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Robots to Automate Fulfillment
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.
Yondu provides drop-in, general-purpose robots for 3PL warehouses to automate repetitive physical tasks without new infrastructure, aiming for ROI-positive results. They focus on brownfield automation, seamless integration with existing layouts, and high-turnover labor reduction in warehouses. Their system targets mid-sized to large warehouses seeking scalable, continuous operations with reduced labor costs.
Yondu offers autonomous, AI-powered robots that navigate existing warehouse layouts to identify items and pick/place SKUs. The solution is designed as brownfield automation that requires no costly retrofits or new infrastructure, enabling seamless integration with current processes and layouts. The robots automate a full range of repetitive physical warehouse workflows, including bin-picking, with the goal of reducing labor costs and errors while maintaining 24/7 operations.
Who it’s for: Warehouse operators and managers at 3PL/fulfillment centers, particularly mid-sized to larger warehouses looking to automate brownfield operations without infrastructure overhaul.
Hiring/traction mentions appear via partnerships and mentions of pilots with Shipbots; notable mention of participation in industry events (Automate 2026) and video media indicate market traction and ongoing commercialization.
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.
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.
Yondu is the platform for robot labor starting with drop-in order fulfillment automation
Yondu offers a platform-to-application solution that puts robots in warehouses for immediate use via remote teleoperation, with an autonomous stack (YGM) that gradually takes over to automate bin picking. It targets order fulfillment in brownfield warehouses, aiming to reduce labor costs by enabling low-cost, higher-automation robotic assistance integrated with existing WMS.
We make robots that move boxes in warehouses
Practical, general-purpose robots for repetitive industrial tasks
