# Gecko Robotics
Gecko Robotics, Inc. is a Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence and robotics company that builds climbing, flying, and swimming inspection robots together with a software platform, [Cantilever](https://www.edgepedia.org/cantilever), for building, operating, and modernizing critical infrastructure in the energy and defense sectors. It was incorporated in 2015 (Loosararian began building the founding wall-climbing robot in 2012), is led by co-founders Jake Loosararian (CEO) and Troy Demmer (COO), and remains active, having reached a $1.25 billion valuation with a Series D round in June 2025.[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-25-000002.txt) • [2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-19-000001.txt) • [3](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Legal name and headquarters | Gecko Robotics, Inc., Delaware corporation; 100 S. Commons, Suite 145, Pittsburgh, PA[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-25-000002.txt) |
| Founded | Year of incorporation 2015 per SEC filing; Loosararian began building the wall-climbing robot in 2012[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-19-000001.txt) • [4](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gecko-robotics) |
| Founders | Jake Loosararian (CEO), Troy Demmer (COO)[4](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gecko-robotics) |
| Total raised | $347.43 million per PitchBook (press)[5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/) |
| Notable investors | Cox Enterprises, Founders Fund, USIT, XN, Y Combinator[3](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status) |
| Valuation and status | $1.25 billion (Series D, June 2025); operating, roughly 275 employees[3](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status) • [6](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026) |
## What Gecko Robotics does
Gecko pairs purpose-built robots with a data platform. Its robots climb, fly, and swim to collect inspection data on structures such as US Navy warships and power plants; the software side, called Cantilever, is described by the company as an operating platform that provides a decision-making structure able to predict pipeline explosions, help modernize a C-130 aircraft, or use AI to recommend how to operate a power plant at 3-5% greater efficiency.[3](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status) The physical robots inspect ship decks, submarine pipes, refineries, and power plants.[6](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026)
The record does not describe the robots' adhesion mechanism or sensor payloads in detail, so those specifics cannot be stated here.
## Founding and early history
Jake Loosararian began building a wall-climbing robot in 2012 as a college senior, after visiting a 30-year-old power plant near [Pittsburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh) that was shut down roughly 30% of the time because of corroded pipes. He has said the resulting innovation saved that plant more than $20 million in maintenance. He and Troy Demmer met at Grove City College outside Pittsburgh, and Gecko went through [Y Combinator](https://www.edgepedia.org/y-combinator)'s Winter 2016 batch, one of the earlier robotics companies backed by the accelerator; the founders turned down offers from investors right before demo day.[6](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026) • [4](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gecko-robotics) Y Combinator credits Loosararian with building what it calls the world's first wall-climbing ultrasonic testing robot in 2012, a founder statement rather than an independent characterization.[4](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gecko-robotics)
The SEC's 2019 Form D records the year of incorporation as 2015, when Loosararian was listed as [President](https://www.edgepedia.org/president-corporate-title) and CEO and Demmer as an executive officer; the company was then at 6901 Lynn Way in Pittsburgh.[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-19-000001.txt)
## Funding history
Gecko's funding, round by round:
- **2018-2019 round.** A Form D filed April 30, 2019 reported $9,133,300 sold, with a first sale date of June 29, 2018, across 36 investors.[2](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-19-000001.txt)
- **Series C, 2022.** Gecko announced a $73 million Series C.[5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/)
- **Series C extension, December 2023.**[7](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gecko-robotics) The sources do not clarify whether this extension or the $100 million amount is dated to December 2023 or to 2024, so the timing is left unconfirmed here.[5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/) [CB Insights](https://www.edgepedia.org/cb-insights) (an unverified aggregator) attributes this Series C-II to [Founders Fund](https://www.edgepedia.org/founders-fund), the US Innovative Technology Fund, Cubit Capital, and FundersClub, and reports FY2023 revenue of $34.5 million.[7](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gecko-robotics)
- **Series D, June 12, 2025.** A $125 million round at a $1.25 billion valuation, double the previous round, led by new investor [Cox Enterprises](https://www.edgepedia.org/cox-enterprises) with continuing investors USIT, XN, Founders Fund, and Y Combinator. The matching Form D reported $139.9 million sold with a first sale date of May 15, 2025, across 29 investors, with $18,365,439 remaining.[3](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status) • [5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/) • [1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-25-000002.txt)
- **Series D-II, January 2026.** Aggregator data (unverified) records a Series D-II extension dated January 5, 2026; the amount is not confirmed by any primary or journalistic source.[7](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gecko-robotics)
The totals do not reconcile exactly. Technical.ly, citing PitchBook, puts total raised at $347.43 million; CB Insights (unverified) lists $345.42 million over 13 rounds.[5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/) • [7](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gecko-robotics)
The June 2025 Form D names, alongside Loosararian and Demmer, directors Gaetano Crupi, Trae Stephens, and Andrew Davis, all at the Pittsburgh address.[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-25-000002.txt)
## Business, customers and traction
**Defense** has become a major line of business. Gecko's first large defense contract, in 2022, was to inspect 450 concrete silos for the Air Force's aging ICBM fleet, and the same year it won a $1.5 million contract from the US Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center.[6](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026) • [5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/) It later announced a five-year US Navy contract with a $71 million ceiling to deploy AI and robotics to assess and maintain the health of Navy assets, work the company said supports the Navy's goal of 80% fleet readiness.[8](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/4494415/gecko-robotics-71-million-dollar-defense-contract/)
**Energy and manufacturing** customers include NAES, described by Technical.ly as America's largest independent power operator, with which Gecko entered a $100 million contract in early 2025, and the [Abu Dhabi National Oil Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/abu-dhabi-national-oil-company), where the company says its work is growing.[5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/) • [3](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status)
Efficiency claims come mainly from the company. Loosararian has told a reporter that Gecko's robots find defects 92% faster than human inspectors, cut a full reactor-vessel inspection from 300 hours to six, and that inspections of 12 Pacific-fleet ships saved 202 days. These are company-claimed figures, not independently audited results.[6](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026)
## Recent developments
Since late 2023 Gecko has deepened its defense work (the $71 million Navy contract), signed the $100 million NAES agreement and an extended-reality product partnership with L3Harris, and roughly doubled its valuation with the June 2025 Series D.[8](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/4494415/gecko-robotics-71-million-dollar-defense-contract/) • [5](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/) • [3](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status) Headcount has grown to about 275 employees per 2026 Washington Post coverage (Y Combinator's profile, an undated snapshot, lists 230).[6](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026) • [4](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gecko-robotics) A CB Insights listing (unverified) records a patent, "System, method, and apparatus for inspecting a surface," applied for June 3, 2024 and granted March 31, 2026.[7](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gecko-robotics)
## Competition and status
On the competitive landscape the record is thin. CB Insights (an unverified aggregator) lists competitors in robotic inspection including [Eddyfi Technologies](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddyfi-technologies), Perceptual Robotics, Zeitview, HUVRData, and Korial; no journalistic or primary source in the record independently covers how Gecko compares with these firms.[7](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gecko-robotics)
As of September 2026 Gecko is operating, with a $1.25 billion valuation and a Series D-II extension in January 2026 whose amount is unverified.[6](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026) No source in the record reports controversies, safety incidents, layoffs, or disputes, nor any acquisitions.
## References
1. [SEC Form D, Gecko Robotics, Inc., filed June 12, 2025](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-25-000002.txt)
2. [SEC Form D, Gecko Robotics, Inc., filed April 30, 2019](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1747029/0001747029-19-000001.txt)
3. [Gecko Reaches Unicorn Status (company press release, June 12, 2025)](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/gecko-reaches-unicorn-status)
4. [Gecko Robotics | Y Combinator](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/gecko-robotics)
5. [Gecko Robotics reaches a $1.25B valuation with new Series D (Technical.ly)](https://technical.ly/entrepreneurship/gecko-robotics-raises-125m-unicorn-valuation/)
6. [An American industrial revolution is brewing (Washington Post coverage republished by Gecko, 2026)](https://www.geckorobotics.com/news/washington-post-2026)
7. [Gecko Robotics - CB Insights profile (unverified aggregator)](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/gecko-robotics)
8. [Pittsburgh robotics company lands a $71 million defense contract (Washington Examiner)](https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/4494415/gecko-robotics-71-million-dollar-defense-contract/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Companies and corporations › Venture-backed startups and growth companies › Deep-tech, hardware, industrial, climate, and mobility startups › Robotics and embodied AI › Industrial and warehouse robotics*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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