busway installation. \n\n**We're already beyond the lab:**\n\n→ **Robots already deployed** on real solar construction sites\n\n→ **Signed commercial agreements** for solar installation\n\n→ **Data center pilots underway** for MEP automation\n\nWe land with one high-value task, then expand into more work for the same customer. Our goal is to achieve 100 million hours of robotic work annually by 2031.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=122276&key=user_uploads/3178817/7e72e897-d6d4-4ed6-a547-0f5889a68de0)\n\n\\[Libra’s robots in action on solar farms\\]\n\n**Who We Are**\n\nYaojing did her Stanford PhD on the exact problem Libra solves: one shared robotic platform with reusable skills that generalizes across construction tasks. She has worked with 40+ contractors and construction robotics companies.\n\nJermaine previously led a team to build and deploy autonomous agricultural harvesting robots from the ground up, tackling complex manipulation, precision harvesting, and multi-robot coordination in unstructured real-world environments. He brings end-to-end experience turning robotics research into reliable, field-deployed systems.\n\n**Our Ask**\n\nWe're looking for introductions to:\n\n* **Data center GCs, EPCs & Prefab contractors** interested in deploying robots for prefab MEP installation, busway installation, and other electrical fit-out tasks.\n* **Solar EPCs & installers** with upcoming utility-scale projects interested in robotic installation.\n* **Robotics engineers & researchers** working on sim-to-real, autonomous robot engineering, and multi-embodiment learning who want to build with us.\n* **Investors** who are interested in backing the robot workforce companies for AI era.\n\nKnow someone we should talk to? We'd love an introduction!\n\nReach us at [founders@librabots.com](mailto:founders@librabots.com).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/VoC-libra-robotics-the-robot-workforce-for-infrastructure", "votes": 14, "created_at": "2026-10-15T15:49:58.924Z" } ] }, { "id": 31249, "name": "Meteoric", "slug": "meteoric", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d2429e5b744af3176c949e0f696004529640d5c5.png", "website": "https://meteoric.earth/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Meteoric is building drones that clear clouds over solar farms and ultimately weaken severe storms and hurricanes.", "one_liner": "Drones that clear clouds over solar farms and weaken hurricanes", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Climate", "launched_at": 1786601879, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Renewable Energy", "ClimateTech" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Climate" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/meteoric", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/meteoric.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://uk.linkedin.com/company/meteoric-inc", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d2429e5b744af3176c949e0f696004529640d5c5.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Gustaf Alstromer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/gustaf-alstromer" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2005935, "full_name": "Mete Karslioglu", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Building drones that clear clouds over solar farms and ultimately weaken severe storms and hurricanes. \nPreviously developed spray nozzles to brighten clouds (MCB) at the Cambridge Centre for Climate Repair. \nCambridge MEng in Aerospace, Energy & Mechanical Engineering \n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mete-karslioglu/", "x_url": "https://x.com/MeteKarsli0glu", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/b998b2251a59ddfe79caef102ec082aabdfe46ae.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2007524, "full_name": "Eric Nilsson", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO at Meteoric (S26). We build drones that clear clouds over solar farms and ultimately weaken hurricanes. \nPreviously worked on capacitive sensing for digital microfluidics at the University of Cambridge.\nCambridge MEng in Engineering, specialised in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Information & Computer Engineering, Instrumentation & Control.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-nilsson-2b3775254/", "x_url": "https://x.com/eric_nilsson_", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9396f9942c88c3920b9d6d17d32c28275e141a56.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 111583, "title": "Meteoric — Drones that clear clouds over solar farms and ultimately weaken hurricanes", "tagline": "Meteoric is building drones that reduce the reflectivity of clouds above solar farms and ultimately reduce the intensity of severe storms and hurricanes.", "body": "![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111583&key=user_uploads/2005935/6f49c082-1391-4bb6-939f-8f92d0dee7a0)\n\n**TL;DR:** Meteoric is building drones that fly into clouds and reduce their reflectivity without spraying any chemicals. We're starting with clearing overcast clouds above utility-scale solar farms to increase their annual generation by 10–30% with no new infrastructure. Our long-term goal is to scale this system to weaken severe storms and hurricanes. First large-scale cloud clearing flight in 2027 and first storm flight in 2028.\n\nHey everyone! We’re [Mete](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mete-karslioglu) and [Eric](https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-nilsson-2b3775254), and we’re building drones to engineer clouds.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111583&key=user_uploads/2005935/5c79de40-e828-4e83-aff5-e1ae0feb3dc4)\n\n⚡ **Starting with solar**\n\nAI has created an enormous demand for power, and solar is scaling exponentially. [US utility-scale solar capacity is set to double by 2030](https://cleanpower.org/resources/market-pulse-utility-scale-solar-summer-2026), and [the world will add 2+ TW](https://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2025/renewable-electricity) over the same period.\n\nBut building new capacity is getting harder and less profitable. Only [\\~14% of US utility-scale solar projects](https://emp.lbl.gov/queues) actually get built and [773 GW is already waiting in interconnection queues](https://emp.lbl.gov/queues). \n\nAt the same time, generation costs are rising as tax credits are overhauled and tariffs increase material prices. This makes each additional MWh generated from an existing plant more valuable.\n\n[Low and mid-level overcast clouds cut incoming sunlight by 73–82%](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0038092X80903916) while they’re overhead. We recover that without building new infrastructure. \n\n🌤 **What we're building**\n\nFleets of 10s-100s of autonomous drones that fly into low and mid-altitude clouds (1–5 km) over a solar farm and alter the water droplets that form them without using any chemicals. This reduces their reflectivity and brings back measurable amounts of sunlight to the panels below.\n\nOur cloud-loss model shows that this process can increase annual generation from existing assets by 10–30% across major US grid regions, worth \\~$5,000–28,000/MW, without building any new infrastructure.\n\n⚙️ **Traction**\n\n* Built a working prototype that dissipated an artificial cloud by 13% in cloud-chamber tests\n* Built a cloud-loss model that quantifies how much generation a given US solar plant is losing to the clouds we can treat\n\n👉 **Why now**\n\n* Cloud access got \\~97% cheaper: conventional seeding aircrafts cost $2,000+/hr; electric drones are at $30–60/hr. \n* AI is transforming weather forecasting: DeepMind's weather models produce [15-day forecasts in less than a minute](https://deepmind.google/blog/weathernext-ai-model-achieves-breakthrough-in-forecasting-cyclones/) and [outperform traditional physics-based models on more than 90% of benchmarks](https://developers.google.com/weathernext/guides/evals).\n\n🎯 **Weakening storms and hurricanes**\n\nOur ultimate goal is to reduce the intensity of severe storms and hurricanes.\n\nSevere weather has already cost the US [$31.9B in the first half of 2026](https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-services/billion-dollar-disasters), and from 2020 to 2024 severe storms, floods, and tropical cyclones caused [an average of \\~$121B/yr in losses](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/summary-stats). Severe storms alone generated [$50B+/yr in insured losses for the past three years](https://www.iii.org/press-release/triple-i-severe-convective-storms-generate-more-than-50b-in-insured-losses-for-third-consecutive-year-041326). There's now [a billion-dollar weather disaster every 16 days vs. every 82 days in the 1980s](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/climatology).\n\nGlobally, these disasters caused [over $2T in damage in the past decade](https://iccwbo.org/news-publications/policies-reports/new-report-extreme-weather-events-cost-economy-2-trillion-over-the-last-decade) and claimed [more than 2 million lives in the past 50 years](https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/05/1136897). \n\nClearing stable overcast clouds is our first major technical milestone. It will prove we can reliably alter clouds at scale. From there, we’ll expand our fleets and control systems to reduce the intensity of severe storms and hurricanes. First storm operation targeted for late 2028.\n\n👥 **Team**\n\nWe're two Cambridge engineers with backgrounds in weather engineering and droplet-control systems:\n\nMete (CEO): Master's research on making clouds more reflective using seawater spray nozzles at the Cambridge Centre for Climate Repair (funded by ARIA, UK's DARPA). MEng from Cambridge in aerospace/aerothermal, energy, and mechanical engineering.\n\nEric (CTO): Master's research on microfluidic chips that control water, and built droplet-removal technology for LiDAR lenses. MEng from Cambridge in electrical, control, and computer engineering. Placed 4th nationally in the British Physics Challenge.\n\n🙏 **We'd love to hear from you if you:**\n\n* work in disaster response or severe weather at the state or federal level (FEMA, state EMs, NOAA, NWS)\n* run hail suppression programs (North Dakota, Texas, Alberta)\n* own, manage, build, or operate utility-scale solar plants (especially in Texas, northern US, UK, or northern Europe)\n* work in weather modelling / meteorology / atmospheric science (especially in hurricane or storm research)\n* are engineers with experience in drones or high-voltage systems / power electronics\n\nReach us at [team@meteoric.earth](mailto:team@meteoric.earth)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111583&key=user_uploads/2005935/c0a9ce1e-492d-4687-8c6d-4d53a7bf67b2)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/T1j-meteoric-drones-that-clear-clouds-over-solar-farms-and-ultimately-weaken-hurricanes", "votes": 19, "created_at": "2026-08-21T20:00:00.552Z" } ] }, { "id": 31277, "name": "Dipole Labs", "slug": "dipole-labs", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b476fcfad147bfb48b55b119e09431103b41f4d8.png", "website": "https://dipolelabs.com/", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "", "one_liner": "AI-controlled optical switching for AI clusters", "team_size": 0, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1786560399, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Semiconductors", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dipole-labs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/dipole-labs.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b476fcfad147bfb48b55b119e09431103b41f4d8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3178902, "full_name": "Deepankur Thureja", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO & Co-founder @ Dipole Labs\n\nBuilding optical switching and compute modules that make AI clusters faster and more energy efficient.\n\nPreviously I was a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard where I developed advanced photonic and quantum devices, working at the intersection of materials science, optics, and AI.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dthureja", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ec3f292a37bbde4475aa4c89de8203153d747800.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3179632, "full_name": "Gabriele Pasquale", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder & CTO @ Dipole Labs\n\nBuilding optical switching and compute modules that make AI clusters faster and more energy-efficient.\n\nPreviously, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard, where I developed advanced photonic and quantum devices, working at the intersection of materials science, optics, and AI.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielepasquale", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4ab80d1378669d55ada2deb72073e9390f4cbbae.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 110374, "title": "Dipole Labs: Shooting lasers to solve the billion-dollar bottleneck inside AI datacenters", "tagline": "High-speed optical circuit switches that keep data moving as light, giving AI clusters up to 25% more useful compute from the same hardware.", "body": "**The most expensive computers ever built spend about half their time waiting for data.** As AI clusters scale, it's increasingly the network that limits how much compute you can actually use.\n\n**What we're building** Dipole Labs builds high-speed optical circuit switches for AI data centers. Between racks, data already travels as light, but routing it usually means converting it to electricity and back, burning power, generating heat, and adding latency. Dipole's switch keeps data in the optical domain, targeting sub-microsecond reconfiguration at large port counts, so the network can reshape itself around each workload.\n\nAn AI-native control layer learns GPU communication patterns and synchronizes optical reconfiguration with training and inference, turning the network into an active accelerator instead of a bottleneck.\n\n**Why it matters** The result: a 10,000-GPU cluster could perform like one with 12,500 GPUs, up to 25% more useful compute from the same hardware. At the scale of a 1 GW data center, that's up to $1 billion in additional compute capacity every year. Optical switching is just the start, the same platform extends from moving data as light to computing with it.\n\n**Who we are** Deepankur and Gabriele met as postdocs at Harvard and have spent the last decade building the photonic expertise behind this technology. Deepankur (CEO) built scalable quantum-optical hardware at ETH Zurich, published in Nature, and was awarded the ETH Medal for his doctoral thesis. Gabriele (CTO) has built nanophotonic and quantum devices at EPFL, and solved a decade-old condensed-matter physics problem published in Nature Materials, which earned the IBM prize from the Swiss and Austrian Physical Society.\n\n**Our ask** We're opening design partnerships with hyperscalers and neoclouds that want more useful compute from the hardware they already run, plus collaborations with photonic foundries to take our custom devices from prototype to scale. If that's you, let's talk.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SiE-dipole-labs-shooting-lasers-to-solve-the-billion-dollar-bottleneck-inside-ai-datacenters", "votes": 9, "created_at": "2026-08-13T17:30:00.146Z" } ] }, { "id": 31294, "name": "Dispatch", "slug": "dispatch", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d93a4cb68bc153f52d09c71b45093cc62ba91a62.png", "website": "https://dispatch.space/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Dispatch is building refurbishable reentry vehicles that host and return payloads for companies making ultra-high-value materials (semiconductors, biotech, and pharma) that can only be manufactured in space. Right now, these companies have no practical way to manufacture and get their products back to Earth. We solve this bottleneck.\r\n\r\nWe just returned from the Mojave Desert testing our first full-scale reentry heat shield designed to protect the satellite as it returns from space at Mach 20+, built in an apartment for 100x cheaper than competitors. To test, we held it behind a rocket engine to simulate the forces of atmospheric reentry. IT WORKED! Watch here - https://youtu.be/dhlQmnIoptg\r\n\r\nTo scale, we anchor permanent infrastructure in orbit - building high power Autonomous Space Stations designed from day one for \"lights-out\" manufacturing serviced by the reentry vehicles.", "one_liner": "Satellites for Manufacturing in Space", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1773166639, "tags": [ "Hard Tech" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2026/dispatch.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/dispatch-space", "x_url": "https://x.com/dispatchspace", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d93a4cb68bc153f52d09c71b45093cc62ba91a62.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 564908, "full_name": "Payton Case", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CEO at Dispatch | Building satellites for in space manufacturing\n\nFormerly Astranis office of the CTO engineer driving everything from spacecraft architecture, to production, to their most critical mission operations.\n\n\nhttps://x.com/ngmxyz/status/1867769725415305593?s=19", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/paytoncase/", "x_url": "https://x.com/dispatchspace", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a2c7f68f1bf8be75821921f8a5399071e1026eef.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 98190, "title": "Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/7NBJCKG-mechanical-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$100K - $170K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 2.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 98802, "title": "Aerothermal Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/ChtwGs9-aerothermal-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$100K - $170K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 2.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 110102, "title": "GNC Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/JSbZ7qT-gnc-engineering-intern", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$30 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 110103, "title": "Mechanical Engineering Intern, Spring 2027", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/506bLfE-mechanical-engineering-intern-spring-2027", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$30 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 110104, "title": "Electrical Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/Rba7TJq-electrical-engineering-intern", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$30 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 110105, "title": "Thermal Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/XfQGhOI-thermal-engineering-intern", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$30 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 110106, "title": "Flight Software Engineering Intern", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/tGYjKtS-flight-software-engineering-intern", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Internship", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$30 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": null, "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 110465, "title": "Thermal Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/dispatch/jobs/ttst5vc-thermal-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$100K - $170K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 2.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 99179, "title": "Dispatch | Satellites for Manufacturing In Space", "tagline": "Bringing things back from space shouldn't cost more than sending them up", "body": "**Gravity is an Invisible Constraint on Manufacturing.**\n\nSome of the most valuable materials we can make from perfect semiconductors, to novel pharmaceuticals, to 3D printed organs can only be manufactured in microgravity. Space unlocks an entirely new class of products impossible to create on Earth but the infrastructure to manufacture at scale in space and return the products to Earth doesn't exist yet.\n\nWe're Payton and Andrew. We spent 4 years together at Astranis building geostationary communications satellites. We know how to build hardware that survives the extreme environments of space. Now we're building the vehicles to bring it back.\n\n**We just got back from the Mojave Desert** where we tested our first full-scale reentry heat shield, designed to protect a spacecraft returning from orbit at Mach 20+. We built it in an apartment for **100x cheaper than competitors**, held it behind a rocket engine to simulate atmospheric reentry and it worked as designed! \n\n**The Problem: Getting things back from space is harder and more expensive than sending them up.**\n\nCheaper launch costs and new heavy launchers like Starship and New Glenn are driving a boom in space manufacturing. Pharmaceutical, semiconductor, and biotech companies are racing to produce in microgravity. But return is the bottleneck:\n\n\\- NASA pays **2x more** to bring cargo down from the ISS than to send it up\n\n\\- Human-rated vehicles add massive overhead costing **over $100,000/hr** for astronaut time\n\n\\- Return slots from the ISS are limited to a handful of Dragon missions per year, on\n\n  NASA's schedule, not yours\n\n\\- The ISS is aging infrastructure with an uncertain future and no clear successor\n\nAccess to orbit is cheaper than ever. Return is the unsolved problem. That's where we come in.\n\n**What We're Building:**\n\n**Phase 1: Reentry Vehicles (mid-2027 first flight)**\n\nRefurbishable, autonomous reentry vehicles designed for mass manufacturing. Customers manufacture products inside while in orbit. We return them to Earth, swap the heat shield, and fly again. No astronauts, no ISS, no 6-month wait. Dedicated missions on your schedule.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=99179&key=user_uploads/564908/60dbaefc-95c5-4f64-8d26-0dbffe3404d1)\n\n**Phase 2: Uncrewed Space Stations**\n\nTo scale space manufacturing, you need permanent infrastructure in orbit. Serviced by our reentry vehicles. We're building high-power uncrewed space stations designed from day one for lights-out manufacturing unburdened by human life support, serving as a shared utility grid so payloads can leverage massive power without carrying the mass and complexity of their own high power bus.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=99179&key=user_uploads/564908/4911d2cd-a89b-496d-b8f3-3c89d3763f3d)\n\nThe ISS proved that manufacturing in microgravity works. But it was built for humans, and everything that rides on it reflects that in their cost, schedule, and complexity. The next generation of space infrastructure doesn't need to. Advancements in autonomy let us build cargo-only vehicles from the ground up: cheaper, faster, and scalable. The space economy needs its own industrial layer and we’re here to build it.\n\n**We'd love to hear from you!** If you're building something that needs microgravity, dealt with reentry or thermal protection systems, or if you just have strong opinions about how space logistics should work - let's talk. ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Pnf-dispatch-satellites-for-manufacturing-in-space", "votes": 34, "created_at": "2026-03-31T14:12:32.835Z" } ] }, { "id": 31298, "name": "Applied Electrodynamics, Inc.", "slug": "applied-electrodynamics-inc", "former_names": [ "Applied Electrodynamics" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/11648bf43e6f51e66e8e798d40073877c53c2f20.png", "website": "https://www.ae-dyn.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Applied Electrodynamics builds imaging systems that see through solid matter. Our team previously co-invented the iPhone touchscreen and Nest learning thermostat. We’re starting in construction, helping teams map structural elements and utilities inside walls and ceilings. The same platform extends to security screening and cargo inspection. Our mission is to make the hidden physical world machine-readable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.\r\n", "one_liner": "A new kind of camera that can see through walls.", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1785202775, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Construction", "Manufacturing", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/applied-electrodynamics-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/applied-electrodynamics-inc.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/applied-electrodynamics", "x_url": "https://x.com/ae_dynamics", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/11648bf43e6f51e66e8e798d40073877c53c2f20.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jon Xu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jon-xu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2724984, "full_name": "Bilgehan Avser", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Bil Avser previously led antenna technologies at Apple across multiple iPhone generations, including UWB, 5G, and mmWave systems, before serving as Head of Technology at Humane through its acquisition by HP. He holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering, has 35+ patents in electromagnetics and RF systems, and received the IEEE APS Pre-Doctoral Research Award.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/bavser", "x_url": "https://x.com/bavser", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1b1a0995ed1bd232a77653db4e4dee2ab647ac71.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2980661, "full_name": "Brian Huppi", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Brian Huppi is a hardware engineer and inventor who helped build the earliest iPhone prototypes at Apple, contributing to the multitouch hardware that redefined how the world interacts with devices. He co-invented the first generation Nest Learning Thermostat and later worked on the AI Pin at Humane. He is a named inventor on numerous patents spanning touch interfaces, sensing systems, lighting, and connected devices. Brian holds degrees in Civil and Electrical Engineering from UMass Amherst.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-huppi-69a8433/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d67b0681b838d1fed82f35b18d6a43b7bebae7ab.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2974809, "full_name": "Paul Leutheuser", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Paul Leutheuser is a hardware product design engineer who drove numerous new iPhone features into production, including the first haptic home button and IPX8 sealed enclosure. He then designed and shipped multiple 0-1 products at Humane, leading the Product Design team post-acquisition. Paul has 11 patents and holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from UC Berkeley.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-leutheuser-54207364/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/034c1ff34b8c99a04807aa712b02f94f3c6d3e72.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2980566, "full_name": "George McLean", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "George McLean is an applied physicist with wide-ranging experience in semiconductor imaging systems and medical devices and patents in retinal prothesis and wearable physiological monitoring. At Humane he made key contributions to the laser display of the Ai Pin. He holds degrees in physics from MIT and UC Berkeley.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-mclean-75990415/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4b8c4f90c563da550a00fdb0e86935250883a24f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 108275, "title": "Applied Electrodynamics: A new kind of camera that can see through walls", "tagline": "Making the physical world machine-readable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum", "body": "**TL;DR:** We are building a new kind of camera that can see through walls using radio waves. We provide construction, industrial inspection, and security teams with an accurate map of hidden objects behind walls and composite surfaces.\n\n\n\n## **The Problem**\n\nMost of the built world is opaque.\n\nPipes, cables, and structural elements hide behind walls until they're discovered mid-project, driving $20B+ a year in avoidable rework.\n\nDefects remain hidden inside composites until parts break.\n\nEntry teams are missing critical information before they breach a barrier.\n\n## **The Solution**\n\nAn imaging platform that uses radio waves to see behind walls. It works just like a camera, requiring no training and producing high-resolution images that are instantly understandable. The resulting point cloud is natively to scale, accurate down to 1mm.\n\n## **The Team**\n\nFour engineers who've worked together for 8+ years, shipped multiple zero-to-one hardware products, and hold 250+ patents.\n\n**Bilgehan** — PhD in electromagnetics; led antenna technologies on four iPhone generations, shipping the first phones with UWB and 5G mmWave; inventor of the zirconia dielectric resonator antenna.\n\n**Brian** — built the earliest iPhone prototypes at Apple, co-invented iPhone multitouch and the Nest Learning Thermostat; degrees in Electrical and Civil Engineering.\n\n**George** — MIT physicist; built x-ray imagers, retinal implants, optical sensors and the world's smallest laser projector.\n\n**Paul** — Berkeley Mech.E.; ex-Apple and Humane product design lead; co-invented iPhone haptic Touch ID, IPX8 sealing.\n\n## **What we built**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108275&key=user_uploads/2724984/c00b3438-c7f7-433f-941d-e021791e51c5)\n\nWe've built the hardware and imaging algorithms that can see behind composite layers and common building materials (sheetrock, tiles, marble, quartz, brick and insulation). Next step is our handheld platform that fuses our radio imaging with RGB and thermal cameras.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=108275&key=user_uploads/2724984/f1cf1ffa-8b23-4780-b363-13b0db90832d)\n\n## **Our Ask**\n\nWe're looking for intros to decision makers at general contracting firms and industrial inspection teams, and to contacts with military access who can introduce and demo our systems to US defense organizations.\n\nIf that's you or someone you know, reach out to us at [founders@ae-dyn.com](mailto:founders@ae-dyn.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SAN-applied-electrodynamics-a-new-kind-of-camera-that-can-see-through-walls", "votes": 25, "created_at": "2026-07-30T14:48:05.478Z" } ] }, { "id": 31366, "name": "Nine Fives", "slug": "nine-fives", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/12cace5da5d5e5852e19a386d33613f3f8222281.png", "website": "https://ninefives.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Nine Fives produces modern radio frequency test equipment and solutions to disrupt the $130B test equipment industry. By combining modern electronics, AI ready test automation, and strategic supply chains, we’re equipping our customers to cut their time to market in half.", "one_liner": "RF test equipment for next-gen spacecraft, drones, and cellphones", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1775260036, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Aerospace", "Telecommunications" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nine-fives", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2026/nine-fives.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/nine-fives/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/12cace5da5d5e5852e19a386d33613f3f8222281.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tom Blomfield", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tom-blomfield" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2413649, "full_name": "Noah Levy", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Calibrated largest phased array in SpaceX history, designed Starship primary RF hardware, worked on radar altimeter for Falcon 9 and S-Band Transceiver for Dragon 2 capsule. I am not a fan of modern RF test equipment from legacy vendors.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahmslevy/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4824d2f4b270789c6f137b5e6d9e0e7fb040ee1a.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3423274, "full_name": "Andrew Kurtz", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "I spent the last 9 years as a mechanical engineer working on a wide variety of aerospace products. Now building better test equipment with Nine Fives", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-e-kurtz/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/396d9cf39bf31b1e84877f58de6d522a30909c63.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 97341, "title": "Founding Electrical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nine-fives/jobs/hDQM135-founding-electrical-engineer", "location": "San Mateo, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$170K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 2.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Go", "Python", "Linux", "Embedded Linux", "Firmware", "Prototyping", "PCB design" ] }, { "id": 99344, "title": "Founding RF Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/nine-fives/jobs/dkS9aeZ-founding-rf-engineer", "location": "San Mateo, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$170K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 2.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Git", "Go", "MATLAB", "Python", "Embedded Linux", "Firmware", "PCB design", "FPGAs", "Altium" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 101602, "title": "Nine Fives - Simple, Networked, Driverless RF Test Equipment", "tagline": "Test hardware for companies that can’t wait for their test equipment to catch up.", "body": "**TL;DR: Nine Fives makes test equipment for manufacturers of radio devices in cellphones, drones, or satellites.**\n\n[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vtMt6-0SvY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vtMt6-0SvY%3C/video%3E)\n\n**Problem:** You are a hardware engineer holding up a billion dollar satellite constellation or slipping a cellphone release date because the legacy test equipment in your production line was designed around the January 1997 revision of the USB Human Interface Device specification and the firmware hasn’t been updated since then.\n\nYour AI agent is blissfully unaware of how this thing works because the “documentation” is hidden in a PDF on a password protected FTP server. After the legacy vendor left your email on read for a week they gave you access and sent you a [VB.NET](http://VB.NET) script that they think should work. You ran it and now all 8 of that vendor’s devices in your rack have tried to enumerate as “COM11” in device manager. Now you have 8 broken pieces of equipment instead of just 1!\n\n**Solution:** We’re Noah Levy and Andrew Kurtz and we are building Nine Fives. Together we have spent a decade at SpaceX designing radio frequency hardware and test systems for multi-million dollar products. Our equipment is driverless, touchscreen enabled, and uses a single, machine-readable, API with both REST and SCPI endpoints.\n\nEvery module we build works as a standalone product, but if you use our rack-mountable data and power backplane then you can take advantage of our NineVue web-app for generating easy-to-maintain, machine-readable rack configuration and our [skill.md](http://skill.md) so that your AI agent can finally understand your test system and write your test software. \n\n**Get off the critical path and reduce your production readiness timeline from months to minutes.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101602&key=user_uploads/2413649/0e5ea814-ed4c-4e37-be4c-2ea0f93f59a5)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QQk-nine-fives-simple-networked-driverless-rf-test-equipment", "votes": 12, "created_at": "2026-05-21T02:28:09.859Z" } ] }, { "id": 31452, "name": "Degla Inc", "slug": "degla-inc", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9b4aa40c1f823de9d3ec9a6c4b04e1e382dc5a85.png", "website": "https://degla.ai", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "We turn natural Language into Multi-Drone Mission execution. Degla is built around a simple idea: once you’ve expressed your intent, the system owns the problem.You don’t babysit drones. You don’t micromanage failures. You don’t rewrite plans. You state the goal, Degla figures out how.", "one_liner": "The fully autonomous intelligence layer in the sky.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Drones", "launched_at": 1775570807, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Drones", "Aerospace", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Drones" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/degla-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/degla-inc.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9b4aa40c1f823de9d3ec9a6c4b04e1e382dc5a85.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Garry Tan", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/garry-tan" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1869155, "full_name": "Aziz Hanafi", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO @ www.degla.ai", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/aziz-hanafi-496a67164/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/694f8d7fb1702740e4b2b65e919a3b60b595f4bb.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 31486, "name": "Ornadyne", "slug": "ornadyne", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a1b22be817e9ad2d1f4b3a606e7b94d10bc6a8d6.png", "website": "https://ornadyne.com/", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Ornadyne builds flapping-wing drones for reconnaissance that look, fly, and sound like birds.\r\n\r\nToday’s drones are easy to detect acoustically, visually, and electronically. As counter-UAS systems improve, traditional quadcopters and fixed-wing UAS systems are becoming increasingly ineffective for close-range surveillance. \r\n\r\nFlapping-wing aircraft have existed for years, but have lacked the performance, endurance, and control required for real-world deployment. We’re changing that by engineering a high-performance, stealth-optimized system built from first principles for efficiency, autonomy, and reliable field use.\r\n\r\nThe final frontier of surveillance won’t look like machines; it will look like wildlife already in the sky. \r\n\r\nMaybe birds aren't real?", "one_liner": "We're building robot birds for surveillance.", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Drones", "launched_at": 1777342640, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Drones", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Drones" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ornadyne", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2026/ornadyne.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ornadyne/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/a1b22be817e9ad2d1f4b3a606e7b94d10bc6a8d6.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Aaron Epstein", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/aaron-epstein" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1504179, "full_name": "Geourg Kivijian", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CEO of Ornadyne. Award-winning engineer (IEEE/AIAA) recognized for pioneering work in flapping-wing robotics. Previously led coordination systems for Mars Sample Return at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and lunar rovers at Astrolab. Now scaling Ornadyne to bring bio-inspired stealth and efficiency to the next generation of flight. www.geourgkivijian.com", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/geourg-kivijian/", "x_url": "https://x.com/geourgkivijian", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e337453d3b319353220202f1fe100ab8ce774327.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3374971, "full_name": "Armen Arakelyan", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CTO at Ornadyne, building autonomous flapping-wing aircraft. Previously a Starship components engineer at SpaceX. Before that, I led machining at USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at the University of Southern California, helping the team set the amateur rocketry altitude world record at 144 km.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/armen-arakelyan-171b71219/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/2145da603ff13a23eff254476a2594ae5eed387b.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 100617, "title": "Ornadyne - Robot Birds for Reconnaissance", "tagline": "Autonomous bird-like drones for military reconnaissance.", "body": "**TL;DR:** Ornadyne is building robot birds for surveillance: drones with cameras for the military that look, fly, and sound like real birds**🦅**\n\n### The Problem(s):\n\nTraditional drones have two main problems:\n\n1. Propellers are **loud**\n2. They don’t blend in; they’re **visually obvious**\n\nThis makes traditional fixed-wing and quadcopter drones extremely detectable, and inadvertently easy to shoot down and run away from.\n\n\n\n---\n\nThis isn’t new. The U.S. used to lead flapping-wing flight, but **today, Europe and China are far ahead. Ornadyne is bringing the U.S. back into the lead.**\n\nWe're building autonomous ornithopters with hour-class flight times, low acoustic signatures, and natural bird-like flight. This makes Ornadyne's drones harder for humans and counter-UAS systems to detect, classify, and target.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=100617&key=user_uploads/1504179/a361939c-74a4-427b-a2ef-a96f6cdc2884)\n\n---\n\n### The Founders:\n\n**Geourg’s** Master's thesis is built on 2+ years of research and development in flapping-wing drones. His work has received multiple awards through AIAA and IEEE conference publications. He is ex- NASA JPL, and ex-Astrolab, where he worked on Mars and lunar missions.\n\n**Armen** engineered Starship components at SpaceX and previously led machining at USC Rocket Propulsion Laboratory, helping the team set the amateur rocketry altitude world record at 144 km.\n\nBoth founders have been best friends since middle school.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=100617&key=user_uploads/1504179/60143f25-5da7-45dd-93a0-0be77f9c5b45)\n\n### Ask:\n\nIf you work in defense tech or are building in the space, we’d love to connect. Introductions to anyone who might be interested in working with us would be much appreciated.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QAr-ornadyne-robot-birds-for-reconnaissance", "votes": 30, "created_at": "2026-05-01T00:54:15.289Z" } ] }, { "id": 31509, "name": "Rodeo Robotics", "slug": "rodeo-robotics", "former_names": [ "Lasso (temporary, naming conflict exists)", "Lasso" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ed94f83ed341c4f879d7c08c2570c04ba145e07c.png", "website": "https://www.rodeorobotics.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Rodeo builds a robotic technician that automates maintenance so fleets can get vehicles back on the road sooner. Initial deployments focus on oil changes at centralized depots, where routine maintenance competes for scarce technician time.\r\n\r\nCofounders Michael Hazard and Colby Duke met at Applied Intuition, where they worked with OEMs like Toyota and General Motors to bring software and autonomy to vehicles. They saw firsthand how much manual work it takes to keep vehicle fleets running, and learned how to make autonomy reliable through structured testing, real-world data, and human intervention.\r\n\r\nThey’re now applying their experience to the roughly $600B annual US vehicle maintenance market. The average US vehicle is older than ever, driving up maintenance demand at a time when shops already struggle to hire and retain technicians. That gap leaves fleets facing costly downtime and preventable breakdowns.\r\n\r\nDespite this need, vehicle maintenance has resisted traditional automation. Service information is fragmented and unreliable, and vehicle hardware varies significantly between makes and models. Rodeo builds on advances in robotic foundation models to learn maintenance skills that transfer across vehicles.\r\n\r\nRodeo pairs robots with human technicians who ensure each job is completed correctly, handling work the robots can’t yet perform autonomously. These deployments generate training data for Rodeo’s models through both teleoperation and hand tools augmented to record how technicians work. This lets Rodeo earn revenue while collecting the data needed to automate more of each job and improve margins.", "one_liner": "Robots for vehicle maintenance.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1791737469, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "AI", "Automotive" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rodeo-robotics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/rodeo-robotics.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ed94f83ed341c4f879d7c08c2570c04ba145e07c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Harj Taggar", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/harj-taggar" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1723748, "full_name": "Michael Hazard", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Building robots for vehicle maintenance. Four years at Applied Intuition bringing software and autonomy to vehicles. Google APM. Stanford CS.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hazard", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/1236858457295e3981b938e3e2d34b656f23c372.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2583456, "full_name": "Colby Duke", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Building robots for vehicle maintenance. Previously the tech lead of Applied Intuition's neural simulation team.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/colby-duke/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/64bba9bf9ad1bada6772cc26492eff670a931e2f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 31535, "name": "Arlo Industries", "slug": "arlo-industries", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9516f2cea09963c1b9ba307c35589a5d194c61c0.png", "website": "https://arlo1.com/", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Arlo Industries is building a network of sensors that precisely tracks stealthy drones and aerial threats better than radars.\r\n\r\nThis capability does not exist yet because traditional radars are built on past war doctrines designed to protect single, centralised assets. Modern warfare, however, demands wide-area, persistent coverage that is both passive and economically scalable. By utilising a mesh architecture, Arlo Industries unlocks unprecedented asymmetric economics. The network is fundamentally built to scale: the cost of adding sensors grows linearly, but the tracking accuracy increases exponentially, delivering highly resilient, persistent coverage for a fraction of the cost of legacy systems.\r\n\r\nDeo founded Arlo Industries after spending over 6 years in the Israeli defence ecosystem, where he lived through multiple conflicts and experienced the Iron Dome and other systems in action against ICBMs and the infamous Shahed drones. Learning exactly how these defence systems could be improved after a Shahed exploded close to his apartment, he built Arlo Industries around the core philosophy that conflict should be concise & precise.\r\n\r\nThe people behind Arlo1 includes a PhD in drones and autonomy and military experts.\r\n\r\nArlo Industries has actively showcased this technology directly to Ukrainian militaries on the frontlines, as well as to operators across Europe and the USA.", "one_liner": "Track drones and missiles without radars - Accurate, Passive, Scalable", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1778901342, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Spring 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/spring-2026/arlo-industries.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/109767109/", "x_url": "https://x.com/deoarlo", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9516f2cea09963c1b9ba307c35589a5d194c61c0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/8c30398e6fbec40fc7ceb036a37a0024c0926d77.png", "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/c2bbb6ca28e8561d0326f8b86f11ce2c2bbb1a06.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Andrew Miklas", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/andrew-miklas" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 836806, "full_name": "Deo Arlo (Iron Dome Guy)", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Deo is the Founder and CEO of Arlo Industries. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Technion Israel (birthplace of the Iron Dome) and lived there for over 6 years under multiple wars. As a Robotics Researcher at Technion, he developed and patented a novel robotic invention that spun out into a venture-backed company. Before Arlo Industries, he was the Co-founder and CTO of Makrverse, a funded platform helping engineers own and commercialise their inventions.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/deoarlo", "x_url": "https://x.com/deoarlo", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9af3f2e9119170995152885140fc223f0d1b75f5.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 95369, "title": "Perception Engineer (Edge CV/AI)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries/jobs/MdmYa3Z-perception-engineer-edge-cv-ai", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Troy, NY, US / Remote (Kyiv, Kyiv city, UA; Helsinki, Uusimaa, FI)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$100K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Python", "TensorFlow", "Distributed Systems", "Deep Learning", "CUDA", "GPU Programming", "OpenCV", "Computer Vision", "Embedded Linux", "Firmware", "Machine learning", "Sensor integration" ] }, { "id": 95372, "title": "Communications & Networking Engineer (Mesh / RF / Edge Systems)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries/jobs/RZXGfgu-communications-networking-engineer-mesh-rf-edge-systems", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Troy, NY, US / Remote (Kyiv, Kyiv city, UA; Helsinki, Uusimaa, FI)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.25% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Python", "TCP/IP", "Distributed Systems", "Software Architecture", "Information Security", "Embedded Linux", "Firmware", "Internet of Things (IoT)", "Microcontrollers", "Sensor integration" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 101954, "title": "Arlo Industries: We track drones and missiles without radar 🚀", "tagline": "We build sensors that track drones & missiles better than radars", "body": "---\n\n**Hi, I'm Deo, founder of [Arlo Industries](https://arlo1.com/).**\n\n\n\n**The problem**\n\nModern air defence depends on active radars: expensive, emitting, and targetable. A single ground-based radar unit can cost tens of millions, broadcasts its location to anything listening, and leaves massive coverage gaps against low-altitude threats like drones.\n\nThis architecture was built for a different era. Today's threat, swarms of cheap drones and cruise missiles flying below radar coverage, exploits every weakness of centralised, active sensing.\n\n**What we're building**\n\nMentat is a passive, distributed sensing network.\n\n* **Tracks aerial objects in 3D without emitting**: invisible to the threats it detects\n* **Accurately track smaller threats**: our mesh works together to better pinpoint small targets\n* **Scales via many low-cost nodes**: instead of a few high-value targets, we employ asymmetric economics where adding nodes grows linearly in cost but tracking accuracy increases exponentially\n\nWe're the sensing layer, the force multiplier for every interceptor and C-UAS system in the market.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101954&key=user_uploads/836806/ddbe92c9-897d-4e52-90ab-c8574ed7335c)\n\n**What we're really building**\n\nDrone detection is our wedge, not our ceiling. The real innovation isn't in any single sensor, it's in the network that ties it all together. We're building the foundational sensing and communications infrastructure layer for frontline defence. A distributed, resilient network that future defence technologies will plug into. Like the **Starlink before the Starship.**\n\n**Why now**\n\nLow-altitude airspace is increasingly contested. Ukraine, Nordics, Eastern Europe, & Middle East, operators everywhere are discovering that the cost curve of traditional radar doesn't scale against distributed drone threats. At the same time, edge compute, distributed systems, and passive optical sensing have reached the point where a fundamentally different architecture is viable.\n\n**Backstory**\n\nI spent 6+ years in Israel, living through multiple conflicts and seeing systems like Iron Dome operate against ballistic missiles and drones firsthand. When a Shahed drone exploded near my apartment, the gap between what exists and what's needed became personal. Since then, I've been in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe, working directly with military operators and validating in real conflict environments.\n\n📍Field Test - Ukraine\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=101954&key=user_uploads/836806/b380d961-dde4-4e50-b6eb-1cbf708e6d3c)\n\n**Traction**\n\n* Active technology demonstrations with Ukrainian military on the frontlines\n* Partnerships and military relationships across USA, Ukraine, Finland, and Estonia.\n* Team includes a PhD in drones/autonomy and military domain experts\n\n**Our asks**\n\n🔧 **Hiring:** We're looking for engineers in optics, signal processing, long-range comms, mesh networks, and off-grid embedded systems → [Jobs page](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/arlo-industries/jobs)\n\n🤝 **Intros:** Defense operators, C-UAS companies, or critical infrastructure partners (airports, energy, borders) dealing with aerial awareness gaps → please reach out on [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/deoarlo/)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/QWQ-arlo-industries-we-track-drones-and-missiles-without-radar", "votes": 55, "created_at": "2026-05-26T05:39:42.686Z" } ] }, { "id": 31582, "name": "Edgerun", "slug": "edgerun", "former_names": [ "Edgerun Industries" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8fb84bc8b7f8d02b776dec7685bbaf102fdadf1c.png", "website": "https://edgerun.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Edgerun builds military exoskeletons. The first product is a 10-pound hip system that fits over existing kit and doubles a soldier’s range. Since April 2026, Edgerun built over a dozen iterations of their product through continuous field tests with Ukrainian fighters and secured $150M+ in LOIs. Founder David Venegas previously co-founded Durin (autonomous mining robotics) and worked at Stoke Space (at 19) and Hadrian. He is a high-school dropout, state-championship runner, adventure athlete, and pilot. Edgerun is a Y Combinator company backed by General H.R. McMaster, Cyan Banister, Joshua Steinman and Jason Miller. edgerun.com", "one_liner": "Military exoskeletons", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1787343759, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/edgerun.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/edgerun", "x_url": "https://x.com/edgerun_inc", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/edgerun-industries", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8fb84bc8b7f8d02b776dec7685bbaf102fdadf1c.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1393855, "full_name": "David Venegas", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder of Edgerun, pro-human expansionist, state-championship runner, adventure athlete, and pilot.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-venegas-m/", "x_url": "https://x.com/davidvenegas", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c10fbaaf669d694298a5fa036ff23e69baf933f4.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 109346, "title": "Principal Engineer, Embedded Systems", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/6Pn7CiI-principal-engineer-embedded-systems", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$220 - $325", "equity_range": "0.75% - 2.00%", "experience": "11+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Firmware" ] }, { "id": 109347, "title": "Mechanical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/ugTXhoh-mechanical-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Mechanical", "salary_range": "$120 - $180", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "CAD Design", "Design systems" ] }, { "id": 109348, "title": "Electrical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/6YuWGTT-electrical-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$120 - $180", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "PCB design" ] }, { "id": 109349, "title": "Firmware Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/0LmpEaM-firmware-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Embedded systems", "salary_range": "$140 - $190", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "C++", "Firmware" ] }, { "id": 109350, "title": "Software Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/U3cSW0r-software-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$150 - $200", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Amazon Web Services (AWS)", "C", "C++", "Python", "Data Warehousing", "Data Analytics" ] }, { "id": 110829, "title": "Supply Chain Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/edgerun/jobs/Ecz1f6N-supply-chain-engineer", "location": "Palo Alto, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$110 - $160", "equity_range": "0.25% - 0.75%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 112214, "title": "Edgerun: The 10 lb Military Exoskeleton", "tagline": "Powered exoskeleton that assists every step a soldier takes under combat load", "body": "**TL;DR:** Edgerun builds powered legs for soldiers. A 10 lb exoskeleton worn at the waist that adds assistance to every step and cuts the effort of moving under a combat load by 30-45%. Since May, we've run 100+ field tests with Ukrainian operators out of our Kyiv field office.\n\n\n\n**▍The problem**\n\nEvery system on the modern battlefield has been upgraded. The human carrying it has not.\n\n* For 2,500 years the soldier's load sat around 40 lbs. In the last 40 years it **doubled, then doubled again**.\n* A US infantryman now carries **90-140 lbs** into a fight. The Army's own field manual sets the limit at 48 lbs.\n* On deployment, load carriage causes **twice as many** evacuations as enemy contact.\n* The Pentagon and VA spend **$9.3B a year** on the injuries it leaves behind.\n\nBattles are won through speed and surprise. Load kills both.\n\n**▍Why now**\n\nSixty years of military exoskeletons died the same death. The device cost more to carry than it gave back. SOCOM's TALOS burned $400M before it was cancelled in 2019.\n\nThat all changed in the last 18 months. The humanoid robotics boom produced one-pound actuators that put out 30+ Nm of torque, and 21700 cells crossed 450 Wh/kg. The components finally exist. They’re getting better every quarter.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/cd255b24-3429-4270-9670-e28fc8df360b)\n\n**▍What we built**\n\nOur first exoskeleton is a bilateral hip system worn at the waist. It reads your gait in real time and adds torque at the moment your hip drives forward. The hip produces about 60% of the force in loaded walking, so assisting it gives the most help-per-pound of anything you could strap to the body.\n\n* Under 10 lbs with batteries\n* 30-45% less metabolic cost under a combat load\n* On in 5 seconds, off in one\n* 12+ hours on hot-swappable drone-class batteries\n* Quasi-direct-drive actuators, composite structures, CAN bus. Nothing exotic by design.\n\nThe soldier arrives at the objective still able to fight, patrols 10 km farther, and keeps a body that lasts past one tour.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/94bf48a9-0ba6-4ce7-94a2-f467cae9657c)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/883d1e98-900a-420a-b7ff-e56cc8911c0c)\n\n**▍Ukraine**\n\nOur field engineers work out of a Kyiv office, alongside operators from infantry, special operations, and National Guard units who provide structured feedback every day. [Balistyka](https://balistyka.ua/), one of Ukraine's leading body armor makers, is an integration partner, helping us ensure our system fits the kit soldiers already wear.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=112214&key=user_uploads/1393855/89a30d39-fe11-421c-abe7-32961da8d1bd)\n\n**▍The mission**\n\nDefense is the first customer, not the last. Read the mission at edgerun.com/mission", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/TBu-edgerun-the-10-lb-military-exoskeleton", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2026-08-25T16:19:00.453Z" } ] }, { "id": 32128, "name": "Mass Magnetics", "slug": "mass-magnetics", "former_names": [ "Mass Energy Company" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26161cef0e683292e39a5da2d6258b38702473a0.png", "website": "https://massmagnetics.com/", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "Mass Magnetics turns recycled rare-earth scrap into high-performance permanent magnets, made in America. The materials we supply are the backbone of electric motors, sensors, speakers, hard drives, and electronics.\r\nOur process enables DFARS-compliant magnets for defense, aerospace, and industrial manufacturers who demand domestic supply without compromising on quality.\r\nOperations in Greater Boston, MA (Greentown Labs) and Columbus, IN.", "one_liner": "USA-made magnetics for robotics and defense. ", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1786735839, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Drones", "Manufacturing", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/mass-magnetics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/mass-magnetics.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26161cef0e683292e39a5da2d6258b38702473a0.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Vivian Midha Shen", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/vivian-midha%20shen" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3652354, "full_name": "Eric Silver", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Mass Magnetics. Worked in pilot cathode production for lithium-sulfur battery chemistries. Now I'm fixing American magnet supply chains. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/energyeric/", "x_url": "https://x.com/2998x10tothe8", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c8160b42bdee61a0dff0fef65dd723b8cae326e3.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3637161, "full_name": "Matthew Groll", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO at Mass Magnetics. Former NASA/Columbia/MIT. Previously worked on thermal systems and guidance/navigation at NASA Johnson Space Center for ISS and Artemis lunar missions. Also previously worked as a Member of Technical Staff at Draper Laboratory. Studied Mechanical Engineering at Columbia, captaining the Formula SAE team and Robotics Club, then earned a Masters in Manufacturing from MIT.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-groll/", "x_url": "https://x.com/matthewxgroll", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/68e632830dda51ab14dec0fac18967c93ed5c8ed.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 110611, "title": "Mass Magnetics: USA-made magnets", "tagline": "Vertically integrated magnet manufacturing for aerospace, robotics and defense.", "body": "### **TL:DR; Mass Magnetics makes American magnets in minutes.**\n\n🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲🧲\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=110611&key=user_uploads/3652354/be41c9e5-378d-452f-a111-10380035f14d)\n\n**Every electric motor runs on rare-earth magnets.** EVs, drones, robots, wind turbines, guided munitions: nearly all of them are dependent on Chinese magnets. On January 1st, 20270, [regulation changes will make it illegal to deliver anything that walks, drives, or flies to US Defense if it contains a magnet produced in covered countries like China.](https://www.massmagnetics.com/comply) The domestic supply chain meant to replace it doesn't exist yet. **Mines take a decade to permit, and the ore they pull up leaves radioactive tailings behind, making permitting magnet mining a nightmare.**\n\nWe’re[ ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/energyeric)the founders, [Eric Silver](https://x.com/metalscontent) and [Matthew Grol](https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-groll/)l (left and right in the pic below). We’ve known each other since grade school. Since then, Eric’s built multiple battery pilot production lines and materials science labs in the Midwest for NSF-funded companies. Matthew’s built exquisite aerospace gear including Moon-regolith melters and ultra-precise guidance systems for the world’s foremost labs at NASA, Draper, and MIT. **Together we’re making one bet: America's rare-earth problem isn't a mining problem.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=110611&key=user_uploads/3652354/2046e9de-2db6-47e8-91fc-651e31e5a834)\n\n**Mass Magnetics’ unfair advantage is sitting in end-of-life electric vehicles, hard drives, and industrial equipment.** The team uses AI models and robotics trained on real scrap to sort metallurgy by exact grade and chemistry. Then, a rapid-sintering process takes that reclaimed mass to a finished magnet in 3 minutes, where conventional approaches take over 4 hours. The result is a magnet as strong as anything imported, with no radioactive footprint or bureaucratic permitting, fully compliant for US defense.\n\n**If you build robots, drones or motors visit our site and reach out at [outreach@massmagnetics.com](mailto:outreach@massmagnetics.com) and get your magnets.**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=110611&key=user_uploads/3652354/797eff3c-6d9d-4ffc-894b-664aece1ba74)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Sm3-mass-magnetics-usa-made-magnets", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2026-08-18T14:30:00.079Z" } ] }, { "id": 32168, "name": "Synapse Semiconductor", "slug": "synapse-semiconductor", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/37650fbbc73ea1ea0b895fd819e93836825d1520.png", "website": "https://synapsesemi.org", "all_locations": "Durham, NC, USA", "long_description": "We want to push machines to where humans cant go. \r\nPresidential early career award winning Duke Semiconductor ECE Faculty Tania Roy and Sanjeev Chauhan are building a frontier semiconductor research lab. Their focus is on solving physical AI challenges from the semiconductor device level and building products around the moat of impossible to copy innovation. Their first work is on a new vision sensor that can run neural network filters right in the camera pixels and only collect data that machines care about. As physical AI develops, machines needs to understand the world around them if they aim to interact with them.\r\n", "one_liner": "New semiconductors that merge compute and vision", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1785109099, "tags": [ "Edge Computing Semiconductors", "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Defense", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/synapse-semiconductor", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/synapse-semiconductor.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "Durham", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/synapse-semiconductor/", "x_url": "https://x.com/SynapseSemi", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/37650fbbc73ea1ea0b895fd819e93836825d1520.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1383306, "full_name": "Sanjeev Chauhan", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "I like to break things and build things\n\n2 IEDM publications, 3 years Seed Stage VC, scaled deaplearning.com to 300k users, Stanford Linear Accelerator National Lab ML Researcher, IPAC 1st Author", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/sanjeev-one", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ed6ba01db61837566ea4234d9d7ec34da6e0e4c1.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3682345, "full_name": "Tania Roy", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Academic by profession, entrepreneur by nature. Love to control the user interface to reality.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tania-roy-ba272b24/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/22e5f2656b361e2b88271fcd468b9cc08d0ba91f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 106484, "title": "Founding Engineer - RETINA", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/synapse-semiconductor/jobs/T7HUC4J-founding-engineer-retina", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / Durham, NC, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$1M", "equity_range": "10.00%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Verilog", "VHDL", "Computer Vision" ] } ], "news": [ { "title": "Duke ECE Hardware Startup Selected for Y Combinator | Duke Pratt School of Engineering", "url": "https://pratt.duke.edu/news/synapse-semiconductor-y-combinator/", "date": "Jun 08, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 107691, "title": "Synapse Semiconductor: We put a neural network inside the camera pixel.", "tagline": "Semiconductors to push machines where humans cant go.", "body": "\n\n**TLDR:** Synapse Semiconductor builds image sensors that process **AI on the sensor** itself. Each pixel captures light and runs neural-network computation in the same device, replacing the need for a GPU while cutting the power and latency of edge vision.\\\n\\\n\\\nA camera has no use by itself. Its value is only when its information gets evaluated. How can a camera that only has value when combined with a GPU support local intelligence? GPUs will get better, yet the fundamental problem is the separation of the camera and the GPU. Solving that separation will unlock bountiful innovation in machine perception. \n\n**RETINA: a chip designed like the human retina which runs neural network operations in the camera pixel.** \n\n\\\nWe have compressed the whole edge AI vision hardware stack into **one wafer**. CNNS, VLMS, etc can run on just one chip that senses light. Our compute transistors are also the same photosensors that see light. There is no longer separation between compute (Nvidia Jetson Nano) and a camera (RealSense Depth Camera). \\\n\\\nIf you are building robotic perception, drones, and vision systems for physical AI —> [book.synapsesemi.org](http://book.synapsesemi.org)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=107691&key=user_uploads/1383306/bfa2012d-1c74-47b5-bdad-3127e94cd8bf)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/S0x-synapse-semiconductor-we-put-a-neural-network-inside-the-camera-pixel", "votes": 57, "created_at": "2026-07-27T03:40:58.979Z" } ] }, { "id": 32192, "name": "Rise Reforming", "slug": "rise-reforming", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5b908857ac82ef0d2a3b793f89fa198298587f8a.png", "website": "https://rise-reforming.com/home", "all_locations": "Chicago, IL, USA", "long_description": "Geopolitical conflicts and natural disasters frequently expose the vulnerability of the American chemical industry. The reason? Production is centralized and fossil fuel-dependent. The solution? Localized production using an undervalued resource: biogas. The US produces enough biogas to make over $20 bn/y worth of chemicals, but 60% is wasted in low-margin applications or flared altogether.\r\n\r\nRise Reforming is commercializing a modular process to transform this underutilized biogas on-site into cheap, supply-secure chemicals. Our beachhead market is dimethyl ether (DME), used as an aerosol propellant and a low-carbon fuel additive in propane. Our target market is methanol: an established billion $ chemical and the future of low-carbon shipping.\r\n\r\nWe're doing our pilot project at a Chicagoland wastewater plant. This will be the first wastewater biogas-to-methanol demo in the Americas.\r\n\r\nWe're hiring for a senior chemical process engineer. Apply here: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rise-reforming/jobs/wJ9Q9nv-senior-chemical-process-engineer", "one_liner": "We turn waste gases into supply-secure chemicals ", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Climate", "launched_at": 1783464355, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Smart Waste Management", "Alternative Fuels", "Renewable Energy", "ClimateTech" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Climate" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/rise-reforming", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/rise-reforming.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "Chicago", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/risereforming", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/5b908857ac82ef0d2a3b793f89fa198298587f8a.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jared Friedman", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jared-friedman" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3646927, "full_name": "George Rose", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CEO at Rise Reforming (S26). Previously @ Nexamp, Highland Electric Fleets, Mantel Capture, GenH. Background in Molecular Engineering @ UChicago.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-rose25/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ee413aabedd5216b24ad28029e4413061ab156fa.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3620299, "full_name": "Lucas Zubillaga", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder & CTO at Rise Reforming (S26). Double B.Sc. in Molecular Engineering and Physics from the University of Chicago. Prev: nuclear waste management at Argonne National Laboratory, offshore wind at Avangrid/Iberdrola.\n\nLed the design, procurement, construction, and operation of a bench-scale reforming unit with controls. \n\nAlso have a Spotify playlist with 200k+ saves. Check it out at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3rV2gyEKHxixpKa3IDQLvF?si=3458c33e03e84738&nd=1&dlsi=d0006826be884d", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucaszubillagamaharg/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/209b2a1f6985cd73931fc7cb16aa2a3bb8462a42.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3610381, "full_name": "Jona van Oord", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Environmentalist turned engineer. Plan on spending the rest of my life building hardware to address the climate disaster :)\n\nCo-Founder and COO @ Rise Reforming (S26), Molecular Engineering @ UChicago", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonavanoord/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e79cd2c8431a00a358ef4d9b12c2ee2e95e79849.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 105232, "title": "Rise Reforming: distributed chemical production", "tagline": "We turn waste gases into valuable supply-secure chemicals.", "body": "Geopolitical conflicts and natural disasters frequently expose the vulnerability of the American chemical industry. The reason? Production is centralized and fossil fuel-dependent. The solution? Localized production using an undervalued resource: biogas. The US produces enough biogas to make over $20 bn/y worth of chemicals, but 60% is wasted in low-margin applications or flared altogether.\n\nRise Reforming is commercializing a modular process to transform this underutilized biogas into valuable supply-secure chemicals like dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol. Our technology can be deployed on-site, helping biogas producers properly valorize their gas.\n\nWe've just broken ground on our pilot project at a Chicagoland wastewater plant. This will be the first wastewater biogas-to-methanol demo in the Americas.\n\nRise Reforming is hiring for a senior chemical process engineer. Apply here: \n\nVideo: \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=105232&key=user_uploads/3620299/89d6b5de-3729-4019-a87f-0fe27a549152)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=105232&key=user_uploads/3620299/b4ac7aec-afea-4a96-9174-ae6202812c2f)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/RNI-rise-reforming-distributed-chemical-production", "votes": 5, "created_at": "2026-07-13T14:13:24.467Z" } ] }, { "id": 32553, "name": "Nori", "slug": "noril1", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4b7cc06bfd9d08d6eae3bc20eca8c056f893bf8b.png", "website": "http://norirobotics.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We manufacture Nori: A sub-$2000 bimanual mobile manipulator that can clean rooms, restock shelves, and fold clothes. Nori can handle basic tasks out of the box, and its software lets anyone teach Nori to automate work specific to their home or business. \r\n\r\nNori aims to solve the robotics data bottleneck. By deploying affordable robots to customers around the world, we can gather the diverse data required to train the next generation of generalist robotic policies. Every user of Nori makes Nori smarter.\r\n\r\nSince launching 6 weeks ago we have already deployed our first robot and have over $440k+ in sales.\r\n\r\nWe can bring general-purpose robotics to homes and businesses that could never afford it before. There are 132.7 million households and 8.4 million employer business locations in the U.S. At $1,688 per robot, selling just one Nori to 0.5% of them represents a $1.2B market opportunity in the U.S. alone. ", "one_liner": "The most capable American-made humanoid robot for $1,688", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1783099451, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": [ { "question": "What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?", "answer": "Robots are finally capable enough to be useful, but they're priced like cars, not appliances. A capable humanoid costs $20,000+, so general-purpose robots stay in labs and pilots instead of homes. \r\n\r\nIt's a big problem because household labor is one of the largest unpriced markets in the world. Today's answer is a stack of single-task machines, a dishwasher, a washer, a vacuum, each $600 to $1,000 and doing exactly one thing. Whoever ships a general-purpose robot at appliance prices doesn't win a niche, they open consumer robotics the way the PC opened computing.\r\n\r\nWe're robotics researchers from Columbia (RoboPIL, CGUI). After years watching \\[$100K research robots struggle with tasks cheap hardware could handle\\], we realized the gap between lab robots and home robots isn't intelligence, it's cost discipline. Nobody was going to fix that from inside a lab, so we left to build it: a $1,688 robot anyone can teach." } ], "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/noril1.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/norirobotics/", "x_url": "https://x.com/NoriRobotics", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/4b7cc06bfd9d08d6eae3bc20eca8c056f893bf8b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Gustaf Alstromer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/gustaf-alstromer" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2661900, "full_name": "Antonio Sitong Li", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Antonio is the founder of Nori Robotics. He studied Computer Science and Architecture at Columbia, where he held research fellowships with the Laidlaw Scholars Program, the Data Science Institute, and the Graphics & UI Lab. His research focused on teaching robots new tasks through VR demonstrations.\n\nHe also holds a national patent for a computer-vision system, and previously co-founded Truely, which grew to 2,000+ users and 1.5M+ impressions.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-sitong-li/", "x_url": "https://x.com/AntonioSitongLi", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/31394af155bdf33ce5bb832507516ea31b4407bd.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 117560, "title": "Data Operations Lead", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/njoB5k2-data-operations-lead", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$100K - $150K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117561, "title": "Full-Stack Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/cERiSKM-full-stack-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Full stack", "salary_range": "$100K - $150K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117562, "title": "Multimodal Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/boIEFcs-multimodal-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$130K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117563, "title": "VLM Researcher", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/3VxHqDs-vlm-researcher", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117564, "title": "LLM Researcher", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/2LGcxo3-llm-researcher", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117565, "title": "Applied AI Engineer, Agents & Robot Learning", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/ZSfyL0x-applied-ai-engineer-agents-robot-learning", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$150K - $200K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117566, "title": "Design Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/XrKBJq1-design-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Design", "role_type": "Product design", "salary_range": "$100K - $130K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117567, "title": "Social Media & Content Marketer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/jVWzI5j-social-media-content-marketer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Marketing", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$35 / hourly", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117568, "title": "Electrical Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/Exs6QKi-electrical-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$110K - $120K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "Will sponsor", "skills": [] }, { "id": 117569, "title": "Robot Assembly & Automation Technician", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/noril1/jobs/qciFkKu-robot-assembly-automation-technician", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Operations", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$47.8K - $58.2K", "equity_range": "", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [ { "title": "American Humanoid Robot Launches For Just $1,688, Delivery This Fall, Made In San Francisco", "url": "https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2026/08/18/american-humanoid-robot-launches-for-just-1688-delivery-this-fall-made-in-san-francisco/", "date": "Aug 20, 2026" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 111315, "title": "Nori: The $1688 humanoid robot", "tagline": "Most humanoids cost 16k, ours cost 1.6. 19 DOF, 1.5 KG lift per arm", "body": "Hey YC! 👋\\\n\\\nI’m Antonio from Nori Robotics\n\nWe manufacture humanoids in SF, and we do it at 10% the cost of the competition \n\n**Our ask:** If you are doing any development related to robotics and you think that Nori can be useful, fill out this [form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdcHJxwXCBo5dz7IbIQ30akCu5JaD5Tbv5dP9gIQxvbJQR-3Q/viewform?usp=dialog) or reach out to me on: [X](https://x.com/AntonioSitongLi) or [linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-sitong-li/). \n\nHere is a video demo of what Nori can do 👇\n\n\\\n\\\nLearn more at [norirobotics.com](http://norirobotics.com)\n\n\\\n**Nori Specs:**\n\n19 DOF\n\n\n\n55 kg linear lift\n\n\n\n1.5 kg payload per arm (2 arms)\\\n\n\nMicrophone array + Speaker (full-duplex speech dialogue)\n\nRpi 5 4GB compute module \n\n4 \\* 720p 30 fps camera", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SxP-nori-the-1688-humanoid-robot", "votes": 16, "created_at": "2026-08-20T18:30:00.323Z" } ] }, { "id": 32584, "name": "Aerogen Systems", "slug": "aerogen-systems", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/235b4dc8ef4a94e38d79ce892c9d55184a2b0224.png", "website": "https://www.aerogensystems.com/", "all_locations": "Ann Arbor, MI, USA", "long_description": "We are building the future of chip manufacturing.\r\n\r\nChips are more advanced than ever, and the features inside them keep getting smaller. But the cleanroom infrastructure supporting their manufacture has not scaled at the same pace. Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and others spend billions building and operating massive cleanrooms, only to isolate their most advanced wafers from the surrounding facility as much as possible.\r\n\r\nWe think that architecture is backwards. Instead of making the entire building cleaner, why not make the machinery itself as clean as possible?\r\n\r\nTalos is our proprietary tool-integrated purification system. It sits directly inside semiconductor equipment and continuously destroys airborne molecular contaminants before they reach the wafer. Instead of fighting contamination by constantly flooding tools with ultra-high-purity nitrogen, Talos keeps the environment inside the machine 10–100x cleaner, without the massive purge-gas bill.\r\n\r\nTalos is powerful on its own, but it is also the foundation for a much bigger vision: the Cleanpipe.\r\n\r\nThe Aerogen Systems Cleanpipe is an ultra-clean interconnect infrastructure that protects wafers as they move from machine to machine across the fab. Rather than relying on a billion-dollar cleanroom to protect every cubic foot of factory space, Cleanpipe creates a controlled environment only where cleanliness actually matters: around the wafer.\r\n\r\nTalos cleans the tools. Cleanpipe connects them. Eventually, we delete the cleanroom and build more advanced chips, at greater scale, with radically less infrastructure. With cleanpipes connecting tools, chip fabs can exist anywhere.", "one_liner": "Modernizing Chip Manufacturing Infrastructure", "team_size": 4, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1786900126, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "B2B", "Manufacturing", "Semiconductors" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/aerogen-systems", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/aerogen-systems.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Ann Arbor", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/aerogen-systems-company/", "x_url": "https://x.com/AerogenSystems", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/235b4dc8ef4a94e38d79ce892c9d55184a2b0224.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/e2f1aeb38c2211e11ef666f05de7b888fd393137.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jon Xu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jon-xu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3388722, "full_name": "Noah Vogel", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO at Aerogen Systems. Previously engineering intern at SpaceX building Starship actuators and at Draper developing advanced mission simulators. BSE Aerospace Engineering from University of Michigan.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahvogel/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5153adbbedb2cd7f09db195d1d63de5e64513dea.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3422652, "full_name": "Colin Lavery", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CTO of Aerogen Systems. Previously an electrical engineer at H3D, developing 3D gamma ray imaging systems. BSE Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-lavery-67b7512a3/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/3b3f944b8190b3fbc2ca61bd6963d1d3707c6976.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 111026, "title": "Aerogen Systems: Building Chip Fabs Without Cleanrooms", "tagline": "Redefining the architecture behind chip manufacturing", "body": "Hi YC!\n\nWe’re [Noah](https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahvogel/) and [Colin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-lavery-67b7512a3/), the founders of [Aerogen Systems](https://www.aerogensystems.com/). We’re building the next generation of clean infrastructure for chip manufacturing.\n\n**TL;DR:** Aerogen Systems makes semiconductor tools clean themselves. Talos, our tool-integrated purification system, continuously destroys airborne contaminants around the wafer, creating 10–100x cleaner tool environments while reducing dependence on ultra-high-purity nitrogen. Over time, Talos becomes the foundation for the Cleanpipe, an ultra-clean interconnect network that lets wafers move between tools without depending on the surrounding cleanroom.\n\n\n\n# **The Problem**\n\n**Chip features keep getting smaller, but cleanrooms do not scale with them.**\n\nSemiconductor manufacturers spend billions building enormous cleanroom facilities, then spend even more trying to isolate their most advanced wafers from the environment they just built.\n\nAs features approach the atomic scale, trace airborne contaminants that were once tolerable can create defects, reduce yield, and disrupt some of the most sensitive manufacturing processes on Earth. Yet the industry's answer has largely been more of the same: cleaner facilities, more filtration, and more ultra-high-purity nitrogen flooding sensitive equipment.\n\n**The proof is in the yield numbers.** 2026 reporting puts Intel’s 18A program between roughly 50% and 65% yield as it pushed the node toward high-volume production. With global semiconductor sales projected to reach **$1.5 trillion** in 2026, every percentage point matters. Improvements in yield and manufacturing efficiency can represent tens of billions of dollars in value.\n\n# **The Solution**\n\nAt Aerogen Systems, we think the industry is approaching this problem backwards.\n\n**The whole factory does not need to be a massive cleanroom.** Only the environment immediately surrounding the wafer does.\n\nTalos is our proprietary, tool-integrated purification system. It sits directly inside semiconductor manufacturing equipment and continuously recirculates and purifies the environment around the wafer. Instead of constantly replacing contaminated gas with more ultra-high-purity nitrogen, Talos destroys contaminants at the point of use, offering 10–100x cleaner tool environments while dramatically reducing dependence on purge gas and consumable filtration.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111026&key=user_uploads/3388722/a095a4e2-31a2-4307-b8f1-bca417cb27d7)\n\n_1. Rendering of standalone Talos unit._\n\nBut Talos is only part of the vision.\n\nWith tool-integrated purification units as a foundation, we build **the Cleanpipe: ultra-clean interconnect infrastructure** that protects wafers as they move from machine to machine across the fab. Talos cleans the tools. The Cleanpipe connects tools to each other. Together, they delete the cleanroom and all the expenses that come with it.\n\n# **What We’ve Built**\n\nTalos has progressed through multiple generations of hardware development and is protected by patent-pending IP. We’ve validated the core purification architecture and are now working toward tool integrations, pilots, and commercial deployments with semiconductor manufacturers and equipment companies.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111026&key=user_uploads/3388722/a8596c2c-c29b-4271-8d92-85672dce0dc1)\n\n_2. Test results showing Talos bringing industry-standard 6N purification levels down to 8N — a 100x improvement in cleanliness._\n\nThe next step is connecting these purified environments together through the Cleanpipe, creating an ultra-clean path around the wafer from tool to tool and ultimately removing the need to maintain the entire fab as one enormous cleanroom.\n\n# **The Team**\n\nAerogen Systems started as a NASA-backed research group at the University of Michigan, where our team developed the underlying purification technology. \n\nWe have spent the last several years designing, testing, patenting, and rebuilding this technology for extreme manufacturing environments.\n\n* Noah, CEO, worked in manufacturing engineering at SpaceX, where he focused on production rate and yield improvement for the Starship program.\n\n\n* Colin, CTO, previously built advanced particle detectors at H3D and led the team through the earliest design cycles of Talos.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111026&key=user_uploads/3388722/4db2a255-30a8-44ee-928b-b07425918094)\n\n# **Our Ask**\n\nWe want to meet semiconductor fabs, equipment OEMs, and manufacturing teams interested in pilots, tool integrations, and commercial deployments. If this sounds like you, please reach out to [hi@aerogensystems.com](mailto:hi@aerogensystems.com)!\n\nWe are building toward a world where fabs no longer need billion-dollar cleanrooms to manufacture the world’s most advanced chips.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Ssk-aerogen-systems-building-chip-fabs-without-cleanrooms", "votes": 17, "created_at": "2026-08-18T21:15:05.234Z" } ] }, { "id": 32649, "name": "Daqstra", "slug": "daqstra", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/dad9cd6f305ec9c8a219f22ee7d83e68f227d245.png", "website": "https://www.daqstra.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Daqstra is the AI-native orchestration layer for physical R&D. It saves engineers in Aerospace, Energy and Robotics hundreds of man hours managing test infrastructure by connecting fragmented test hardware, bringing live and historical test data into one place, and by giving engineers an API to orchestrate their entire test setup. We enable teams to spend less time rebuilding test infrastructure and more time improving the hardware they test.", "one_liner": "AI-native test infrastructure layer for hardware companies", "team_size": 3, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B", "launched_at": 1784276991, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/daqstra", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/daqstra.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/daqstra/", "x_url": "https://x.com/daqstra", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/dad9cd6f305ec9c8a219f22ee7d83e68f227d245.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Gustaf Alstromer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/gustaf-alstromer" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2554874, "full_name": "Darell Chua", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Daqstra (YC S26). Previously Systems Performance Architecture at Rivian, Member of Technical Staff at DSO National Labs Singapore. MS in Computer Engineering from UC San Diego. Developed end-to-end high performance hardware and software systems for aerospace and drone applications.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/darell-chua/", "x_url": "https://x.com/heyitsdarell", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fcda896cbacc71f741df36a68755f8fdc284f41f.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2547322, "full_name": "Anchit Kumar", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "I’m a co-founder of Daqstra (YC S26), building AI-native orchestration for test infrastructure in physical R&D. I studied computer science at UCSD, where I led AI and autonomy for Mars cave exploration drones and worked on multimodal AI safety for vision-language-action robots. My co-founder and I met building rocket engines, and I’ve since worked across 10+ test campaigns in the Mojave Desert.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/anchitk/", "x_url": "https://x.com/anchit__kumar", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a52b0a3b2d8e6caf3372ee158748700e91fa9ce5.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 106987, "title": "Daqstra – Test infrastructure shouldn't bottleneck great engineering", "tagline": "AI-native orchestration for physical R&D testing", "body": "# \\*\\*\\*\\*\n\n**TL;DR: [Daqstra](https://www.daqstra.com/) is the AI-native test orchestration platform for physical R&D. We connect fragmented test hardware, capture every run, and give engineers an API to operate their test setup, helping aerospace, energy, and robotics teams spend less time rebuilding infrastructure.**\n\nHey! We’re [Anchit Kumar](https://www.linkedin.com/in/anchitk/) and [Darell Chua](https://www.linkedin.com/in/darell-chua/), the founders of [Daqstra](https://www.daqstra.com/).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=106987&key=user_uploads/2547322/7ed7475e-d673-4796-9462-d40f72da12ad)\n\nWe met while testing liquid rocket engines in the Mojave Desert.\n\nThe engines were difficult, but much of the friction came from the infrastructure around them. Before each test, we connected sensors, custom electronics, NI hardware, PLCs, and controllers that were never designed to work together. After each run, the data was scattered across machines, file formats, scripts, and people’s heads.\n\nBefore we could learn from one test, we often had to reconstruct what had happened.\n\nAfter talking with teams building rockets, energy systems, robots, and drones, we kept hearing the same story: **their hardware was advancing faster than the infrastructure used to test it.**\n\n## What We Built\n\n[Watch the demo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykvD67omalI) or visit [daqstra.com](http://daqstra.com).\n\nDaqstra works with the equipment teams already have, including NI/LabVIEW, PLCs, custom DAQ systems, sensors, controllers, and vendor hardware.\n\n* **Daqstra Edge** connects hardware at the test site and records commands alongside the resulting telemetry.\n* **Daqstra Hub** stores each run with its configuration, events, notes, and engineering context, making it easier to monitor tests, compare runs, and investigate anomalies.\n* **Daqstra API** lets engineers configure hardware and execute repeatable test sequences through software.\n\nTogether, these give teams one interface across otherwise incompatible hardware without forcing them to replace their existing stack.\n\n## What We’re Already Doing\n\nWe’re working with advanced hardware teams across aerospace, energy, and drones. Our active aerospace programs use Daqstra day to day across fragmented, multi-vendor test environments.\n\nIn energy, we’ve signed a pilot with a palm oil processor targeting $100K+ in annual savings by reducing recoverable oil lost through its effluent stream. We’re also helping drone teams unify telemetry, control, and test data across vehicles and ground systems.\n\n## Who We’d Love to Meet\n\nIf you lead test, propulsion, integration, validation, or hardware engineering and run frequent instrumented tests, we’d love to talk.\n\nDaqstra is especially useful if your team:\n\n* Works across vendor equipment, PLCs, custom electronics, and in-house software\n* Reconfigures its setup between tests or struggles to compare runs\n* Relies on a few engineers who understand the entire test environment\n\nWe’re initially focused on aerospace, energy, drones, and robotics. If this sounds like your team, reply here or email [**team@daqstra.com**](mailto:team@daqstra.com).\n\nIf it sounds like someone you know, we’d appreciate an introduction to the person responsible for test infrastructure, integration, or validation.\n\n**Ad Astra Per Daqstra**", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Rpb-daqstra-test-infrastructure-shouldn-t-bottleneck-great-engineering", "votes": 10, "created_at": "2026-07-23T19:42:19.138Z" } ] }, { "id": 32716, "name": "Neuromorphic", "slug": "neuromorphic", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/470f3b57cd018aad9c127e64e5b952d32a64d435.png", "website": "https://www.neuromorphic.vision/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We are building robots that can work autonomously in existing wet labs. Unlike traditional lab automation, which requires dedicated equipment and fixed workflows, our robot moves between workstations, manipulates existing scientific equipment, transports lab materials, and executes experiments using the same lab infrastructure as a human technician. We make the robots easy to manage through natural interfaces like Slack, email, and phone. Our goal is to make deploying robots in wet labs as easy as onboarding a new employee, and to accelerate scientific research!", "one_liner": "Building robots to automate wetlabs", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1786056544, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "B2B", "Biotech", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/neuromorphic", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/neuromorphic.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/neuromorphic-vision", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/470f3b57cd018aad9c127e64e5b952d32a64d435.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3607343, "full_name": "Vatan Aksoy Tezer", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Neuromorphic. Previously Lead Robotics Engineer at Augmentus, deploying motion planning algorithms to production with sub-mm accuracy and leading a team of 5. Before that, built navigation stacks from scratch at KABAM Robotics (deployed 100+ robots) and scaled ASRS systems at Rapyuta Robotics (1000+ robots to production). Core maintainer of MoveIt at PickNik Robotics. MS in CS from Sabanci University, BS in Astronautical Engineering from Istanbul Technical University.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/vatanaksoytezer/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d22faa66df9b9d4a1f2250b01fe1287fe3e28347.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2794176, "full_name": "Ege Doganay", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Neuromorphic (YC S26). Robotics and AI research at Bilkent University. Research fellow at Nanyang Technological University. Published research in top AI and robotics conferences. Won HackMIT, Stanford XR, MIT Reality Hack.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ege-doganay/", "x_url": "https://x.com/_doganay_ege", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/dda0ccf712da9c5904e6a14ea227c1d7210f36b9.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3316337, "full_name": "Cem Toker", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Neuromorphic. Co-founded ErgoFlow, building LLM routing and training acceleration. Previously developed static calibration algorithms for industrial robots at Zeeko achieving 30% higher precision. Engineering at Cambridge. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/cem-seref-toker", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/938e49a805b6e2d5c1ed6645ef6db6e8f54dcb9d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 112214, "title": "Forward Deployed Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/neuromorphic/jobs/eae51Em-forward-deployed-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Robotics", "salary_range": "$100K - $150K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.50%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Python", "CAD Design" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 109550, "title": "Neuromorphic - Building an embodiment-agnostic “brain” that makes robots fast to deploy", "tagline": "We make robots smarter, and faster to deploy. Starting with wet labs!", "body": "Hi everyone! We’re Cem, Ege, and Vatan, the founders of Neuromorphic 👋\\\n\\\n**TL;DR** Neuromorphic is building an embodiment-agnostic “brain” that makes robots fast to deploy, and easy to manage through natural interfaces like Slack, email, and phone. Our goal is to make deploying robots in wet labs and other physical industries as easy as onboarding a new employee.\n\n\\\n\\\n**The Problem**\\\nTo make robotics mainstream, we believe two problems have to be resolved:\\\n1\\. Deployment: Robots are still too slow, expensive, and engineering-intensive to deploy and adapt to new tasks and environments.\\\n2\\. Interaction: Managing and controlling robots remains too technical.\\\n\\\n**What We’ve Built**\\\nNeuromorphic packages sensors, compute, and software into a “brain” that can be attached to any robot body. An onboard LLM orchestrator turns natural-language instructions into workflows made up of reusable robotic skills, such as navigating, picking up an object, opening a refrigerator, or inspecting an area. Individual skills can be of various types; they could be AI models we develop, like Vision-Language Models and Video Action Models, or just plain code. Sensor-based safety loops monitor every action to ensure reliable execution.\n\nWe are also giving robots emails, phone numbers, and Slack access to make human-robot interaction more intuitive than using dashboards. The robots then respond to queries and take actions using the onboard LLM.\\\n\\\n**Traction**\\\nWithin a week of our first conversation with a leading biotechnology company, we deployed our robot in their wet lab, which is capable of operating autonomously 24/7, and already completed over 1500 tasks.\\\n\\\n**The Team**\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=109550&key=user_uploads/3607343/b28b023b-f328-4c5d-9181-720e96e5b1a3)\n\n\\\nCem: Second-time founder and did robotics research at Cambridge University. Previously built LLM routing and training acceleration, and did precision robotics.\\\n\\\nVatan: Maintained multiple open-source robotics libraries, most notably MoveIt, one of the most popular motion-planning frameworks for robotics. Led various teams in robotics startups from Series A to Series C in Japan and Singapore. Deployed over a thousand robots.\\\n\\\nEge: Did Robotics and AI research at Bilkent University. Research fellow at Nanyang Technological University. Published research in top AI and robotics conferences. Won HackMIT in 2024.\\\n\\\nCem and Ege first met as teammates in the FIRST Robotics Competition. They reached out to Vatan for mentorship and robotics advice. We spent the next three years building robots and winning competitions together. We remained close and eventually reunited to start Neuromorphic!\\\n\\\n**Ask**\\\nWe're looking for warm intros to wet lab, biotech, and physical-industry operators. If you have a repetitive physical process and have wondered whether a robot could do it, email us at [founders@neuromorphic.vision](mailto:founders@neuromorphic.vision) or [book a call here](https://cal.com/team/neuromorphic/meet-the-founders-of-neuromorphic).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SUw-neuromorphic-building-an-embodiment-agnostic-brain-that-makes-robots-fast-to-deploy", "votes": 73, "created_at": "2026-08-10T15:00:00.364Z" } ] }, { "id": 32750, "name": "Ultrasonium", "slug": "ultrasonium", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/734dc12d12265ba8890bf4ef5e7e564bdb629a87.png", "website": "https://ultrasonium.com/", "all_locations": "Boston, MA, USA", "long_description": "The technologies that define this century, including data centers, rockets, satellites, and robots, are built from complex metal parts. As these systems advance, the parts get harder to make. Past a certain complexity, casting and machining stop working, and the advanced methods that remain are slow, expensive, and hazardous.\r\n\r\nUltrasonium has invented a new manufacturing method to make these critical parts 15x faster and 75% cheaper than the methods they replace, in the U.S. and at scale. Solid metal feedstock goes in and a finished part safely comes out, controlled by a physical AI layer and novel control processes. \r\n\r\nThe systems that matter most, in aerospace, energy, and compute, are demanding metal geometries that can't be machined or cast and are too expensive and slow to make with incumbent methods, at a moment when domestic manufacturing capacity is a national priority.\r\n\r\nOur founding team has built and innovated some of the most complex engineering systems known to man: quantum computers, superconductors, nuclear reactors, and novel aerospace alloy processing methods. ", "one_liner": "Metal manufacturing, faster, cheaper, and more versatile.", "team_size": 5, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1785870310, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Manufacturing" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ultrasonium", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/ultrasonium.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Boston", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ultrasonium/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Ultrasonium", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/734dc12d12265ba8890bf4ef5e7e564bdb629a87.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3735756, "full_name": "Jack Qiu", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO of Ultrasonium. Inventor, physicist, and engineer with a PhD in EECS from MIT, with research spanning quantum computing, cryogenics, plasma research, signal processing, hardware control, and advanced manufacturing. First author of a Nature Physics publication in collaboration with MIT Lincoln Laboratory under IARPA and DoD programs. Former researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. BA in Physics from UC Berkeley.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-q-a1b81546/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/10afaa4d3df89c18be993661d93702c07d1f3782.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3748345, "full_name": "Hunter Brown", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder & VP, Engineering at Ultrasonium\n\nStarted my R&D career working at national labs by age 15. I have contributed to the ITER fusion reactor and CERN through labs at NHFML and LBNL. I have led teams of fabricators and designers in both research and industry. I am passionate about hard tech and moving groundbreaking research ideas into real products. \n\nI lead the Ultrasonium team on the novel and cutting edge technology we implement in our manufacturing process. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hunterpbrown/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/525b78441a81f2ea58c6801c81cc2f8643e4e421.jpg" }, { "user_id": 1892793, "full_name": "Chris Carter", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder & Chief Scientific Officer at Ultrasonium. PhD candidate on leave from MIT researching novel metal matrix materials and 3D printed metal heat treatments under NSF GRFP, MIT UCEM, GEM, and .406 Venture fellowship programs. Previously at Argonne National Laboratory working on 3D printed steel. Led metal melt pool simulations for NASA-funded multi-university project. Patent holder and publisher on metal printing. MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, BS from University of South Carolina.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-p-carter/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d2c39cf3788b615d4686293df632fc23d11aab12.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2875171, "full_name": "Alexander Urbanski", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Founder & Chief Research Officer of Ultrasonium. Former founder of the DOE-funded nuclear energy startup Bay State Energy and inventor of the Nuclear Thermoelectric Generator. Studied physics and computer science at Boston University. First hire at Phase3D - built and commercialized metals manufacturing technology deployed across NASA, USAF, and companies across four continents. Former metals manufacturing research engineer at Argonne National Laboratory. Dropped out of mech-e grad program. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/aurban42/", "x_url": "https://x.com/urban_alex42", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/453e1928db84e3ca68b98855a033c46f98ebc438.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 113464, "title": "Ultrasonium: Shaping the Future of Metal Manufacturing", "tagline": "We make the world’s most difficult metal parts faster, cheaper, and more versatile.", "body": "**The problem**\n\nThe technologies that define this century, including data centers, rockets, satellites, robots, etc., are built from complex metal parts. As these systems advance, the parts get harder to make. Past a certain complexity, casting and machining stop working, and the advanced methods that remain are slow, expensive, and limited in the alloys and geometries they can process.\n\n**What we built**\n\nUltrasonium has invented a new method to make these critical parts. Solid metal feedstock goes in and a finished part comes out, controlled by a Physical AI layer and novel control processes.\n\nWe produce near-net-shape complex metal parts up to 15× faster, 75% cheaper, and with far greater alloy versatility than conventional manufacturing methods, at scale in the U.S.\n\n\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=113464&key=user_uploads/3735756/dbd12c5d-1203-4e50-9939-980a218df45a)\n\n**Why now / why us**\n\nThe systems that matter most, in aerospace, defense, energy, and compute, are demanding metal geometries that can’t be machined or cast and are too expensive and slow to make with incumbent methods, at a moment when domestic manufacturing capacity is a national priority.\n\nOur founding team has worked on some of the most difficult engineering systems in the world, including quantum computers, superconductors, nuclear reactors, and advanced aerospace alloy processing. Between the four of us, we have backgrounds in physics, metallurgy, advanced manufacturing, controls, hardware, and commercialization.\n\nJack Qiu (CEO) completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and published pioneering quantum computing work in Nature Physics. Chris Carter (CSO) left to join Ultrasonium during the 5th year of his PhD program at MIT after more than six years of research in state-of-the-art metallurgy and materials processing. Alexander Urbanski (Chief Research Officer) previously founded a DOE-funded nuclear startup and was the first hire at Phase3D, where he built and commercialized metal manufacturing monitoring technology. Hunter Brown (VP, Engineering) began working at national labs when he was 15, studied physics at UC Berkeley, and contributed to the ITER fusion reactor.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/TW4-ultrasonium-shaping-the-future-of-metal-manufacturing", "votes": 6, "created_at": "2026-09-02T19:54:37.419Z" }, { "id": 109239, "title": "Ultrasonium: A new way to make complex metal parts, 15x faster and 75% cheaper", "tagline": "Ultrasonium makes the most difficult metal parts for the world's most important systems 15x faster and 75% cheaper. ", "body": "\n**The problem**\n\nThe technologies that define this century - data centers, rockets, satellites, robots, etc. - are built from complex metal parts. As these systems advance, the parts get harder to make. Past a certain complexity, casting and machining stop working, and the advanced methods that remain are slow, expensive, and hazardous.\n\n**What we built**\n\nUltrasonium has invented a new method to make these critical parts. Solid metal feedstock goes in and a finished part safely comes out, controlled by a physical AI layer and novel control processes. We produce near-net-shape complex metal parts 15x faster and 75% cheaper than the methods they replace, in the U.S. and at scale.\n\n \n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=109239&key=user_uploads/2875171/55d1e111-fc43-450d-a83c-2c191d88d909)\n\n\n**Why now / why us**\n\nThe systems that matter most, in aerospace, defense, energy, and compute are demanding metal geometries that can’t be machined or cast and are too expensive and slow to make with the incumbent methods, at a moment when domestic manufacturing capacity is a national priority.\n\nOur founding team has built and innovated some of the most complex engineering systems known to man - quantum computers, superconductors, nuclear reactors, and novel aerospace alloy processing methods. Jack Qiu (CEO) completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and has published pioneering quantum computing work in Nature Physics. Chris Carter (CSO) dropped out during the 5th year of his PhD program at MIT and has over a half dozen years of experience researching state of the art metallurgy and materials processing systems. Alexander Urbanski (Chief Research Officer) previously founded a DOE-funded nuclear startup and was the first hire at Phase3D where he built and commercialized metals manufacturing monitoring technology. Hunter Brown (VP, Engineering) began working at national labs when he was 15, graduated from UC Berkeley Physics, and contributed to the ITER fusion reactor.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SPv-ultrasonium-a-new-way-to-make-complex-metal-parts-15x-faster-and-75-cheaper", "votes": 8, "created_at": "2026-08-05T17:31:24.990Z" } ] }, { "id": 32752, "name": "Moving Atoms", "slug": "moving-atoms", "former_names": [ "Run Lobster", "RunLobster", "Demon AI", "RunDemon", "Avicenna Care", "Agent Insurance" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ee4bd602221f77fc05dda940b7202523dd2b9d10.png", "website": "https://movingatoms.ai/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Our first model, Atom 1, pre-trained on the internets video, and fine tuned for physics. \r\nIt has been action conditioned, so you can simulate robot actions within it.\r\nThis lets Robot Labs train their robots using GPUs instead of relying on human collected manual data that is slow and expensive.\r\nIn unseen and hard to replicate environments, this is the only path to getting ANY training data.", "one_liner": "Virtual Reality for Training Robots", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1786481200, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Virtual Reality", "Data Labeling", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/moving-atoms", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/moving-atoms.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/ee4bd602221f77fc05dda940b7202523dd2b9d10.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1776350, "full_name": "Shehryar Saroya", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Previously AI @ TikTok (Core Recomendation Algorithm). \nMaths @ Oxford.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/shehryar-saroya", "x_url": "https://x.com/SaroyaShehryar", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/eba8f18828b5f957663aea131e4a12ec89f9afbb.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2375000, "full_name": "Ahmad Saroya", "title": "Founder", "founder_bio": "Studied Mathematics @ Oxford, Trained Neural nets for GCHQ\nBritish Mathematical Olympiad Gold Medalist. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmad-saroya-a05400237/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ab9fc0f9df4310e5df12d2db3ff69d64e603d611.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 32753, "name": "Ekho Labs", "slug": "ekho-labs", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8de6c5bf64155f5dfde0293d76560b38b3e3b46f.png", "website": "https://ekholabs.com/", "all_locations": "New York City, NY, USA", "long_description": "Ekho predicts the wars, strikes and tariffs that break global shipping, and tells freight teams which shipments are exposed and what to do about them. Predicting escalation is what our team did for eight years before this - now we bring the same engine to logistics.", "one_liner": "World Model for Freight", "team_size": 0, "industry": "B2B", "subindustry": "B2B -> Supply Chain and Logistics", "launched_at": 1785301746, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "SaaS", "Supply Chain", "Enterprise Software", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "B2B", "Supply Chain and Logistics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ekho-labs", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/ekho-labs.json", "year_founded": null, "city": "New York City", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ekho-labs", "x_url": "https://x.com/ekholabs", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/8de6c5bf64155f5dfde0293d76560b38b3e3b46f.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3683165, "full_name": "Alina Park", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Ekho Labs. Previously Founding Engineer at Inca Digital, where she built a DARPA-funded AML platform, deployed across DoD, CFTC, PayPal, and more. \n\nAwarded Innovator of the Year by CFTC, prev. built Yachay AI, achieving state-of-the-art text-based geolocation (30km median error, 80+ languages). \n\nGuest speaker at Columbia MBA and Stanford Engineering.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinapark/", "x_url": "https://x.com/olenyapark", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/9565da5bd46340e43022e967896174e95bfc8264.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 109994, "title": "Ekho Labs - Forecasting Supply Chain Disruptions", "tagline": "Decision Engine for Supply Chains", "body": "**TLDR:**\n\n**Companies with global supply chains lose money to every small disruption. Ekho makes sure they don't.**\n\n**Problem:**\n\nManufacturing means choosing suppliers, booking transport, and keeping pulse on new tariffs - to make sure your production is fine. Companies tend to find out about disruptions when things break and cost them millions.\n\n**Solution:**\n\nEkho customers get an early warning AND optimal solution 1-3 weeks ahead of the events. So ships keep moving, production lines keep running, and customer promises get kept.\n\nI used to build signal detection systems for DARPA. Now that same type of engine watches 1M+ sources for the industry our phones, food, and clothes depend on - Supply Chains. What you get:\n\n* **Freight forwarders:** container-level forecasts. We’ll tell you what happens, when, and what to do while freight is still available and cheap. Your clients hear about the disruption from you, not from the news.\n* **Manufacturers and retailers:** you know which inbound materials will miss the production run, launch, or retailer order - and the cheapest fix, from expediting to switching suppliers or lanes.\n\n**Proof we’re cool:**\n\n1. When the Strait of Hormuz closed in February, we correctly predicted ceasefire dates, duration, and next steps in the war ()\n2. We already work with large global companies\n\n**Ask**\n\nIntro us to Supply Chains VPs/COO at a retail (Target, Walmart, etc.), manufacturing (Fashion, Electronics, Food, etc.), or Freight Forwarding companies.\n\n**Email:** [alina@ekholabs.com](mailto:alina@ekholabs.com)\n\n**Website:** \n\nMy hilarious twitter: ", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Sc6-ekho-labs-forecasting-supply-chain-disruptions", "votes": 6, "created_at": "2026-08-11T21:00:00.268Z" } ] }, { "id": 33012, "name": "Cosmic Robotics", "slug": "cosmic-robotics", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/610b3f44c95c65ea346121a48c57b8c81a3788ce.png", "website": "https://www.cosmicrobotics.com/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Our mission is to build a city on Mars. \r\n\r\nCosmic-1, the first equipment in our fleet, is an autonomous robot capable of heavy-lift manipulation. Its been deployed on some of the largest solar farms in the US, more than doubling labor productivity across tens of thousands of panel installs. \r\n\r\nWe're scaling in solar, expanding in data centers, and building lunar construction robotics under contract with NASA.", "one_liner": "Autonomous construction on Earth and beyond", "team_size": 8, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1783106253, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Construction", "Aerospace" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/cosmic-robotics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/cosmic-robotics.json", "year_founded": 2024, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/cosmic-robotics/", "x_url": "https://x.com/cosmic_robotics", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/cosmic-robotics", "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/610b3f44c95c65ea346121a48c57b8c81a3788ce.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 522502, "full_name": "James Emerick", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder, CEO at Cosmic Robotics (YC S26). Previously robotics engineer at Built Robotics deploying autonomous earthmoving robots in production, and research engineer at Autodesk Research building adaptive platforms for construction. MS/BS in Mechanical Engineering from UPenn.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/jamesemerick", "x_url": "https://x.com/JamesAEmerick", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/c3984e6d72a7fc6fad1faf754e9630152d5177fa.jpg" }, { "user_id": 403781, "full_name": "Lewis Jones", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder, CTO at Cosmic Robotics (YC S26). Previously propulsion engineer at Relativity Space and prior experience at SpaceX, NASA JPL, and NASA JSC. Forbes 30 under 30. BS in Mechanical Engineering and Economics from Caltech.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://linkedin.com/in/lewis-c-jones", "x_url": "https://x.com/thelcjones", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e307c9f2c5673760099031abcf82a9d8ea9dbff9.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [ { "title": "Cosmic Robotics' robots could speed up solar panel deployments | TechCrunch", "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/16/cosmic-robotics-is-building-robots-to-speed-solar-power-deployments-for-data-centers/", "date": "Apr 16, 2025" } ], "launches": [ { "id": 106899, "title": "Cosmic Robotics: Autonomous construction on Earth and beyond", "tagline": "Robotic construction equipment to build a city on Mars. We’re proving the technology by building large-scale infrastructure on Earth — utility-scale solar farms and hyperscale data centers.", "body": "Hey everyone 👋\n\nWe’re [James](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesemerick/) and [Lewis](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lewis-c-jones/) - co-founders of [Cosmic Robotics](https://www.cosmicrobotics.com). \n\n**TL;DR**\n\n**We build robotic construction equipment to build a city on Mars**. We’re proving the technology today by building large-scale infrastructure on Earth – utility-scale solar farms and hyperscale data centers. Our first machine, Cosmic-1, has already installed tens of thousands of solar panels in the field and more than doubled the productivity of traditional crews.\n\n \n\n**❌ The problem**\n\nAfter working at NASA JPL, SpaceX, and Relativity Space, we believe rockets are no longer the limiting factor to space exploration and that the first humans will land on Mars by 2034. **The new bottleneck is construction**. We won't be sending thousands of construction workers to Mars to build the energy, compute, and housing needed to sustain even a small city. **It has to be built by robots that don't exist yet**.\n\nOn Earth we have a similar problem - **we’ve lost the ability to build**. Construction productivity has declined for 50 years while manufacturing and agriculture became 10-15x more productive through automation. **The missing technology is robotic manipulation for the tasks still done by hand**: lifting, placing, fastening.\n\nMeanwhile, there is a generational infrastructure buildout happening right now. **$7 trillion** is going into AI data centers, power, and compute over the next six years, **more than the Apollo Program, Manhattan Project, and Interstate Highway System combined**. 40% of US data center projects are running behind schedule, and the skilled labor shortage is the #1 cause. \n\n**🤖 What we've built**\n\nCosmic-1 is a 10,000 lb autonomous robot capable of heavy-lift manipulation. In solar, it picks up 90 lb panels and places them onto racking with millimeter precision in any environment: 100-degree heat, freezing rain, snow, and dust. It seamlessly integrates into existing construction processes. Across tens of thousands of cycles it has more than doubled the labor productivity of solar installation, on some of the largest solar projects in the US.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=106899&key=user_uploads/522502/bb5f86ec-a23b-4ffd-a173-87f36ce6fb1c)\n\n**👬 The Team**\n\nWe come at this problem from two angles. James (CEO) grew up on construction sites, then spent his career bringing robots to the field with Built Robotics and Autodesk Research. He learned you don't change the oldest industry in the world by disrupting it; you earn your way in by giving crews better tools.\n\nLewis' (CTO) life ambition is to build a city on Mars. His work at NASA, SpaceX, and Relativity Space spans rocket engines, launch vehicles, satellites, space stations, and, yes, Martian robots. When it became clear the space industry was well on its way to Mars, he went looking for the construction robots. When he didn't find them, we started Cosmic.\n\nWe’ve brought together a team of industry experts with experience building robots, rockets, drones, self-driving cars, humanoids, and nuclear reactor operations. We know what it takes to get a machine to show up day-in-day-out on the jobsite.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=106899&key=user_uploads/522502/87f30a8e-6f83-490e-8bef-04225d1a525e)\n\n**🚀 What's next**\n\nWe're scaling in solar, taking Cosmic-1 into data center construction, and working with NASA on lunar construction robotics. Revenue and data from deployments on Earth train the systems we'll deploy on Mars.\n\n**🙏 Our asks**\n\n1. **Know a hyperscaler or neocloud construction team?** Please connect us.\n2. **Share this post** and [follow our journey](https://www.linkedin.com/company/cosmic-robotics/).\n\n👉 Contact us at [james@cosmicrobotics.com](mailto:james@cosmicrobotics.com) | [cosmicrobotics.com](http://cosmicrobotics.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/RoB-cosmic-robotics-autonomous-construction-on-earth-and-beyond", "votes": 28, "created_at": "2026-07-23T17:36:46.436Z" } ] }, { "id": 33022, "name": "Praxis Robotics", "slug": "praxis-robotics", "former_names": [ "Praxis AI" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9bc18b804ad9a5d92ef1db88e90491f98e0204a7.png", "website": "https://www.praxisrobotics.io", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Praxis captures the data physical AI is bottlenecked on: egocentric video, 3D scans, and multimodal capture from inside real industrial and residential environments. Embedded within publicly listed and unicorn-scale conglomerates, we reach 60k workers across 5 continents and 150+ environment types, supplying the real-world training data frontier labs and humanoid companies can't source anywhere else.", "one_liner": "Turns real businesses into robotics data vendors", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials", "launched_at": 1782948528, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Reinforcement Learning", "Robotic Process Automation" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/praxis-robotics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/praxis-robotics.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/130274179/admin/dashboard/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9bc18b804ad9a5d92ef1db88e90491f98e0204a7.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Diana Hu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/diana-hu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2794157, "full_name": "Rohan Seelamsetty", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": " CEO @ Praxis. Forged across factory floors, campaign trails, and niche forums. Ex Computation and Cognition at Penn, Apollo Fellow at Oxford, and Indian Debate Team (#1 ranked team worldwide)", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohan-s-1186b2214", "x_url": "https://x.com/ro_seelamsetty", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4b3e6e16cddb3da2384ce8f9439ca9ebc043d2bb.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3752185, "full_name": "Dev Karpe", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Praxis AI, previously at Wharton's Huntsman Program. Background in investment banking and supply chain ops at a F500 CEO's office. ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dev-karpe", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/f4a1fc8056a887a99633492428b5db995e58a488.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3748464, "full_name": "Tommy Li", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Praxis AI. Prev. tech private equity at Morgan Stanley. Industrial tech venture capital at Andreessen Horowitz. Published IEEE researcher at NASA JPL and PerceptIn Robotics. BSE CS and Finance from UPenn.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommyli-penn/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/0e7be9454dacfd8fa65594cc6836b90cc7e5e0b4.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 109471, "title": "Praxis AI - Training Data for Robotics", "tagline": "Praxis offers labs the most diverse environments, SOTA hardware, and rigorous post processing to train their models", "body": "**Hey YC!**\n\nWe're Rohan, Dev, and Tommy, and we're building Praxis.\n\n**Praxis turns real-world work into training data for robots.**\n\n\n\n**What we do**\n\nRobots learn to act in the physical world by watching humans do the work. We partner with businesses to capture egocentric human demonstration data, the first-person video of how tasks actually get done in factories, warehouses, homes, and other physical work environments, then supply it to the labs and humanoid teams training the next generation of robots. Robotics data is our focus, but since our collection infrastructure overlaps, we're happy to explore other multimodal data too.\n\n**The problem**\n\nRobotics is missing its internet-scale training corpus. LLMs learned from the web, books, code, and the accumulated record of human thought. Robots need the equivalent record of human action: how people pick, pack, clean, assemble, inspect, cook, use tools, recover from mistakes, and move through messy physical environments.\n\nCollecting some of this data is easy. Collecting enough of the right kind is brutally hard, for two reasons.\n\nFirst, diversity is capped by access. Models only generalise if they've seen the full range of real environments and operators, from a one-person shop to a national-scale industrial operation. Getting in the door across that entire spectrum, and across continents, is a physical-world access problem that most teams can't solve.\n\nSecond, it takes two rare skills at once. You have to know what frontier labs need at a technical level, and be able to run demanding physical operations across thousands of real sites, standardising capture and turning fragmented workflows into model-ready data. Few teams have both halves.\n\n**Our solution**\n\nWe already run collections across 150 environment types on 5 continents, with diversity from mom-and-pop stores to conglomerates accounting for 3% of a nation's GDP, and a reachable network of 60,000 workers. Depending on the task, we capture egocentric video, stereo-RGB, IMU, wrist-camera views, glove kinematics, haptics, and dense annotations. Everything is delivered calibrated, synced, pose-tracked, QA'd, and PII-scrubbed. We build and deploy custom capture hardware quickly because part of the team operates out of Shenzhen.\n\n**Why us**\n\nPraxis is built to do both hard things at once. We pair robotics research depth (IEEE, NASA JPL) with the ability to actually run demanding operations in the real world, from Fortune 500 supply chains to Parliaments, plus a Shenzhen hardware team. That combination- technical understanding of what labs need plus real physical-world access at scale- is what lets us deliver diverse, model-ready data at a cost and breadth that is irreplaceable.\n\n**Our asks**\n\n1. Intros to anyone working on robotics, embodied AI, or world-models, especially data and research leads. If you need other forms of multimodal data, we're happy to explore that too.\n2. If you run a business with interesting physical work (logistics, manufacturing, food, retail, or lab work) and would like to monetize it, we'd love to talk.\n\nYou can reach us at [founders@praxisrobotics.io](mailto:founders@praxisrobotics.io) and [rohan@praxisrobotics.io](mailto:rohan@praxisrobotics.io)[ https://www.praxisrobotics.io](https://www.praxisrobotics.io)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/STf-praxis-ai-training-data-for-robotics", "votes": 11, "created_at": "2026-08-06T22:30:00.618Z" } ] }, { "id": 33056, "name": "83 Sciences", "slug": "83-sciences", "former_names": [ "LabAlly", "83 sciences" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/08c94ab9737bf76c36b1cbac477c55b5067788ed.png", "website": "https://83sciences.ai", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "83 Sciences uses AI to mine discarded experimental data and drive scientific breakthroughs. 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Previously a fellow at MIT focused on commercializing IP out of the ecosystem, a strategy manager at Sila Nanotechnologies (battery materials unicorn), and a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Hold a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford and MBA from Harvard Business School.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-naccarella", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a9328006522cbb0cbf9cea515c5a0324457d8b7f.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3679894, "full_name": "Eric Riesel", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder at 83 Sciences. Experimental chemist and ML researcher with a PhD in inorganic chemistry from MIT, where I built machine learning systems to analyze complex materials data in minutes instead of days. My research spans quantum materials, generative models, and experimental data analysis, including one of the first generative approaches for chemical experimental data. BA in Chemistry from Columbia.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-riesel", "x_url": "https://x.com/ericriesel", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6bc3086b3dce349c94c3909537c479266d39939c.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3380797, "full_name": "Yankang Yang", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Founder at 83 Sciences. Former BCG Principal; led the firm's AI program scaling tools and AI practices to 30,000+ users globally. Harvard CS & EE undergrad. Past robotics research (Wyss Institute) and biosignals research (Roswell Park) experience ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/yankangyang/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/d0a82615e5de87cad9ef0ba0f984d1d3b0dac538.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 98793, "title": "Founding AI Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/83-sciences/jobs/Wgkya40-founding-ai-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / New York, NY, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$120K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 5.00%", "experience": "1+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 102160, "title": "Head of Data Partnerships", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/83-sciences/jobs/NR8uCdC-head-of-data-partnerships", "location": "New York, NY, US / San Francisco, CA, US / Remote (US)", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Sales", "role_type": null, "salary_range": "$170K - $220K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 108805, "title": "83 Sciences: Materials discovery from the ~90% of experimental data that never gets published", "tagline": "We train materials discovery models on experimental data to help industry improve manufacturing performance at scale and help academics publish more. ", "body": "History’s greatest ages are named after materials (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Silicon Age, etc.). The next great age is ours to make together.\\\n\\\n\n\\\n**TL;DR:** We are a team of Stanford, MIT, and Harvard researchers discovering breakthrough materials by training frontier models on decades of unpublished experimental data. **We've already discovered a novel material and drafted a manuscript for publication.**\n\nIndustrial R&D teams use us to find scalable application-specific materials that frontier models can't predict. Academic labs turn decades of unpublished data into new papers, citations, and commercialization revenue with us.\n\n**What we do**\n\nWe are uncovering novel materials that help industry improve performance at scale and stay top of new regulations. Examples include replacements for PFAS, the \"forever chemicals\" that are being banned worldwide, and finding a binder for silicon anodes that can survive charging and drop into existing battery manufacturing processes (our cofounder Ian’s work at Sila Nanotechnologies).\n\n**Why we're different**\n\nThe materials performance that matters to industry can only be measured in real experiments, but >85% of experimental research is never published. Frontier models train on papers and simulations and miss all the failures sitting in file drawers. We train on that unpublished data through partnerships with labs across the country, and it’s already working: we've already discovered a novel material and drafted a manuscript for publication.\n\n**Who we are**\n\nWe are Eric, Ian, and Yankang, collaborators for years on everything from superconductors to cooling textiles, and we lead a team of world-class researchers and commercialization experts.\n\nEric developed one of the early generative AI approaches for analyzing experimental data (MIT PhD), Ian has brought multiple climate technologies to market, and Yankang led Boston Consulting Group’s AI program, scaling frontier technology to 30,000+ users globally. Advisors: Simon Billinge (UCSB), Mingda Li (MIT), Ashwin Sreenivas (Decagon).\n\n**Our ask**\n\nIf you need better materials to drive performance and cost, especially in batteries, semis, membranes, catalysts or pharma, or know an academic lab sitting on experimental data, we'd love an intro: [hello@83sciences.ai](mailto:hello@83sciences.ai)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SIv-83-sciences-materials-discovery-from-the-90-of-experimental-data-that-never-gets-published", "votes": 16, "created_at": "2026-08-03T22:41:26.834Z" } ] }, { "id": 33312, "name": "Ethos Space Resources", "slug": "ethos-space-resources", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26c677c7621160c55e8011d6851971173fe4f8e9.png", "website": "https://ethos-space.com", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "Ethos makes silicon on the Moon to power terawatt scale data centers. The Moon's surface is 21% silicon. We melt and electrolyze the lunar surface to make raw materials for solar panels. With solar panels made from the Moon, the constraint that limits data center scaling and everything else in space is gone.", "one_liner": "We make silicon on the Moon, to power everything in space.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Aviation and Space", "launched_at": 1787528961, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Exascale Computing", "Energy", "Aerospace", "Industrial" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Aviation and Space" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": true, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/ethos-space-resources", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/ethos-space-resources.json", "year_founded": 2022, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethos-space/", "x_url": "https://x.com/ethosspace", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/26c677c7621160c55e8011d6851971173fe4f8e9.png", "app_video_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/bf-public_profile/33370/app_video.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQC4NIECAOTKCHR7A%2F20261020%2Fus-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20261020T022740Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEHEaCXVzLXdlc3QtMiJHMEUCIQDeV7cQCYWa%2ByyakJaw7aH8e0HNWEyd2tO1Fn9KHjIpkgIgJPUveNomWrSf4Oq5DPuVDY7LKeaNJPvi5F2sbSx87Hoq5QMIOhAAGgwwMDYyMDE4MTEwNzIiDJ7%2FkqUU8p5mIeDC5CrCA7F4UggTYlVYiff4mYkoYiIpXa9r%2FKkUhcKwMNwtYpcuNTEBtH5xi9Hzkl3B%2FOYmUn%2FIacrdemsB9KrtOuRo%2FccaY%2Bs%2FSuIzime%2BcYuI7%2B%2Fg2nldjcm7YPCf32sIR8EflXc2916%2FDRMbztsRKDiQDL1ZKbK6YPHJppiQyVyRrrcCFD0X7tEf0D7QgK2DIpKnu8zGLzN4oAHn6xfHIgQnynrupcJbc9cga5AURtsRl7TfSM6XaGTtp1fNogyhUKX9f%2FYIL2pg03nlhLpRpDuqHpJ9qbbVsf%2FvboDHQ4IRRkiCaWH6GZwuTm%2FaXzTPIrAlVKH5%2F0RNaaExh%2Byw4VhHEEsSkHSs4mw%2BmNAKnW2FnWuldPRw5kn3j05dqhv5fkQxdp74JTYQe5wex1YN5PCok147bSKEuieYlIgH%2FiP9NY3Ym0ZRUWuo0zL40XWv9X3L1tLg%2BYWY0fCdhDKHGgTuesmbVajzEhu%2Bg9iWLptoK63cZ4UfO8oOd6sOc09XF6lBy%2BmD%2BSVmOfDWUOzz5ELD16slDTUwml0MZsttBoLDzldUc0olkl5nCAl23UqraiUXeaeW3yLOvJn%2BAD%2B%2FM6PvmZF0VzDn%2FdrWBjqlAVRsuTd0UsfPEqyKlBgBcSJTbWkHvSj10wzTCIqvOoZ3bz1TWza43iHLTCs7u%2FHmvoKE0qG5FTOsMYhLZb5XFdRretuo%2F1BjdoZt%2Fr0dHWGT4LLkmfYrkFclUq7u0pvMr6%2FR4I41ZYdCD3cWpGAcOrCQxKJukkkU%2Fx4O0IOnvZKvXzK4OISHe4XPgWQrnAJcSBOFX%2BXRwhpFbVXOOC%2BtEw%2BR3JTElw%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=60b56f24c8f17b5459a5b8412a9a835e1539c0cf6f5658b9bcb033320edc6ca0", "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/252852e7026776dd179fcebea3781488d68578fc.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 143296, "full_name": "Ross Centers", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Lunar resource geologist. Founder of Planetary Sunshade Institute. Kardashev scaling since 2015.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/centers/", "x_url": "https://x.com/rosscenters", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a7da888d8bb4879eb5ed964886a037aa38c0859a.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3684585, "full_name": "Brogan BamBrogan", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Employee #23 at SpaceX. Designed and built the 2nd stage engine for Falcon 1 as well as many elements of the Dragon spacecraft, including the primary heat shield, Draco thrusters, and more. Later co-founder & CTO at Hyperloop One and co-founder & CEO at Arrivo. Earlier engineering roles at Northrop Grumman and Chrysler Motors.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/brogan-bambrogan/", "x_url": "https://x.com/BamBrogan", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/589e273af2b0a3ff1590082a9389e7e3a73ecb05.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 112089, "title": "Ethos Space Resources", "tagline": "Silicon on the Moon for Terawatts in Space", "body": "**TL;DR**\n\n**Team**\n\nBrogan was employee #23 at SpaceX. He built the first Falcon and Dragon. Previously, he founded Hyperloop and Arrivo.\n\nRoss is a lunar geologist from the Colorado School of Mines. He previously founded the Planetary Sunshade Institute.\n\n**Problem**\n\nThere is infinite power in space. But rockets can’t carry enough solar panels. Rockets are the constraint.\n\n\n\n**Solution**\n\nPower in space must be made in space. Self replicating power and mass relieves the rocket constraint.\n\nThe Moon is made of Silicon (and other useful atoms). Silicon makes solar panels (and compute). Solar panels make energy, to refine more silicon and power more compute.\n\n\n\n**Traction**\n\n* Completed NASA contract\n* $1B LOIs from multiple customers\n* Going to the Moon in 2028\n\n**Why now**\n\nCapital needs from Earth will diminish as self-replicating power and mass grows on the Moon. Moving up the Kardashev scale will be a matter of wattage and tonnage, not dollars. If you’re not early to self-replication, you’re too late.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/T9t-ethos-space-resources", "votes": 17, "created_at": "2026-08-25T15:00:00.072Z" } ] }, { "id": 33313, "name": "SubVysion", "slug": "subvysion", "former_names": [ "SubVysion, Inc." ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0df819d609df4c8e15ebdc21bbc1f518d56e52d8.png", "website": "https://subvysion.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We build centimeter-accurate 3D maps of underground utilities to help construction contractors dig safer and faster. With underground intelligence, contractors can avoid dangerous utility strikes and costly project delays.", "one_liner": "Autonomous rovers to make the ‘Google Maps’ of underground utilities", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Real Estate and Construction", "subindustry": "Real Estate and Construction -> Construction", "launched_at": 1783960374, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Computer Vision", "Real Estate", "Construction", "Infrastructure" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Real Estate and Construction", "Construction" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/subvysion", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/subvysion.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/subvysion/", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/0df819d609df4c8e15ebdc21bbc1f518d56e52d8.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Gustaf Alstromer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/gustaf-alstromer" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1363066, "full_name": "Maxwell Stone", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at SubVysion. Previously Machine Learning Engineer at Roboflow, where he built on-device inference SDKs deployed in 10,000+ pharmacies for a Fortune 100 healthcare company and developed ML solutions for enterprise customers including railyard mapping and defect detection. MSE and BSE candidate in Computer Science from UPenn.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwell-stone-2b5b6b1a0?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/534fdc481c3e4f0ac1b1ba8eb1dbfcf6b3c19b39.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3411443, "full_name": "Wenson Tang", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and COO at SubVysion, Inc. Computer Science and Consumer Psychology from UPenn. Previously Software Developer at CentralSquare Technologies, working cross-jurisdiction emergency dispatch allowing first responders to reach emergencies three minutes faster.\n", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/wenson-tang", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/6138c520a0b71cd0f533baf3b0cd765d9ffc1ddd.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 111406, "title": "SubVysion: Preventing $150B is wasted construction spending", "tagline": "Autonomous rovers building the 'Google Maps' of subsurface infrastructure", "body": "\n\nConstruction has a mapping problem. Of the $2.2T in annual US construction spending, $150B is wasted due to a lack of subsurface knowledge. All construction starts from the ground up, and more often than not, unexpected assets underneath the surface will hold a construction project back. Whether it's an unknown utility line, unexpected rock layer, or old foundation that wasn’t on any design map, the costs of delays from underground conflicts quickly add up. \n\nTake utility strikes, when an excavator hits an active utility line. For every dollar spent on the explicit repair cost of that utility line itself, the contractor loses an additional $30 per repair-dollar in project delays, insurance claims, idle work crews, and increased insurance premiums. For a hyperscale project such as data center construction, a single day of delay can cost the cloud-provider up to $14 million dollars for that single day.\n\nIn metropolitan areas, maps are incomplete at best and none create a unified picture of critical infrastructure, making excavation especially dangerous when natural gas or electric lines are broken.\n\nEnter SubVysion. We’ve built a fleet of autonomous rovers carrying ground-penetrating radar and other sensors that create a centimeter-accurate map of subsurface infrastructure. Our hardware is the first and the best to map the entirety of US infrastructure. Using our rovers, we comprehensively map construction sites, city streets, and even larger indoor buildings, at 100x better granularity and 10x the speed (with a single rover) compared to our competitors. We process vast amounts of data using machine learning and agents, and output that data into an easy-to-understand 3D scene. \n\nWho are we? Maxwell Stone was an early ML engineer at Roboflow (YC S20), and Wenson Tang built the world’s smallest and cheapest LiDAR-capable drone for adverse environments. We both studied computer science at the University of Pennsylvania. Together, we’re building SubVysion to map the entirety of America’s subsurface infrastructure.\n\nWe’re currently on job sites in Philadelphia and Texas, helping our first market of utility contractors save hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. We’re soon to expand our mapping services to municipalities and energy providers as we scale up our rover fleet and capacity!\n\nIf you’re in the energy, infrastructure, or hyperscale construction world, we’d love to hear from you at [founders@subvysion.com](mailto:founders@subvysion.com)!", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Sys-subvysion-preventing-150b-is-wasted-construction-spending", "votes": 7, "created_at": "2026-08-19T23:30:02.157Z" } ] }, { "id": 33319, "name": "Vernius Systems, Inc.", "slug": "vernius-systems-inc", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b6b4e6b2f945df4b3400a22fc1d287a788bc4215.png", "website": "https://www.vernius.systems", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We make mass-deployable radars for unmanned systems. Our first product is Archimedes, a radar seeker that finds and locks onto targets, enabling autonomous intercept on any drone. We have over $580M in LOIs for Archimedes, across some of the largest defense primes in Ukraine, the EU, and the Middle East.\r\n\r\nSeekers are the most critical and costly component in every autonomous interceptor. Developing a radar seeker takes a 200+ person team at Raytheon and hundreds of millions of dollars. Archimedes is 100x cheaper than existing radar seekers on the market - and is the first product to make it feasible to deploy radars on every drone.", "one_liner": "Mass-deployable radars for air defense", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Defense", "launched_at": 1786812946, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Drones", "Radar", "Aerospace", "Defense" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": true, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Defense" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vernius-systems-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/vernius-systems-inc.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7497551262893383680/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Arthur_NC_/status/2091903458748375240", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/b6b4e6b2f945df4b3400a22fc1d287a788bc4215.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Brad Flora", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/brad-flora" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 366617, "full_name": "Arthur Nguyen-cao", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder & CEO of Vernius Systems. 6+ years RF PCB engineering.\n\nLead 14 engineers at Defense Tech for Ukraine to develop FPV drone systems now fielded by Ukrainian units. Co-founded Auctify (raised $250K, featured in The Verge), where we built the world's first AI smart glasses. Developed the $2.6B USAF B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program proposal at Pratt & Whitney. Hobbies include computational fluid dynamics, rocketry, and civil aviation.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-nguyen-cao-690847146/", "x_url": "https://x.com/Arthur_NC_", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/4373c5af412b516a25bd9d3afc5678c56a348e2e.jpg" }, { "user_id": 372571, "full_name": "Hisham El-Halabi", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Vernius Systems. Previously founding engineer at Suave Money (HF0, Orange DAO-backed), building a non-custodial P2P fiat-to-crypto marketplace used by hundreds of thousands and adopted by YC startups Shor and Kontigo. Co-founder/CTO at Auctify, raising $77K in presales and pivoting to Sano AI calorie tracker (30K users, $2.5K MRR, $250K raised). BEng Engineering Science, University of Toronto.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/hisham-el-halabi-001/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/cd887780cb538a001e6e2bb72deb018117b59f82.jpg" }, { "user_id": 409168, "full_name": "Joe Gonzalez", "title": "Founder/COO", "founder_bio": "CoFounder at Vernius Systems. Serial founder: built Plucky Labs (backend-as-a-service for AI chat), XP Protocol (scaled to 200K+ users, 50K+ MAU), and Huddln (venture-backed Web3 startup). Previously Solutions Architect at Sandia National Labs under Q clearance, architecting secure comms for US Navy Tomahawk fleet. BS Computer Engineering, Sacramento State.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jge-2a7937115/", "x_url": "https://x.com/joegonzalez0886?s=11", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/677db7a1244f2604393fb1cc01f838806ea6304f.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 111262, "title": "Radar PCB Engineer", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/vernius-systems-inc/jobs/g2rbXLu-radar-pcb-engineer", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US / San Jose, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Electrical", "salary_range": "$150K - $350K", "equity_range": "1.00% - 3.00%", "experience": "Any (new grads ok)", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "PCB design", "Altium" ] } ], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 111298, "title": "Vernius Systems - Autonomous radar guidance for interceptor drones", "tagline": "Radar for interceptor drones", "body": "[**Vernius Systems**](https://www.linkedin.com/company/vernius-systems-inc/posts/?feedView=all)\n\n**TL:DR;** Vernius builds radar seekers that turn any drone into a fully autonomous interceptor. We build and test on the frontlines with operators, under real conditions. Because of this, we’ve secured **$500M** in LOIs for 2027 from top defense manufacturers and elite military units across the US, EU, and Ukraine.\\\n\\\n[https://drive.google.com/file/d/191oElqMvXaizOijw1ZN2aTY3ckYOGfVC](https://drive.google.com/file/d/191oElqMvXaizOijw1ZN2aTY3ckYOGfVC/view?usp=sharing)\n\n**Backed By:**\n\nOur early investors include the **former U.S. National Security Advisor** (LTG HR McMaster), the **Chief Engineer behind VBAT, Shield AI’s flagship product** (Austin Howard), and **world renowned Ukrainian Military analyst** (Rob Lee).\n\n**Problem:** \n\n99% of interceptors on the battlefield still require a pilot for manual guidance. Jet powered attack drones deployed by our adversaries have become too fast to intercept manually, and now account for over **50% of all attack drones**. Autonomous solutions, like the Patriot class missiles, cost $4M per shot.\n\n**Solution:**\n\nWe build a radar that turns any drone into a fully autonomous interceptor, reducing the cost per kill from **$4M to less than $4K**.\n\n**About us:** \n\nWe bring over a decade of RF PCB engineering experience. We've built critical software for the US Navy Tomahawk missile fleet, satellites in low Earth orbit, and FPV hardware fielded by frontline operators.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=111298&key=user_uploads/409168/e627de41-d230-4320-80bb-90173e045879)\n\n**Left to right:** [Hisham El-Halabi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/hisham-el-halabi-001/), [Joe Gonzalez](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jge-2a7937115/), [Arthur Nguyen-cao](https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthur-nguyen-cao-690847146/)\n\n**Ask:**\n\nIf you’re developing interceptors (or you know someone developing them), we would love to chat.", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Sx8-vernius-systems-autonomous-radar-guidance-for-interceptor-drones", "votes": 10, "created_at": "2026-08-24T15:00:00.720Z" } ] }, { "id": 33349, "name": "Robocurve", "slug": "robocurve", "former_names": [ "Telos", "Robocurve PBC" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1cfdafb2f71eef92d986496e842d5218b330742b.png", "website": "https://robocurve.org", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Robocurve builds open-source tools and independent benchmarks to measure how well robots can do real-world jobs. Instead of relying on unverified demo videos from frontier labs, we score their models on reproducible benchmarks that anyone can trust.\r\n\r\nToday there are no well-run, standardized robotics benchmarks. Labs evaluate in-house, and no independent group has stepped in to run continuous benchmarking as a service. The result is that no one actually knows how good anyone else is, or where the real frontier sits.\r\n\r\nGood benchmarks require operating and maintaining physical hardware and real-world setups. Simulation only goes so far, since models that look strong in sim can show large performance gaps once deployed in the real world. Building real-world benchmarks means coordinating job-domain experts, evals engineering, and hands-on robotics all at once.\r\n\r\nFrontier labs are targeting general-purpose robotics by 2028, yet the field of robotics evals barely exists. Whoever builds the trusted measure of robot capability becomes the reference everyone relies on. We combine backgrounds in AI evals and robotics to build and grow this field as fast as possible. We already shipped v1 of our open-source framework, Inspect Robots, and ran our first pilot scoring a frontier model on a real robot.", "one_liner": "Evals for robots", "team_size": 3, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1783378088, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Robotics", "Open Source", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/robocurve", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/robocurve.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/robocurve/", "x_url": "https://x.com/robocurve", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/1cfdafb2f71eef92d986496e842d5218b330742b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Ankit Gupta", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/ankit-gupta" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2392672, "full_name": "Jay Chooi", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder and CEO of Robocurve. MA Statistics and BA CS/Math from Harvard. Jay builds evals of frontier AI and forecasts its progress. Previously Research Fellow at MATS, researcher at the UK AI Security Institute, and top contributor to Inspect Evals, the UK government's AI eval framework. Published at ACM EC, ICML, ACL, and EMNLP. Called the 2024 election correctly in all 50 states. Won a Rhodes Scholarship. Gold medal at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeqcho", "x_url": "https://x.com/chooi_jeq", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5df96d3283ec234b3a09c35933b2582a7ef1a067.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 112513, "title": "Robocurve — Real-World Evaluations of Physical AI", "tagline": "Real-world evals for robots", "body": "Hi, I’m [Jay](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeqcho/), co-founder of [Robocurve](http://robocurve.org). We measure and reports what frontier robots can actually do in the real world.\n\nOur launch video \n\nFrontier labs are racing to build general-purpose robots within two years, yet no one knows what today's robots are truly capable of. Demo videos of robots performing narrow, cherry-picked tasks proliferate, but there are no rigorous, continuous, standardized benchmarks for robotics.\n\nRobocurve builds benchmarks for robots and the AI models that control them, to help the world understand how far robotics has come and how fast it's moving. Our benchmarks range from playing Jenga and making a sandwich to constructing a data center.\n\nGeneral-purpose robots could arrive before the end of the decade, with far-reaching implications: accelerated data center buildouts, explosive economic growth from a fully automated economy, and intensified geopolitical competition between the US and China. Real-world evaluations from Robocurve will help clarify the timeline to general-purpose robots so that society can prepare for their arrival well ahead of time.\n\n[Jay](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeqcho/) is a Rhodes Scholar and a top contributor to UK AI Security Institute's Inspect Evals. He has published papers in ICML, EMNLP, ACL, ACM EC and his research has been featured in MIT Technology Review. Previously, he spent time at AWS Bedrock, MATS, and Harvard where he completed his BA and MA with a highest honors thesis on AI and democracy.\n\nIf you build robots or AI models, reach out! We'd love to put them to the test. Learn more at [robocurve.org](http://robocurve.org).", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/TGj-robocurve-real-world-evaluations-of-physical-ai", "votes": 12, "created_at": "2026-08-27T20:30:00.743Z" } ] }, { "id": 33408, "name": "Salem Robotics Inc", "slug": "salem-robotics-inc", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fbf386dc8fa91340ed1cce1b80613f66e88ee12d.png", "website": "https://salemroboticsinc.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Our software turns any robot we deploy into an everyday independent worker at your facility. They are able to walk sites, handle instruments, overcome obstacles, collect measurements, and generate auditable compliance records, replacing hours of mandatory manual surveys and inspections. Built by Los Alamos robotics veterans and deterministic-manipulation researchers, we started in nuclear and are already expanding to other hazardous industries.", "one_liner": "Deploying robots to replace workers in hazardous spaces", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1783052221, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Energy", "Defense", "Industrial" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/salem-robotics-inc", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/salem-robotics-inc.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/salem-robotics/", "x_url": "https://x.com/salemroboticshq", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/fbf386dc8fa91340ed1cce1b80613f66e88ee12d.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [ "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/attachments/4593ea24a36e629876ca1a48e9e7db1a683530c2.png" ], "primary_partner": { "name": "Jon Xu", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/jon-xu" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 3403013, "full_name": "Caleb Horan", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CEO at Salem Robotics. Previously a published robotics PhD student at UT Austin, developing task planning for autonomous systems. NRC Fellow. Deployed multi-robot teams at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Plutonium Division. MS in Robotics from UT Austin.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-horan", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e7cff240bcb1484bcdff91bb1419d9c25f3162cf.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3208433, "full_name": "Janak (Crasun) Panthi", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder and CTO at Salem Robotics Inc. PhD in Robotics from UT Austin (Dec. 2026). 6 yrs industry experience leading product development and deploying quadruped robots in nuclear facilities. US Army.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/janak-panthi", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/19b6a7b10bbd6739abbb938281eb9c068eebf9c0.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 108976, "title": "Salem Robotics - Autonomous robots for hazardous spaces", "tagline": "We deploy robots to perform autonomous inspections and surveys in hazardous spaces, like nuclear. ", "body": "We're [Caleb](https://www.linkedin.com/in/caleb-horan) and [Janak](https://www.linkedin.com/in/janak-panthi), PhD roboticists from UT Austin. We've spent a combined 15 years in nuclear, 10 of which deploying autonomous robots at Los Alamos National Lab, and we're building Salem Robotics.\\\n**TLDR:** Our software turns robots into independent survey and inspection workers at your facility.\n\n[Launch Video](https://youtu.be/7xObOE6knZM)\n\n## **Life and death pain worth $Millions/year**\n\nAt every nuclear facility, highly trained radiation-protection teams spend hours each day walking the site, filling out hand-drawn maps, and searching for something life-threatening: radiation. IN THE BEST CASE they find nothing, and still have to return to their posts to transcribe the data into a computer before doing the actual high-value work they were assigned. These surveys are time-consuming, dangerous, expensive, and prone to data inconsistencies that carry direct regulatory consequences.\n\nThe same pain exists well beyond nuclear. Whether it's gas-leak inspection or ammonia surveys, similar workflows run across oil, gas, chemical, biological, space, and other hazardous facilities.\n\n## **What we do**\n\nAn operator defines the work from a simple dashboard; the robot then navigates the site, handles instruments, opens doors, turns valves, collects measurements, and generates structured, auditable, compliance-ready reports. We're hardware-agnostic, so plants run our software on robots they already own, many of which sit in a closet today as \"$200k paperweights, \" or we can provide the right robot for the job. Our stack is designed for safety-critical infrastructure and comes with theoretical safety guarantees, exactly what regulators and plant leadership require. Our core manipulation framework was not possible before and is based on **breakthrough founder research** published and presented at the most prestigious IEEE journals and conferences in the world. \n\nWe're already in active contract-scoping conversations across the nuclear industry and oil & gas.\n\n**Our asks**\n\n* Intros to operations or innovation leaders in nuclear or similar hazardous sites (oil, gas, chem, bio, space).\n* Advice from founders who've sold into safety-critical industrial environments.\n* Sites where routine surveys are frequent, hard to staff, or particularly painful? We'd love to hear about them.\n\nComments, Emails, and DMs welcome. \\\n[Engage@salemroboticsinc.com](mailto:Engage@salemroboticsinc.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/SLg-salem-robotics-autonomous-robots-for-hazardous-spaces", "votes": 29, "created_at": "2026-08-04T19:00:03.963Z" } ] }, { "id": 33607, "name": "Atomarine", "slug": "atomarine", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6485491a38d727a14e926be75b62003c9f8fccff.png", "website": "https://atomarine.co", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "We are building nuclear power delivery ships to power our floating compute barges at sea. Our systems are fully standalone, have better cooling, and avoid all the resource competition that leads to local community opposition. Our centralized manufacturing allows us to deploy anywhere on Earth, four times faster than on land.", "one_liner": "Floating nuclear powered data centers at sea.", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Energy", "launched_at": 1784997775, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Energy" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Summer 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Energy" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/atomarine", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/summer-2026/atomarine.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/atomarine", "x_url": "https://x.com/Atomarine_co", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/6485491a38d727a14e926be75b62003c9f8fccff.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Tyler Bosmeny", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/tyler-bosmeny" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 697566, "full_name": "Dimitris Koutentakis", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CEO at Atomarine. 4x MIT graduate. Previously Portfolio Management Associate at Arrowstreet Capital ($200B AUM), leading quantitative research on trade execution for $2B daily trades and broker selection across $180B annually. At Amazon, designed MILP optimization for electric fleet charging, quantifying $193M CapEx avoidance. MIT undergraduate, MEng in EECS, MS in Mech Eng, MBA from Sloan.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkoutentakis/", "x_url": "https://x.com/_dkout", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/ce898826845045bb5604021ca44fae86ccf728df.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3640819, "full_name": "Emile Germonpre", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder at Atomarine (YC S26) || PhD in Nuclear Engineering + MSc in Chemical Engineering || Fulbright Scholar + Valedictorian of Ghent University's Engineering School", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/emile-germonpr%C3%A9-766045245/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/e8bf85b0bc0d2e7dce9804086a8546a8d7738964.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 107426, "title": "Atomarine: Floating Nuclear Data Centers", "tagline": "Floating Nuclear Powered Data Centers At Sea", "body": "\\*\\*We're building floating data centers on barges powered by nuclear ships at sea.\\*\\*\n\n\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=107426&key=user_uploads/697566/5530961e-115c-4010-b749-b4de1a939afa)\n\n\n\\\n**TL;DR:** We move data center campuses offshore, away from communities, onto standardized barges we build on a single manufacturing line. That gets us near-free cooling, no interconnection queue, no local opposition, and 2x faster deployment. First gas-powered pilot ready by 2028.\n\nWhy now: AI has created unprecedented demand for compute and power that cannot be satisfied onshore.\n\n* Grid interconnection timelines are **approaching a decade**.\n* Data centers drive up the local cost of electricity, rent and land, and make water scarce. Community opposition rising from those reasons has **killed more than half of planned projects** since 2025.\n\nWhat we're building: standardized, plug-and-play data center barges, built on one manufacturing line and towed to site. Moving offshore gives us:\n\n* **No interconnection queue and no community impact** because our system operates standalone.\n* More **scalable architecture** that offers **faster deployment** and tighter-controlled deliverability due to centralized construction and repeated site licensing\n* **Lower energy cost** due to **less capacity overbuild** than onshore behind-the-meter and **cheaper financing** for repeatable manufacturing compared to on-site construction (financing = \\~2/3 of the lifetime cost of a nuclear project)\n* Virtually **free cooling** from seawater.\n\nTraction: We already have early partnerships in place across the two hardest parts of this build:\n\n* **Offshore design & construction:** working with established offshore barge designer/builders.\n* **Nuclear power:** partnerships with multiple SMR vendors.\n\nWhy us: We're a two-founder team out of MIT with the exact mix this needs.\n\n* [@Emile Germonpre](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/3640819) has a PhD in nuclear engineering.\n* [@Dimitris Koutentakis](https://bookface.ycombinator.com/user/697566) has a BS/MEng in EECS, an MS in Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA, all from MIT, with deep connections to the Greek shipping industry.\n\n**Our ask:** We're looking for intros to decision-makers in compute infrastructure or data center development we can sell to, VPs of Data Center Construction, Directors of Infrastructure, and hyperscaler / neocloud teams. If that's you or someone you know, reach out at [dimitris@atomarine.co](mailto:dimitris@atomarine.co) & [emile@atomarine.co](mailto:emile@atomarine.co).\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=107426&key=user_uploads/697566/f5ce89e6-1e1b-485f-8b35-0e8c5298287e)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Rwg-atomarine-floating-nuclear-data-centers", "votes": 24, "created_at": "2026-07-26T20:34:19.952Z" } ] }, { "id": 34862, "name": "Saccade", "slug": "saccade", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/751432518cccc3177c9fa321a442fcfaf7e00fdd.png", "website": "https://saccade.health", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Alzheimer's testing today is bottlenecked around the onset of symptoms, when the damage is already done. Current treatments, including the FDA-approved drugs released in 2024, don't reverse the disease; they only slow it down. Earlier detection means earlier intervention.\r\n\r\nEye movement changes linked to Alzheimer's surface sooner than any other biomarker, up to 15 years before symptoms appear.\r\n\r\nWe deliver a 15-minute VR assessment delivered to patients in longevity clinics:\r\n• Tasks: patients perform visual tasks designed by neurologists to trigger a distinct oculomotor response in people with Alzheimer's or on its path\r\n• Hardware: our patent-pending attachment connects to any VR headset on the market and captures these eye movement patterns.\r\n• Analysis: the patterns are compared against our ML model to produce a risk analysis.\r\n\r\nOnce classified, patients can access new interventions, such as the FDA-approved drugs. They're also referred to longevity practices, neurology practices or both, depending on their stage of decline.\r\n\r\nTesting for the earliest biomarkers allows the earliest possible intervention. In some cases, that slows the disease enough that patients outlive the onset of symptoms and never face memory loss in their lifetime.", "one_liner": "World's Earliest Test for Alzheimer's Biomarkers", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Healthcare", "subindustry": "Healthcare -> Consumer Health and Wellness", "launched_at": 1791296673, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware", "Machine Learning", "B2B", "Healthcare" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Healthcare", "Consumer Health and Wellness" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/saccade", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/saccade.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/saccadehealth", "x_url": "https://x.com/saccadehealth", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": "https://github.com/Saccade-YC-F26", "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/751432518cccc3177c9fa321a442fcfaf7e00fdd.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Grey Baker", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/grey-baker" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2316918, "full_name": "Shreyas Bhardwaj", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Saccade. Prev built medical devices for hospitals; soft robotics researcher", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhardwajshreyas/", "x_url": "https://x.com/shreyasbhardwj", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/60555f50c4d0f03a61fcc2d5ac9eb26a042d362a.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 121747, "title": "Saccade: World's Earliest Test for Alzheimer's Biomarkers", "tagline": "World's Earliest Test for Alzheimer's Biomarkers", "body": "**TL;DR:** Saccade is a 15-minute VR test that catches Alzheimer’s biomarkers earlier than ever before. That lets people start lifestyle changes and new FDA-approved drugs years sooner, when they work best. Sometimes that pushes symptoms past life expectancy, so they never show up. \\\nWe’re live in San Francisco clinics, testing people in their 30s and older for early risk indicators. \\\nYou can book a test at [saccade.health](http://saccade.health) today.\\\n\\\n\n\n**Problem**\\\nCurrent Alzheimer's testing only screens patients after clear symptoms appear, at which point an individual has already suffered significant cognitive decline. New FDA-approved drugs have been proven to slow this decline, but not reverse it. By the time most people get their diagnosis, they've missed their best window to act.\n\n**Insight**\\\nEye movement changes linked to Alzheimer's can be detected up to 15 years before symptoms appear - earlier than any other markers we can screen for. Our product is designed to service those exact changes, giving patients the insight they need to act now.\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=121747&key=user_uploads/2316918/a60db064-10c6-4ca0-bd9c-29389ea2ef4f)\n\n**Product**\n\n* **Tasks:** users complete visual tasks designed by neurologists that trigger distinct oculomotor responses in people with early-stage, pre-symptomatic Alzheimer's\n* **Hardware:** our patent-pending attachment connects to any VR headset on the market and captures high-precision recordings of eye movement patterns.\n* **Analysis:** the patterns are analyzed by our proprietary ML model to produce a risk score.\n\n**Next Steps for Patients**\\\nOnce classified into one of three risk categories, patients can start interventions ranging from preventative longevity practices, further neurological evaluations, and new FDA-approved drugs. Starting treatment early can significantly slow the progression of the disease, allowing some patients to outlive the onset of symptoms and never suffer from memory loss in their lifetime.\n\n**Get tested today: Sign up at [saccade.health](http://saccade.health) and schedule a screening today.**\n\n**Asks**\\\nIntros to US longevity practices and clinics that want to offer early Alzheimer’s testing to their patients. The test takes 10 minutes. I’m happy to meet in person: [shreyas@saccade.health](mailto:shreyas@saccade.health)\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=121747&key=user_uploads/2316918/51c6bcc9-d56f-4332-be61-510f5525d259)\n\n", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/Vff-saccade-world-s-earliest-test-for-alzheimer-s-biomarkers", "votes": 6, "created_at": "2026-10-13T18:00:00.187Z" } ] }, { "id": 34904, "name": "Viraj Aero", "slug": "viraj-aero", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d151d30449f8a414c0594312df47a98193fd069b.png", "website": "https://www.viraj-aero.com/", "all_locations": "", "long_description": "Viraj Aero builds gas turbines that deliver both power and cooling water for data centers. It needs no grid connection and no water pipeline.\r\n\r\nBurning natural gas already produces water. Our patented system captures that water from the exhaust. Part of it cools the data center. The rest is turned into steam and injected back into the turbine. That gives up to 40% more power from the same fuel (cheaper compute) and cuts NOx emissions by up to 99%, which cuts permit approvals from years to weeks.\r\n\r\nWe're building a genset around our first-of-its-kind gas turbine. It fits in a 10-foot container and runs anywhere, even in the desert. That matters because two-thirds of new data centers are being built in water-stressed regions.\r\n\r\nWe first built this steam-injected turbine for aircraft, where carrying water tanks isn't an option and efficiency is critical. We're currently integrating our full-scale prototype into an aircraft. The team comes from GE, Rolls-Royce and Formula 1, and we're already working with Safran, one of the world's largest aircraft engine manufacturers.", "one_liner": "Next generation gas turbines for data centers & aviation", "team_size": null, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Energy", "launched_at": 1789861657, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Energy", "Aerospace", "AI" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Energy" ], "regions": [ "Unspecified" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/viraj-aero", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/viraj-aero.json", "year_founded": null, "city": null, "country": null, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/100603558", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/d151d30449f8a414c0594312df47a98193fd069b.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Kulveer Taggar", "url": null }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2942294, "full_name": "Joseph Risson", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Co-founder & CEO of Viraj Aero, building next-generation gas turbines for data centers and aviation. Aerospace engineer from ISAE-SUPAERO, where I majored in turbomachinery and fluid dynamics. Before Viraj, I worked on hybrid-electric propulsion at Ascendance Flight Technologies, hydrogen propulsion at Beyond Aero (YC W22). Glider pilot.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-risson/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/528aeb1bb347ef66ae4b8f3a96dff0cbe5adfafb.jpg" }, { "user_id": 2942250, "full_name": "Mathilde Bouilloux", "title": "Founder/-", "founder_bio": "Co-Founder at Viraj Aero.\nEngineer from École des Ponts ParisTech (Institut Polytechnique de Paris). Previously led the development of 6 large-scale power projects totaling 120+ MW (solar, electric and hydrogen) at VINCI Concessions and Neoen, and structured infrastructure and energy investments as an Investment Analyst at Banque des Territoires (French state bank).", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathilde-bouilloux/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/fb412b64e24d99aac836eb58fe0b575fee5130e1.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 35389, "name": "Open Actuation", "slug": "open-actuation", "former_names": [ "Pendulum Robotics" ], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/04bbecc591031b8b78b9a43b4f8c9cd329829f72.png", "website": "https://openactuation.com", "all_locations": "Los Angeles, CA, USA", "long_description": "We design and manufacture high-mix drone motors and robotic actuators in LA.\r\n\r\nDJI, Apple, and Ford don't settle for OTS components. Likewise, the teams that win the Western robotics market will build seamless machines from tightly integrated software and hardware. \r\n\r\nOpen Actuation designs motors and actuators around your robot's unique form factor and mission - then we rapidly bring them to life with proprietary software and tooling geared for high-mix machining and assembly. We've designed and built motors for top drone OEMs and can assemble thousands of motors per month at our first factory in LA.\r\n\r\nWe're doing for motion components what 3D printing has done for structural components. This enables hardware teams to build and iterate at the speed of software so they can create elegant, reliable, ROI-positive robots and win massive markets.", "one_liner": "Quick-turn, purpose-built motors & actuators for all", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1790141770, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Drones", "Manufacturing", "Electronics" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/open-actuation", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/open-actuation.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Los Angeles", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/143885703", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/04bbecc591031b8b78b9a43b4f8c9cd329829f72.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Charlie Warren", "url": null }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1253977, "full_name": "Jon Facer", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Open Actuation - electric motors and actuator mfg.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-facer-a88341145/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/5613a845c13d368aec637282de95932c4733fa86.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 35522, "name": "Hemlock", "slug": "hemlock", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9593981f6acf78f7e8d4417ca9346aed3d279da4.png", "website": "https://hemlock.inc", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Every serious robotics lab is bottlenecked on the same thing: demonstration data. The field has converged on egocentric video and hand pose as the substrate, and both are now cheap to collect at scale. What neither of them contains is force. A video of someone picking up an egg and a video of someone picking up a rock are nearly identical in pixel space and nearly identical in joint angles. They differ almost entirely in a quantity nobody is recording. Policies trained without it learn geometry and inherit no sense of touch.\r\n\r\nHemlock closes that gap at the source. Our device, the Bracelet, is a wrist-worn surface EMG band that reads the electrical activity of the forearm muscles that actually drive the hand, which means it recovers contraction force directly rather than inferring it from motion. This distinction is the whole thesis: force cannot be reconstructed downstream of kinematics, because a hand squeezing hard isometrically and a hand resting can occupy the identical pose. Muscle signal is the only non-invasive channel that separates them.", "one_liner": "Force-sensing wristband for training robotic AI", "team_size": 1, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1786491305, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Hardware" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/hemlock", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/hemlock.json", "year_founded": 2025, "city": "San Francisco", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/hemlock-industries-inc", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/9593981f6acf78f7e8d4417ca9346aed3d279da4.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Nicolas Dessaigne", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/nicolas-dessaigne" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 2947535, "full_name": "Julian Olschwang", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder at Hemlock. CMU Electrical and Computer Engineering dropout. Previously built GANs for military robotic data generation at the UCLA Biomechatronics Lab.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/julian-olschwang", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/75fddadf0197d758db2bdf896d761e96ca70acbf.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 35784, "name": "Vorelios", "slug": "vorelios", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/511019d13a19f348d6a7c3fc8a084d6b838d2243.png", "website": "https://vorelios.com", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Engineering is bottlenecked by slow, costly simulations. 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CS @ GT", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnav-kumar-tsc", "x_url": "https://x.com/Arnkum_Avar", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/a8b1bd4477446f6c99a51da89ea65761ce55d2cd.jpg" } ], "jobs": [ { "id": 107082, "title": "Head of ML", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/the-subvocal-company/jobs/RzUITdx-head-of-ml", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Machine learning", "salary_range": "$150K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 2.00%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [ "Machine Learning", "Speech Recognition" ] }, { "id": 107083, "title": "Head of Sensing", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/the-subvocal-company/jobs/yBCprPW-head-of-sensing", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$150K - $250K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 2.25%", "experience": "6+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] }, { "id": 107084, "title": "Head of Hardware", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/the-subvocal-company/jobs/XEN2HGf-head-of-hardware", "location": "San Francisco, CA, US", "type": "Full-time", "role": "Engineering", "role_type": "Hardware", "salary_range": "$125K - $200K", "equity_range": "0.50% - 1.50%", "experience": "3+ years", "visa": "US citizen/visa only", "skills": [] } ], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 37401, "name": "Theseus Robotics", "slug": "theseus-robotics", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7e2fc8bde838b206a0f59886a05a00e2d3d89335.png", "website": "https://theseus.bot/", "all_locations": "ZH, Switzerland", "long_description": "Theseus Robotics creates the OS & Physical AI to deploys humanoids to automate menial tasks in supermarkets. During the day, our robotics pick orders for e-grocery orders. Overnight, they restocks shelves with goods from the back warehouse. ", "one_liner": "Humanoids to restock retail shelves & pick orders", "team_size": 7, "industry": "Industrials", "subindustry": "Industrials -> Manufacturing and Robotics", "launched_at": 1791578688, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Robotics", "Retail Tech" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Industrials", "Manufacturing and Robotics" ], "regions": [ "Switzerland", "Europe" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/theseus-robotics", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/theseus-robotics.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": null, "country": "CH", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/theseus-robotics-ag", "x_url": "", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/7e2fc8bde838b206a0f59886a05a00e2d3d89335.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Kulveer Taggar", "url": null }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 4007490, "full_name": "Samarth Malhotra", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "Founder/CEO at Theseus Robotics. Previously founded and scaled Parts World USA from sub-$100k to $3M revenue in 4 years by building global supply chains across China, India, Vietnam, Malaysia & USA. Founded Jumps Tronic (hardware manufacturing). Worked on ML at Facebook and HP. BS in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon; Dropped out of ETH Zürich.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-malhotra", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/403466207082fcec6636388b8a98bc53905bd948.jpg" }, { "user_id": 3185593, "full_name": "Kristof Floch", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "Founder/CTO at Theseus Robotics, developing AI for humanoids that restock shelves and pick grocery orders. Previously VP of Technology at ETH Robotics Club, leading 120 robotics students across six teams. Researched high-performance learning-based control at ETH Zürich and SZTAKI. First-author publications in IEEE TCST and at ECC. ETH Zürich Excellence Scholar in Robotics, Systems and Control.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristof-floch", "x_url": "https://x.com/kristof_floch", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/0b4fc486294601139a191d8aea184d2510aa5880.jpg" }, { "user_id": 4027568, "full_name": "Ádám Weinhardt-Kovács", "title": "Founder/CPO", "founder_bio": "Founder/CPO at Theseus Robotics. Previously robotics engineer at Flink Robotics, where he led deployment of a pick-and-place system at live sorting centers achieving 800 picks/hour matching human performance. Designed full robotic work-cells and built custom pneumatic grippers. Published ML research on vehicle dynamics at IFAC SYSID 2024. MA in Robotics from ETH Zürich.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-weinhardt/", "x_url": "https://x.com/AdamWeinhardt", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/49ba95ea880e2aa533b2c69d0ea69f567dcda74d.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [] }, { "id": 37533, "name": "HABU", "slug": "habu", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/afbe75a6c02bccd51c23fca509a7ba3de70f6920.png", "website": "https://buildhabu.com", "all_locations": "Phoenix, AZ, USA", "long_description": "HABU is an AI-native real estate development firm that helps real estate investors deploy capital to build housing faster, at lower cost, and with higher yield. \r\n\r\nWe're building an internal AI-native operating system that completes 90%+ of development tasks at 95% faster processing speeds while delivering the same outcomes customers expect externally: high yield, low risk projects. We're selling the outcome, not the inputs to the outcome. \r\n\r\nDevelopers are service providers for white-collar investors: they find land, construct buildings, and operate and sell them for a profit. Our customers don't care how the projects are sourced or managed, only that they are completed on time and produce the forecasted returns. \r\n\r\nWe use agentic workflows, geospatial analysis and mapping, and development-specific workflow automation to manage the end-to-end process. The result is 5x more projects per FTE compared to a non-AI developer, 20% faster project schedules, and 10-15% lower total project costs. \r\n\r\nWe're *not* long term property owners, strictly the service provider (fee/merchant developer).\r\n\r\n$160B was deployed into multifamily in 2025 and $534B into commercial real estate overall. Developers naturally have high operating margins and we are building to be the most operationally and capital efficient developer in the country. \r\n\r\nStarting first with multifamily in Phoenix and then expanding nationally. ", "one_liner": "Like Crosby, but for real estate development", "team_size": 2, "industry": "Real Estate and Construction", "subindustry": "Real Estate and Construction", "launched_at": 1790618614, "tags": [ "Hard Tech", "Real Estate", "Housing" ], "tags_highlighted": [], "top_company": false, "isHiring": false, "nonprofit": false, "batch": "Fall 2026", "status": "Active", "industries": [ "Real Estate and Construction" ], "regions": [ "United States of America", "America / Canada", "Remote", "Partly Remote" ], "stage": "Early", "app_video_public": false, "demo_day_video_public": false, "app_answers": null, "question_answers": null, "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/habu", "api": "https://devasheeshg.github.io/yc-api/batches/fall-2026/habu.json", "year_founded": 2026, "city": "Phoenix", "country": "US", "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/company/buildhabu/", "x_url": "https://x.com/BuildHABU", "fb_url": null, "cb_url": null, "github_url": null, "logo_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/afbe75a6c02bccd51c23fca509a7ba3de70f6920.png", "app_video_url": null, "dday_video_url": null, "company_photos": [], "primary_partner": { "name": "Nicolas Dessaigne", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/people/nicolas-dessaigne" }, "founders": [ { "user_id": 1280882, "full_name": "Bryan Tharalson", "title": "Founder/CEO", "founder_bio": "CEO/Cofounder at HABU, building AI-native real estate development. Previously a multifamily developer managing $80M+ of build-to-rent and commercial. Top-ranked grad in the Master's of Real Estate Development program from ASU. Before that, long career in sales & GTM leadership, ee#5 and sales hire#1 at Mutiny (YC '18). Double undergrad of economics and sustainability. Started first company at age 23 doing environment remediation (redeveloping brownfield sites). ", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryantharalson/", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/8f526c2f44aff332100f7004be408e66792213b9.jpg" }, { "user_id": 680227, "full_name": "Junhao Chen", "title": "Founder/CTO", "founder_bio": "CTO/Cofounder at HABU, building AI-native real estate development. Previously at Meta, where I led an internal AI Ops Solutions team working across global operations, product, and policy, building systems that improved how Meta sourced, measured, and scaled data for AI products. Before that, worked in technology consulting at Accenture and managed aviation logistics and operations in the U.S. Navy. Immigrant, Navy veteran, and first-generation college graduate.", "is_active": true, "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/junhchen", "x_url": "", "avatar_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/avatars/31bca6d5626d235ffeffe6da227e18cc6d89dec4.jpg" } ], "jobs": [], "news": [], "launches": [ { "id": 117228, "title": "HABU - The AI-Native Real Estate Developer", "tagline": "We build apartment buildings 20% faster and 15% cheaper by running the entire development process on AI", "body": "Hello, World 👋 We're **Bryan** and **Jun**, co-founders of **HABU**.\n\n**TL;DR:** HABU is an AI-native real estate development firm that helps real estate investors deploy capital to build housing faster, at lower cost, and with higher yield. \n\nInstitutional Investors (investment firms, family offices, high-net-worth individuals) hire us to find land, construct an apartment building, operate it and then sell it. Every step of that process runs on an AI operating system we built ourselves instead of the legacy process of Excel files, PDFs, emails, and a surprisingly high amount of manual knowledge work that the rest of the industry still uses.\n\nWe are **the developer**. Not a SaaS product. The actual developer. We work for institutional investors to go build physical assets and we get paid to do it on their behalf.\n\n\n\n**🏗️ What a developer actually does**\n\nReal estate development has historically been an opaque industry and generally not well understood. Here’s how it works. White-collar investors like investment funds, private equity, family offices, etc., deploy about **$160B a year** into multifamily projects. They can either buy one that already operates (—> call a broker) or build a new one from the ground up (—> call a developer). A developer finds the land, gets the permits, hires the architect and builder, manages construction, and delivers a finished building.\n\nThat’s where we fit in. HABU is not a software product for developers. **We are the developer.** \n\n**❌ The Problem**\n\nNew housing has never been slower or more expensive to build. The high cost of new housing increases everyone's cost of living while also making it hard to finance a project. \n\nA single apartment project involves 700+ discrete internal tasks and over 1,000+ hours of manual desk work: pulling data from a dozen public databases by hand, calling brokers, architects, engineers, and lawyers for quotes, and tracking it all in spreadsheets, word docs, and even physical paper.  \n\nThe biggest technological jump for commercial real estate over the past 40 years was Excel. Seriously, Excel! \n\n**🤖 How HABU works**\n\nWe built an internal AI-native operating system that completes projects up to 10-20% faster, lowers total project costs by 10-15%, and lets us manage 5x more projects per development manager. The end-to-end process is automated and autonomously ran:\n\n![uploaded image](/media/?type=post&id=117228&key=user_uploads/1280882/4abab095-10ec-442f-8d93-b2fd3cd8bfbb)\n\n**💵 We are not long term property owners**. Just the service provider. That keeps us extremely capital light, operationally efficient, and lets us scale in a way that legacy developers could never do.\n\n**👫 The Team**\n\n**Bryan**- worked on $310M+ of projects (industrial, datacenter land, and mostly multifamily). Top-ranked grad in the Master’s of Real Estate Development (MRED) program at ASU. Long career in sales leadership at VC-backed startups like Mutiny: employee #5, raised $75M from YC, Sequoia, Insight, Tiger Global, Cowboy Ventures, Uncork, etc. Started first company at age 23 redeveloping brownfield sites and environmental remediation. Double-undergrad of Economics and Sustainability. \\\n**Jun** spent 4.5 years at Meta building AI data systems used across global operations and product teams. Previously managed aviation logistics and complex supply chains in the U.S. Navy and led enterprise transformation work at Accenture. Technical builder with experience taking AI products from 0 to production. M.S. in Analytics. Immigrant, Navy veteran, and first gen college graduate.\n\n**🙏 Our Ask**\n\n* Know an investment firm, family office, or high-net-worth individual (founders, VCs, executives) looking to invest in real estate? Introduce us.\n* Own land in Phoenix? Let's talk.\n* Interested in working for HABU and building the future of buildings? Hit up Bryan or Jun!\n\n👉 [www.buildhabu.com](http://www.buildhabu.com)", "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/UUm-habu-the-ai-native-real-estate-developer", "votes": 8, "created_at": "2026-09-29T18:00:00.173Z" } ] }, { "id": 37732, "name": "Hundred", "slug": "hundred", "former_names": [], "small_logo_thumb_url": "https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/f9f26995d92445a7e77c0839448bb04ca0c89f08.png", "website": "http://hundred.systems/", "all_locations": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "long_description": "Hundred is an automated inspection system for the components that make up consumer devices like phones, smartwatches, and laptops. Hundred helps factories cut waste and prevent line-down issues by catching sub-millimeter cosmetic defects before parts reach the assembly line. \r\n\r\nIn the consumer electronics industry, designs change so fast that traditional machine vision can't keep up, forcing factories to rely on manual inspection, literally people checking parts under microscopes to sort out bad parts. Human inspectors miss roughly 15% of defects, and a single bad part can turn a finished device into scrap. Hundred is replacing manual inspection with an imaging rig that scans an entire shipping tray of parts at once. \r\n\r\nThe Hundred rig blocks ambient light and uses varied controlled lighting configurations to detect defects smaller than 100µm on a range of materials. The controlled environment means Hundred only needs to scan a single good part before it can find defects, categorize them, and assess their severity accurately.\r\n\r\nDefects cost U.S. discrete manufacturers $45 billion a year, a problem Hundred's CEO, Erica, saw firsthand as a mechanical engineer designing devices at Meta, Google, and Magic Leap. She met Imani, Hundred's CPO, at Columbia University's admitted-students day in 2017 and Imani went on to spend five years at Twitch building software that handles billions of requests a day. Erica later met Iris, Hundred's CTO, in the Bay Area. Iris worked as a quant at Citadel before pivoting to study at Imperial College London where she researched machine learning on 3D meshes and other structured data. 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