PickNik Robotics Company Profile: Funding, Products and Customers
Updated: 7 days ago
PickNik Robotics is a software company in Boulder, Colorado, that builds applications for robot arms on top of MoveIt, the open-source motion planning framework. It has been active since 2015 and calls itself the unstructured robotics company. This profile sets out its funding, products and customers.
PickNik Robotics at a Glance
Fact | Detail |
Company | PickNik Robotics |
Active since | 2015 |
Headquarters | Boulder, Colorado, USA |
Product | MoveIt Studio, built on the open-source MoveIt framework |
Funding announced | USD 2 million pre-seed, October 2023 |
Government contracts | USD 5 million in non-dilutive SBIR contracts |
Chief Executive Officer | Dave Coleman |
Funding
In October 2023 PickNik announced a pre-seed round of USD 2 million led by Stellar Ventures and Cypress Growth Capital. Alongside it the company held USD 5 million in non-dilutive Small Business Innovation Research contracts with NASA's Johnson Space Center, NASA Ames and the US Space Force. For most of its history it had grown on services and contract revenue without venture money.
Products
MoveIt Studio: the company's platform for building robot arm applications, built on the MoveIt framework.
Robot drivers: ROS drivers for arms from Universal Robots, Kinova, ABB and Motiv Space Systems.
PickNik describes itself as independent of any arm maker, working with custom and off-the-shelf hardware.
Applications and Customers
Area | Examples |
Applications | Mobile bin picking, explosive ordnance disposal, and unloading cargo from space station resupply capsules |
Industries | Space, subsea, surgical, energy, agriculture, food and personal robots |
Customers and partners named | Google, Amazon, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung, Hyundai, NASA, Sierra Space and Blue Origin |
Can You Invest in PickNik Robotics?
Not on a public market. It is privately held.
Strengths and Challenges
Strengths
Deep expertise in a widely used open-source framework.
Demanding customers in space and defense.
Hardware independence.
Challenges
A small company with modest funding.
Commercializing software whose core is open source.
Current Catalogue Coverage
Catalogue checked on 15 October 2026: 2 associated product records. The links below are representative entries, rather than a claim that every historical model is currently available.
PickNik Robotics FAQ
What does PickNik Robotics do?
It builds software for robot arm applications on the open-source MoveIt framework.
Where is PickNik based?
In Boulder, Colorado.
Who is the CEO of PickNik?
Dave Coleman.
Who has funded PickNik?
Stellar Ventures and Cypress Growth Capital led a USD 2 million pre-seed round, and it holds SBIR contracts with NASA and the Space Force.
Who uses PickNik's software?
Named customers and partners include NASA, Sierra Space, Blue Origin, Google, Amazon and Samsung.
Sources
Association for Advancing Automation: Stellar Ventures and Cypress Growth Capital back PickNik
