Invest with Hellbender
Infrastructure for physical ai
Designed, engineered and manufactured under one roof in Pittsburgh.
Hellbender builds the edge hardware that perception, robotic and autonomous systems run on: cameras, compute, boards, enclosures, and the production lines that build them at scale. We are the only domestic company doing complete edge AI hardware design and manufacturing under one roof, and the physical AI programs moving from pilot to production are buying what we build.
Who We Are
tier 1 for physical ai
Founded in Pittsburgh in 2021 by engineers from the Carnegie Mellon, Carnegie Robotics and Uber Advanced Technologies Group, Hellbender does not sell autonomy. We build what every autonomy program has to buy. Our customers are OEMs, robotics companies and software teams that need ruggedized, production-scale edge hardware from one partner who can design it, qualify it and manufacture it domestically, without the handoffs between design house, board shop and offshore assembler that stall most programs between prototype and production.
Our 90,000 square foot campus at Hazelwood Green houses engineering, prototyping, SMT and PCBA lines, cobotic work cells, calibration and end-of-line test. More than 50,000 edge AI units have shipped from it. The supply chain is NDAA-compliant and ITAR-capable.
how the model works
engineering gets us designed in. production keeps us there.
Most hardware companies choose between engineering services, products or manufacturing. Hellbender runs all three in sequence on every program.
Paid engineering gets Hellbender designed into a customer’s system. We retain our background IP and reuse program designs outside the customer’s field of use. The program then converts into a production line on our floor, with Hellbender cameras and boards inside every unit built, and licensing, service and per-unit fees attached for the life of the deployment. The reused IP shortens the next program’s engineering, and the loop turns again.
The Robotic Navigation System kit now available on our site was developed on the way to an industrial autonomy program. It is the proof: retained IP becoming product.
milestones
From a 3,000 square foot lab to a 90,000 square foot campus
- 2021 Founded with three people at the University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center. First client signed.
- 2022 Moved to 20,000 square feet. First PCB assembly line installed.
- 2024 First IP sale. First robotic work cells in production. Passed 25,000 edge AI units shipped.
- 2025 Moved to 45,000 square feet. Passed 40,000 units shipped.
- 2026 Series Seed closed, led by Magarac Venture Partners and Veridos Partners, with participation from Gaingels, Sum.VC and Mana Ventures. Took possession of Mill 19 and the Roundhouse at Hazelwood Green, 90,000 square feet of engineering and production capacity. Crossed 50,000 units shipped. Signed our first production-scale program with a Fortune 100 industrial OEM.
Looking Ahead
the demand is here and we're scaling to meet it
Physical AI is moving from pilots to production, and procurement is moving home. Both tailwinds point at the same domestic capability, and we have already built it. What remains is capacity: more cobotic cells, more SMT throughput, more people on the floor, so every engineering program we take on has a production line waiting for it.
Commitment to ESG
Pennsylvania's first electronics design and manufacturing benefit corporation
We are deeply committed to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals, demonstrating our responsibility to our community and the environment. This commitment is integral to our operations and our ethos as a benefit corporation. What does that mean?
- All employees earn equity in the company and become owners.
- A portion of our corporate net income is donated to Veterans Organizations and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s watershed program.
- We use industrial waste recycling, Pb-free and RoHS PCB assemblies, and keep a 100% carbon-neutral commitment to minimize our impact on the environment.
investor contact
learn more about hellbender
We are direct and frank about the business, and we expect the same from the people who invest in it. If you are an accredited investor and would like to learn more, we welcome the conversation.