Ultra
Category: Robotics / Embodied AI
Brooklyn-based Ultra (Ultra Robotics Corp, YC S24) builds and leases stationary dual-arm AI robots that automate warehouse order packing, sorting and kitting. The robots run on Physical Intelligence's robot foundation models. Ultra was founded in 2024. The company is led by Jon Miller Schwartz. Based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Team size: 11-50. Total funding raised: $62M. Latest round: Series A. Key investors include Framework Ventures, Y Combinator, Next View Ventures.
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Team size
- 11-50
- Total funding
- $62M
Value proposition
Ultra's robots need no integration work: they roll up to an existing warehouse workstation, plug into a standard 120V outlet and start packing orders within hours. They are offered as robots-as-a-service, so customers pay an integration fee plus a monthly fee instead of making a large capital purchase.
Products and solutions
Operator (OP1) is a stationary dual-arm AI robot. It has a 5x5 ft footprint, works an area of up to 10x10 ft and carries up to 10 lb per arm. It handles e-commerce order packaging (polybagging and padded or paper mailers), sorting, kitting and returns processing. It is sold as robots-as-a-service with a 3-month trial, remote monitoring and maintenance.
Unique value
Installation takes hours rather than weeks. There is no fixed infrastructure or custom WMS integration, because the robot uses the WMS interface the way a human packer would. The robots learn new tasks from demonstration data instead of explicit programming, and customers pay a subscription instead of capex.
Target customer
E-commerce third-party logistics providers (3PLs), especially independent operators outside the Amazon ecosystem, and brands that run their own fulfillment centers.
Industries served
E-commerce fulfillment, third-party logistics, warehousing, supply chain
Technology advantage
Ultra trains vision-language-action policies on teleoperation and live production data, using RGB camera input to drive joint and gripper control at 10Hz. These policies build on Physical Intelligence's π0.6 foundation model, and Ultra-specific pre-training raised packing throughput in live warehouses. The deployed fleet works as a data flywheel. The founding team has a decade of collaboration across earlier manufacturing startups.
How they differentiate
Ultra sells a stationary, plug-and-play dual-arm work cell for packing tasks rather than mobile picking robots (AMRs) or large fixed automation retrofits. It bills as robots-as-a-service and relies on foundation-model AI from Physical Intelligence to adapt to new tasks, which avoids custom programming for each workflow.
Main competitors
Locus Robotics, Berkshire Grey, Plus One Robotics
Key partnerships
Physical Intelligence (π0/π0.6 robot foundation models, partnership deepened Oct 2026), Highline Commerce (Brooklyn 3PL deployment), Y Combinator
Notable customers
Highline Commerce
Major milestones
2024-05: Ultra Robotics Corp incorporated in New York. 2024: Joined Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch. 2026-02: Physical Intelligence published data on Ultra's packing robots running π0.6. 2026-04: Launched the Operator (OP1) robot. 2026-07: Highline Commerce began fulfilling up to 30% of its orders with OP1. 2026-10: Announced $62M in total funding ($50M Series A led by Framework Ventures plus a $12M seed) and deepened the Physical Intelligence partnership.
Growth metrics
Ultra's robots have packed more than 500,000 warehouse orders (Fortune, Oct 2026). Fortune describes revenue as 'significant' and reports that Ultra has raised prices over time. Robots are deployed in NY, NJ, GA and TX. The company projects about 100 deployments by end of 2026; this is a company projection, not a shipped figure. Headcount is about 26 employees.
Market positioning
Ultra is an early-commercial warehouse robotics company sitting between rigid industrial automation and general-purpose humanoids. It is building a robots-as-a-service fleet for mid-market and independent 3PLs. The model is a 'body and brains' split: Ultra supplies the hardware and deployment, and Physical Intelligence supplies the AI.
Geographic focus
United States (deployments in New York, New Jersey, Georgia and Texas)
About Jon Miller Schwartz
Ex-Arena AI; Ex-Voodoo Manufacturing (YC W17); Ex-Body Labs; Ex-Layer By Layer (YC S13); Harvey Mudd College. Repeat founder; Ultra is his third YC company.
Latest news about Ultra
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Official website: https://ultra.tech