RISE Robotics

RISE Robotics began with a futuristic vision: to redefine human motion with an exosuit capable of delivering superhuman strength, agility, and speed — all while being lightweight and energy-efficient.

What started as a project to build a real-life Iron Man suit has evolved into an industrial-strength innovation, one with the potential to disrupt the $600 billion heavy-machine industry.

Heavy machines are outdated, dirty, and dangerous. Most rely on oil-based hydraulics, a technology that is inefficient and harmful to the environment.

The cost of diesel to power heavy machines runs $250 billion a year. Meanwhile, eighty-eight percent of energy consumed by hydraulics is wasted. Five hundred million tons of carbon dioxide is emitted by heavy machinery each year, and 100 million gallons of oil leak from hydraulic equipment on an annual basis.

Most heavy machinery used in industries like construction, mining, and agriculture relies on oil-based hydraulics. These industries, which account for more than twenty percent of the global economy, are under increasing pressure to meet stricter environmental regulations while maintaining high performance.

Heavy machines are in desperate need of electrification. Switching to electrical power sources for hydraulic actuators (an actuator is a device that converts energy into mechanical motion) in these systems isn’t viable due to the tremendous energy requirements, compounded by the inefficiency of fluid power. Attempts to electrify without addressing hydraulics result in astronomical costs.

RISE Robotics is electrifying heavy machines with a smarter, faster, cleaner alternative to hydraulics. It’s created a fluid-free actuator that combines the speed and efficiency of robotics with the power and durability of heavy machinery.

Its technology uses belts and pulleys instead of oil, delivering superior performance at half the operating cost of hydraulics — with zero emissions. This technology is three-times faster, three-times more efficient, and twenty-percent lighter than hydraulics.

RISE generates revenue through product sales, joint development, and long-term licensing deals.

It jointly develops heavy machines powered by its proprietary Beltdraulic technology and sells them to operators under the RISE brand. It also sells RISE cylinders and licenses its technology and offers customized solutions to manufacturers in construction, material handling, and defense.

RISE holds more than twenty patents worldwide and has generated more than nine million dollars in revenue to-date.

Using its technology, the company became the 2025 Guinness World Records holder for the world’s strongest robotic arm prototype.

RISE has raised twenty-two million dollars from venture-capital firms Techstars, MIT’s The Engine, and Fortistar Capital. It was recently selected to join the U.S. Air Force’s forty-six-billion-dollar enterprise-wide agile acquisition contract program, a strategic gateway into major defense programs.

Team Background

Hiten Sonpal - Chief Executive Officer

Hiten has extensive experience in the robotics industry.

He began his career as a software engineer before joining Ciholas, a privately-held engineering firm. He then spent fifteen years with iRobot, a robotics company, serving as its Director of Electrical Engineering and Director of Hardware Engineering.

More recently, he founded Outwork Robots, a consumer-facing robotics company. He then spent two years as CEO of Mowbot, a similar robotics company, before becoming President of Electric Sheep Robotics, a company funded by notable venture-capital firm Tiger Global.

Hiten holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Evansville and is working toward his Master’s degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.

Tom Phelps - Chief Operating Officer

Tom is a robotics-operations expert who’s worked at several robotics companies.

He was a product lead at Endeavor Robotics, which achieved a $382 million exit to FLIR (Nasdaq: FLIR) in 2019. Before that, he spent a decade with iRobot, the robotics company, as Director of Robotics Products.

Earlier in his career, he was a manufacturing engineer with two manufacturing companies. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing Engineering and an MBA from Boston University.

Blake Sessions - Co-Founder & CTO

Blake has been with RISE Robotics since its inception. He is a mechanical innovator and the creator of the company’s Beltdraulic technology.

His work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, and he was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 in the manufacturing category.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Co-Investors

TechStars

Prominent accelerator for tech companies. Investments include Uber, ClassPass and Twilio.

MIT's The Engine

A startup accelerator for tech companies affiliated with MIT.

Fortistar Capital

A venture-capital firm investing in startups that are targeting sustainability issues.