The verified answer
As of Oct 2026, DEPLOY verifies Tetsuwan Scientific: 1 model, 2 deployments across 2 regions, $2.7M raised. 1 source back the record.
Overview
Tetsuwan Scientific is a San Francisco-based startup developing autonomous AI scientists that merge robotics and Artificial intelligence to conduct laboratory experiments independently. Founded in 2023 by Cristian Ponce (CEO) and Theo Schafer (CTO), the company's AI-powered robotic systems use modified white-label lab robots to perform high-sophistication tasks, react to data, reason, and make decisions. Tetsuwan has deployed its inaugural autonomous AI system in a rare disease gene therapeutics lab.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 2 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- None on file
Valuation of record
DEPLOY VERIFIEDPriced roundSeed post-money
Key facts
CEO
CTO
Pre-seed
Team size
Advisor
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Tetsuwan Scientific on the deployment map
View the global map2 verified deployments across 2 regions, newest verified Jun 2024. Explore where Tetsuwan Scientific's robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full Tetsuwan Scientific deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (2)
- Theo Schafer CTO & Co-founderreported, not verified
- Cristian Ponce CEO & Co-founderreported, not verified
Founders (2)
- Cristian Poncecofounder
- Theo Schafercofounder
Safety record
No incidents on record for Tetsuwan Scientific.
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Operator customers (1)
- Tetsuwan Scientific2 deployments
Recent coverage
Tetsuwan Scientific in third-party press
Peers
75 peers across 1 segment. Every Tetsuwan Scientific competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
industrial robot(75)
33 companies in this segment · moderately_concentrated (HHI 2051.61304640928) · leader Mind Robotics at 3415%
- ABB Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AMP Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- ASUSdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- ATOMSdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Acuminodirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Allonicdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Financial state
- Total funding
- $2.7M
- Employees
- 7(reported)
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- early
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (1)
- Seed2024-11-19
$3M(reported) · $11M post
Investors: 2048 Ventures, Carbon Silicon, Everywhere Ventures
Timeline
Every recorded move in Tetsuwan Scientific’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
Funding roundSeed funding round
2024-11-19Seed raising $2700000
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJul 6, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJun 1, 2024
Tetsuwan AI Scientist at United States (multiple hotel chains)
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJun 1, 2024
Tetsuwan AI Scientist at Germany, Europe
Sources (1)
Common questions
What is Tetsuwan Scientific?
What does Tetsuwan Scientific make?
Is Tetsuwan Scientific publicly traded?
Who competes with Tetsuwan Scientific?
Who is the CEO of Tetsuwan Scientific?
How can I invest in Tetsuwan Scientific?
Where is Tetsuwan Scientific headquartered?
How much funding has Tetsuwan Scientific raised?
Who owns Tetsuwan Scientific?
Where does Tetsuwan Scientific operate robots?
How many robots has Tetsuwan Scientific deployed?
Is Tetsuwan Scientific a top robotics company?
Is Tetsuwan Scientific safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Tetsuwan Scientific.Peer companies
- Google21 models
- Roborock20 models
- ST Telemedia Global Data Centres11 models
- Unitree Robotics10 models
- Teraco Data Environments8 models
- AirTrunk7 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Tetsuwan Scientific from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Tetsuwan Scientific is making robotic AI scientists that can run experiments on their own
TechCrunch profiled Tetsuwan Scientific, which modifies lower-cost white-label lab robots to create autonomous AI scientists capable of running experiments independently,…
First Autonomous Robotic Scientist Hits Labs as Tetsuwan Scientific Secures $2.7M
Tetsuwan Scientific closed an oversubscribed $2.7M pre-seed round led by 2048 Ventures, with its inaugural autonomous AI system now operational in a rare disease gene therapeutics…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/tetsuwan-scientific.md
- RSS feed: /companies/tetsuwan-scientific/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/1678a465-90a4-4979-a518-932900565343
- Revision history: /companies/tetsuwan-scientific/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Google21 models
- Roborock20 models
- ST Telemedia Global Data Centres11 models
- Unitree Robotics10 models
- Teraco Data Environments8 models
- AirTrunk7 models
Video
Cristian Ponce and Théo Schäfer are the co-founders of Tetsuwan, a startup building AI scientists to accelerate life science research. Hosted by Nabil Laoudji.
Tetsuwan Scientific is revolutionizing research by combining AI and robotics to automate scientific experiments 😱🤯👏 #aideepdive #ai #podcast #tetsuwan #tets
🎙️ Episode 34 – Building AI Scientists with Tetsuwan Scientific’s Christian Ponce & Théo Schäfer In this episode of Startup Strides, I sat down with Christian
An exclusive interview with Cristian Ponce and Theo Schäfer, the co-founders of Tetsuwan Scientific. The startup recently raised a $2.7M round to develop the fu
Watch Tetsuwan Scientific's co-founder Alexandra Rolfness walk through new features for ResearchOS, including: - Support for off-deck modules (like robotic arms
Here we speak with Cristian and Théo from Tetsuwan Scientific, a company using language models to create AI Automation Engineers for automating wet-lab biology
Heat Index
Category contender75/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
Tetsuwan Scientific draws attention at the 42nd percentile but verifies reality at the 35th percentile among other robots. Hype Gap +7.1, 133rd widest among other robots.
6-month trend
Analysis
Clean safety record across 2 verified deployments. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Oct 5, 2026