{"id":"d9390886-5d0d-4994-9172-2920ffb6b8b5","slug":"evan-tao-chestnut","name":"Evan Tao","bioBrief":"Co-founder and CEO of Chestnut Robotics (formerly TetherIA). Previously a core member of the dexterous hand team for Tesla Optimus and worked on Apple Vision Pro. Building dexterous, general-purpose robots for manufacturing and retail.","priorExits":null,"nationality":null,"verificationPosture":"reported","aliases":["Evan Tao"],"sources":[{"url":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/evantaorobotics","title":"Evan Tao — Chestnut Robotics (previously TetherIA)","sourceName":"LinkedIn"},{"url":"https://kr-asia.com/robotics-companies-like-magiclab-turn-to-synthetic-data-in-the-embodied-intelligence-race","title":"KrASIA: Robotics companies like MagicLab turn to synthetic data","sourceName":"KrASIA"},{"url":"https://bayareafoundersclub.substack.com/p/connect-2026-global-embodied-ai-innovation","title":"CONNECT 2026: Global Embodied AI Innovation Summit","sourceName":"Bay Area Founders Club"}],"reviewStatus":"unreviewed","createdAt":"2026-07-13T13:05:11.517Z","updatedAt":"2026-07-13T13:05:11.517Z","educations":[],"companyRoles":[{"id":"76b6b485-08cd-49a1-af53-82aeceaa185c","personId":"d9390886-5d0d-4994-9172-2920ffb6b8b5","companyId":"b3270e9b-f5f6-4446-849e-c7e8af00edf6","role":"ceo","roleTitle":"Co-founder and CEO","startDate":null,"endDate":null,"currentRole":true,"roleBasis":"reported_not_verified","createdAt":"2026-07-13T13:05:11.947Z","company":{"slug":"chestnut-robotics","name":"Chestnut Robotics"}}],"boardRoles":[],"investorRoles":[],"foundings":[{"id":"5b078674-3b62-4473-947c-a0c5c4f1838f","personId":"d9390886-5d0d-4994-9172-2920ffb6b8b5","companyId":"b3270e9b-f5f6-4446-849e-c7e8af00edf6","foundingDate":null,"cofounderStatus":null,"stillAtCompany":false,"createdAt":"2026-07-13T13:05:12.373Z","company":{"slug":"chestnut-robotics","name":"Chestnut Robotics"}}]}