Neuromorphic, a robotics startup founded by three Turkish entrepreneurs, has secured $500,000 in funding after being accepted into Y Combinator’s Summer 2026 batch, marking an early milestone for a company launched just last month. The startup is building an AI-native platform designed to make industrial robots easier and more affordable to deploy through a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) model.
Founded by Ege Doğanay, Vatan Aksoy Tezer, and Cem Şeref Toker, the team has been working together since high school, where they competed and won multiple FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) championships. Their experience spans robotics research and engineering at institutions including Cambridge University, Bilkent University, and Stanford University. The company is also supported by robotics researcher Özgür Soysal, who is currently pursuing his PhD at Stanford University.
Neuromorphic’s platform is built around hardware-agnostic artificial intelligence, allowing robots from different manufacturers to perform dangerous, repetitive, and physically demanding tasks without requiring businesses to invest heavily in proprietary systems. Instead of purchasing expensive robotic infrastructure upfront, customers can access robots through flexible subscription or usage-based pricing.
The startup also demonstrated remarkable speed following its admission to Y Combinator. After refining its business model through a strategic pivot, Neuromorphic signed its first commercial contract within just five days, highlighting early market validation for its approach.
Neuromorphic enters a rapidly growing robotics software market where companies such as Field AI are racing to build the operating systems that make robots more autonomous and easier to deploy. Rather than focusing solely on hardware, the startup aims to create intelligent software that enables workers to interact with robots as naturally as they communicate with human colleagues.
The founders describe their long-term vision simply:
“We will make deploying an industrial robot in a real working environment as easy as setting up a robotic vacuum cleaner at home.”
Why it matters
Neuromorphic’s acceptance into Y Combinator reflects growing investor confidence in the convergence of artificial intelligence and robotics. As labor shortages, rising operational costs, and advances in foundation AI models accelerate automation across industries, startups building software-first robotics platforms are attracting increasing attention from global investors.
For Türkiye, the milestone also highlights a new generation of founders moving beyond traditional SaaS and fintech into deeptech sectors such as robotics and AI infrastructure. With Y Combinator’s backing and an early commercial customer already secured, Neuromorphic joins a growing wave of startups aiming to build globally competitive technologies from day one.
